BIM for facilities management: Strategies for seamless handover and lifecycle asset management
Department of Civil Engineering, Karnataka Government Polytechnic Mangalore 575004, Karnataka India.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2021, 09(01), 354-364
Publication history:
Received on 05 January 2021; revised on 17 January 2021; accepted on 26 January 2021
Abstract:
Building Information Modeling (BIM) has revolutionized the design and construction phases of building projects, yet its potential for facilities management (FM) and lifecycle asset management remains significantly underutilized. This research examines comprehensive strategies for achieving seamless handover from construction to operations and leveraging BIM data throughout the building lifecycle. The transition from construction completion to operational management represents a critical juncture where vast quantities of valuable building information are frequently lost, fragmented, or rendered unusable due to incompatible data formats, inadequate documentation standards, and insufficient coordination between project delivery and facility operations teams. This study investigates the technical, organizational, and procedural barriers preventing effective BIM-to-FM transitions and proposes integrated strategies addressing information requirements definition, data standardization, technology platform selection, and stakeholder engagement. Through analysis of case studies from educational, healthcare, and commercial facilities implementing BIM-enabled FM systems, the research identifies best practices for data structuring, exchange protocols, and system integration that enable facility managers to access accurate, current asset information supporting maintenance planning, space management, energy optimization, and capital planning decisions. The findings demonstrate that successful BIM-to-FM implementation requires early engagement of facility operations personnel during design phases, clear definition of FM information requirements through structured methodologies such as the Employer's Information Requirements (EIR), adoption of standardized data schemas including Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie), and selection of interoperable technology platforms enabling bidirectional data flow between BIM authoring tools and computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). Organizations achieving effective BIM-to-FM integration reported operational cost reductions averaging 12-18% through improved maintenance efficiency, space utilization optimization, and energy consumption reduction, alongside enhanced decision-making capabilities from comprehensive asset intelligence availability throughout the building lifecycle.
Keywords:
Building Information Modeling; Facilities Management; Asset Management; Digital Handover; Lifecycle Management
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Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0