Facilities management is a multi-faceted activity that goes beyond being responsible for making buildings work, enforcing safety codes and standards, or managing space effectively. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the most significant breakthroughs in the last few years in the construction and design industry that has improvised the aspects of facility management in the recent period. The application of BIM in facility management expands the usage of BIM to further enhance operations, enhance the sharing of information, and eventually decrease expenditure.
The Role of BIM in Facility Management
BIM is an electronic mirror of the physical and organizational properties of a facility. It becomes a central data source for information on a facility helping to form a solid foundation for decision-making during its lifespan. BIM benefits the design process as well as construction and eventually the operation phase by offering a full set of information about the building’s entities.
The most important advantage of applying BIM in FM is that the organization can keep an accurate and current digital representation of the facility. It contains such data as the architectural site plan, structural relations, mechanical and electrical systems, and so on. In owning such information, the facility managers can easily establish the location and detailed features of some parts of the building for ease in maintenance and handling of any rude surprises.
Enhancing Maintenance Efficiency with BIM
Improved Information Access
Specifically, facility management was traditionally paper-based and still, nowadays, requires managers to use old electronic files. This can generate confusion and the information search for identifying building systems becomes inefficient and even erroneous. BIM consolidates all the information concerning the particular building into a single digital model that is accessible to the facility managers. BIM allowed for all data to be easily accessible; ranging from the precise details of a HVAC system to even electrical wiring patterns.
Proactive Maintenance Planning
With the help of BIM, facility managers can schedule the servicing or replacement of a component in a building before they fail. The important trends and the probable problems can be noticed in the data set embedded in the BIM model by the managers. The use of this predictive maintenance method minimizes downtime and increases the years of service of the building’s systems, all while saving time and money.
Streamlined Workflows
Facility management software could be integrated with BIM to help in the automation of various procedural work. For instance, if there exists a maintenance issue that requires rectification, the BIM model can, for example, create work orders and allocate them to the right personnel. It helps cut shorter working hours on many non-production related issues while at the same facilitates corresponding timely and efficient maintenance work.
Enhanced Collaboration and Communication
Facility management entails the coordination of several officers such as architects, engineers, and those in charge of facility maintenance. This coordination is made possible through BIM because all the relevant information is found within its framework and can be updated by all the stakeholders involved. This ensures that everyone using it is on the same page hence minimizing misunderstandings among the people involved.
Designing and Drafting and BIM
The role of generating drafting processes with BIM makes them a very significant element in facility management. Designing Drafting is the process of making limited drawings and mapping out a building, the site plan, structures, and systems including mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. When these drawings are used as a part of the BIM model, they give a clear elaboration of the building profile and its utility.
Designing and drafting that has been done through BIM is much more precise in the process of coming up with the various building plans. It also benefits in enriching the final construction quality as well as the BIM model to be used for facility management. Maintenance personnel will have the up-to-date design information contained in the BIM model for decision-making on maintenance and repair, thus boosting efficiency.
Framing Estimation Services and BIM
The fourth aspect of the construction process, which can be improved with the help of BIM integration, is framing estimation services. Such services comprise estimating the price and measure of devices or lumber that would be used in the framing of a building. The cost estimates for framing are crucial in terms of providing proper budgeting and planning of the project.
With the help of BIM, framing estimating services are improved due to the availability of the digital model of the building framework. It means that estimators can calculate the necessary quantity of materials and define certain problems that can appear in the process. Framing estimating through BIM will help construction projects follow the cost plan and the construction time plan and thus prevent situations that result in costly overruns and further construction.
To the facility managers, the collaboration between framing estimation services and BIM helps in the consistency of all the frameworks and information. This is especially crucial regarding the work that must be carried out on the elements constituting the construction. The use of the BIM model provides correct framing data to the facility managers, enabling them to schedule and perform maintenance properly.
Conclusion
The incorporation of BIM into facility management has the propensity to change how building and facility management are conducted. It results in better access to information and more efficient planning of all necessary maintenance, in addition, it increases the effectiveness of the work and collaboration between the participants. BIM, when integrated with the processes of designing, drafting, and framing estimation services provides an effective way to enhance the efficiency of maintenance and decrease the operating costs.
Appointing BIM technology will benefit a facility manager in organizing the building systems more effectively and achieving the objectives of a sustainable facility environment. It is, therefore, plausible to conclude that as the application of BIM progresses, this innovation will help assume a more significant position in facility management’s future.