BIM for Facilities Management: An Investigation into the Asset Information Delivery Process and the Associated Challenges

Abstract

The most common problem facility managers face is information accessibility. While BIM has been posited as a potential solution to increase the quality and availability of asset information to support facilities management (FM), few studies have captured the challenging aspects of developing and delivering this information within the context of real-world projects with owner-defined information requirements. Based on three longitudinal ethnographic case studies that included a set of comprehensive and formal information requirements within the supply contracts, this research contributes to a better understanding of the BIM-enabled asset information delivery process and its challenges by (1) characterizing the process in eight main activities with examples, and (2) mapping the challenges of using BIM for FM that have been identified in the literature and establishing connections between them. The results demonstrate that even with the early involvement of owners through the development of information requirements, several challenges still prevent owners from taking full advantage of BIM. There is still a limited understanding of how BIM can effectively support existing FM activities and how it impacts current design and construction processes in practice, which compromises the definition of clear and efficient information requirements. In that sense, the support provided by industry standards and guidelines remains limited. The contextualized understanding of the proposed BIM-enabled asset information delivery process and its challenges will help owners and facility managers with the decision-making process regarding the development of their information requirements, preventing inefficiencies and unrealistic expectations.