BAM brings BIM to FM

Sister company BAM Construct UK is working with software developers FSI and Autodesk to bring the benefits of BIM to facilities management.

Their process involves pulling information from 3D BIM models into a building’s facilities management workflow systems, with the aim of improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the way assets are managed.

BAM expects to have the process designed, developed and tested by early summer. It will then conduct live testing.

BAM FM managing director Kath Fontana said: “Imagine you are a city developer who has just been handed the keys to a new office building. You have no option: every square metre has to be maintained. Now imagine that you have no easily available data to tell you where all your new assets are, how many there are, what type they are, or who the suppliers are. Making sound decisions about when to repair or replace assets like this without good information about them to start with is a surprisingly common problem.

“There are enormous gains for clients in being able to use the data in the 3D building model as it develops over the construction cycle. It enables early, speedy and accurate compilation of the building’s asset register. It will provide detailed, accurate and real-time information on which clients can plan the management and maintenance of their building. These allow them to set-up and deliver their facilities management services with on-going confidence in the operating information.

“While there is a lot of debate about the benefits of BIM for asset management, BAM is putting the theory into practice. The market-leading strides we have made in developing and applying BIM in our design and construction activities enable us to take this next step."

FSI (FM Solutions) business development director Compton Darlington said: “The greatest variable in the implementation of an effective computerised facilities management system is the quality and accuracy of the supplied data. Our project will instigate the collation of useful and relevant information in a uniform and structured format from the outset automating the creation of asset and FM contract management data. We will be building a link between FM data and visual information ensuring ready access to accurate information at all times.”

Autodesk account manager Paul Fleming added: “We’ve been supporting BAM over the past year with its FM strategy. Our COBie Extraction tool allows BAM to mine BIM data and provide handover information that meets the government's 2016 BIM mandate.  BAM's project will go beyond COBie to provide as-built data supplemented with commissioning information collected in the field using our cloud and mobile solutions; providing a complete data record that can be used for FM from day one of operations.”

Pictured below are Paul Markovitz of Autodesk, Kath Fontana, MD of BAM FM and Jacqueline Walpole of FSI FM.

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