Asset Management in a BIM Environment

Nowadays construction projects are more and more delivered by Building Information Models instead of traditional 2D drawings. This allows for information rich projects but this information is, in many cases, accessible only for those who are able to use a BIM authoring software. In the current market, both the top levels (CEO and executives) and the low levels (on site and off site operators) of an asset or a facility management company are not able to use a BIM authoring tool, thus to use the valuable information stored in the model. Moreover, BIM models that work fine for the design stage will be of no use during the operational stage if not correctly created. A research has been carried on to cope with these problems and the preliminary results are shown in this paper. Asset managers’ work procedures and needs have been analyzed to identify what information is needed and when in the operational stage and then an IFC compliant standard has been adopted to store data. Once useful data are stored in the model, these must be made accessible for everyone who need them. To do this, web tools have been developed to provide an easy connection with the BIM model so to promptly highlight asset performances or problems and to act consequently. The tools, reading and saving data in the BIM model, are not only a way to visualize asset information and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), but also an instrument for field operators to update the BIM model of the asset without using complicated BIM authoring software. Both tools and KPIs are developed by the authors as part of a bigger research project with the aim of improving the current way to manage assets and portfolios.