by Brianna Crandall — July 17, 2013—The BIM4FM group , a coalition steering committee of organizations championing the use of BIM in facilities management, has announced the headline results from its recent survey, and revealed the importance of the relationship between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and lifecycle management for facilities managers.
When asked how they would like to see BIM supporting facilities management, 75% of respondents highlighted lifecycle management as the most important factor. When asked how they anticipated their organization would use BIM in the future, 84% of respondents believed that lifecycle management would again be the most important issue.
Geoff Prudence, Chairman of the BIM4FM group, said, “The results clearly show that there is recognition that BIM offers the opportunity to improve the lifecycle management of buildings. Interestingly there is both a desire, and an expectation for BIM to be able to support better working practices and improve operation and maintenance of buildings in practice.”
The BIM4FM survey polled individual members of the organizations that make up this forum of FM-related industry bodies representing the built environment and supported by the British Cabinet Office Government Property Unit (GPU): Business, Innovation and Skills BIM Task Group (BIS), British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), Building and Engineering Services Association (B&ES), Building Research Establishment (BRE), Business Services Association (BSA), BSRIA, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), Facilities Management Association (FMA), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
“The first cut of the survey results reinforces that for BIM to achieve its potential it will require FMs to engage in the earlier stages of the design and construction process,” continued Prudence. “By incorporating their understanding of operational practicalities within the design process, it can help shape and influence decision making. This should lead to better lifecycle management and operational facilities in the occupation ‘in use’ period of a building’s life. When considering how this might work in practice, it shows that Government Soft Landings (GSL) has an important role to play in implementing BIM, and this is something that the BIM4FM group is keen to support.”
The survey revealed that FMs, owners and occupiers believe BIM will becoming increasingly important in day-to-day working practices within the next two to three years.
Prudence continued, “This timeframe is in line with the Government’s deadline for all construction projects to be BIM Level 2 compliant by 2016. However, the survey showed that there is still work to be done in this area with 31% of FMs, seeing BIM becoming more relevant after this time period and 9% of respondents questioning the value of BIM altogether. However these results reinforce the message that building managers, owners and occupiers recognize that BIM is definitely here to stay and growing in importance.”
“The challenge for the BIM4FM group is to now work through possibilities to fully exploit the opportunities surrounding BIM, and clearly signpost and establish the correct guidance for those working in this area,” concluded Prudence. “One of the key objectives of the BIM4FM Group is to clarify ‘What BIM means for FMs in practice’ as an enabler for the future approach to implementation.”
Having closed its survey in May, the BIM4FM is group is currently establishing its next course of action.
The group hopes to be able to reveal details of this along with the full survey results later this summer.
