These days, there is a lot of discussion going on about BIM2FM in the marketplace, about quite different approaches and ideas. We have grasped the opportunity to dedicate the subsequent 4 blog articles to report about the every-day practical challenges in this field.
Every second day, we will throw a glance on yet another aspect of the ongoing BIM2FM discussion.
Let us start today with a quite provocative question:
BIM2FM – a chance or an illusion?
In the proper sense of the word, BIM is a process for planning new buildings. However, if you are following closely the respective discussions, the subject is being more and more reduced to the BIM model, thus a 3D model of the building including a lot of more or less useful data.
What is the reason behind? First projects have shown that a BIM planning process is consuming a lot of resources and money in the enterprise. Consequentially, the planning process will become more expensive, and, as a matter of fact, the new building as well. How could the money then be saved? There is the common strong belief, that future operation will be more cost-effective, as information has been captured during the planning phase already that will be relevant to building operations later on.
Yet, the positive news in this context is, that indeed people think about which information will be important for the operation of the building already in the planning phase. You can only hope that the information transfer will be running smoothly in the end. If you take a look at the past, this has never really worked out, notwithstanding the respective endeavors in this field. In fact, people were happy to get a CAD drawing reflecting the existing As-built situation. However, delivering data referring to technical installations and building services finally ended in a long row of folders on a shelf. BIM is supposed to change that in future
This can work out well if you consider attentively certain rules. In the first place, you should not place the 3D model in the center of interest, but the respective data. The model as well as the data can be transferred to other systems via IFC standard, particularly to a CAFM system. To succeed in this context, two preconditions must be fulfilled. First, you will have to define beforehand, which data you will really need, and secondly, yet even more important, you need to precisely establish the structure of this data.
The major topics you need to observe in this field will be subject of our next blog article.
About the question, however, whether the transfer of data into a CAFM system will really cover the costs resulting from the BIM planning process, doubts will remain.