Leveraging BIM Capabilities for Facility Management

BIM- i.e. building information modeling is an effective tool that has brought in a revolution in the way building and construction projects are handled and executed. However, the capabilities of BIM are not limited to just the construction process. BIM capabilities can be leveraged way beyond the design and construction of a building and used for effective operations and maintenance of a facility after it is occupied.
 

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There are several dimensions of BIM where 4D BIM refers to construction and scheduling, 5D refers to cost estimation, the 6th dimension is that of design for sustainability while the 7th dimension to BIM is its ability to contribute and aid facility management in an efficient manner.

Maintaining Records For As Built Model in BIM

Buildings undergo a range of changes from the stage of design right through all the stages of a buildings life cycle. All these changes should be updated in a BIM model to facilitate management of a building once it is occupied. Besides any repair or renovation done to suite the changing spatial requirements should also be updated in a BIM model so that any other renovation and refurbishment work in future can be carried out with these changes in consideration.


How does BIM Support Facility Management?
  1. BIM is loaded with all spatial information of a building. As a result, it doubles up as a building documentation file, with an added advantage of easy to understand visual information.

  2. An effective maintenance plan can be prepared by integrating BIM with computer aided maintenance management system. Hence, an improvised operation and maintenance tracking tool can be created.

  3. The ‘I’ in BIM is of crucial importance and facility managers can use it to define energy efficiency goals and also achieve them.

  4. BIM is specially very handy and useful to facility managers when they undertake any kind of repair or renovation work. BIM has all the MEP and structural information stored into it. Hence, repair work becomes easy and risk free.

The growing use of BIM across the AEC industry has armed the facility managers to handle the operations and maintenance of a facility with utmost efficiency.

Hi-Tech CADD Services offers a full range of BIM services to its clients mainly from US, UK, Australia and UAE. The team of BIM experts at the company is experienced in translating 2D drafts into information rich BI models that support efficient facility management.

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