Chapter 2: Project Data Management

Project data management is an essential aspect of efficiency and productivity when working with Building Information Modeling (BIM) as the authoring software is data-centric.

Organizations are increasingly using processes to drive their business based on data analysis for multiple sectors, to improve performance and profitability. When using Revit to manage models and data, the principles of data management are similar.

A data-driven culture is growing, and more companies are noticing the value of analyzing data for business decisions that promote improvements and disruption in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner Operator (AECOO) industry.

Companies use a data management plan (DMP) to outline how data will be used during and after a project's completion. BIM projects will start by creating similar documents to support the project development, such as the Exchange Information Requirements (EIR), the BIM Execution Plan (BEP), and others.

This chapter will provide information about critical points for data management associated with BIM projects. We will learn how to start a Revit project successfully, taking these key points into consideration.

The chapter will also explain the crucial aspects of an Appointment/Contract; project functions in a BIM project; an overview of BIM documentation; challenges with Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie); and establishing an action plan to start a BIM project.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

• Critical data to start a BIM project
• Appointment overview
• BIM documentation overview
• Project functions
• Asset management
• Establishing an Action Plan to start a BIM project

Critical data to start a BIM project

It is imperative to start BIM projects with quality information from multiple stages and to consider how this data will be used for Asset Management and, ultimately, for processes to manage a Digital Twin.

There are critical challenges in the AECOO industry to provide the required information in the right format at the correct time, and to avoid loss of data between a project's stages.

Ideally, we should receive all the necessary information before starting a project. It is common to see projects starting with incomplete information, very often without any information at all other than the request to BIM (or BIM according to a local framework, such as the UK BIM Framework (https://ukbimframework.org/)).

To minimize those issues, we will provide information about the critical data to start BIM projects and understand the principles for data management.

The principles of a DMP are based on the following items:

• Project information: Identify the type of data and parameters required for the project.
• Data acquisition: Engagement with multiple stakeholders to collect the data needed for the project, with the associated relevance within the project stage.
• Data description: Define the Level of Information Need or Level of Development (LOD) to make decisions during the project life cycle.
• Level of Information Need: Terminology used in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 19650 series.
• Level of Development (LOD): Terminology developed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and described by the BIM Forum (https://bimforum.org/lod/).
• Legal aspects: Analyze the BIM requirements in the appointment and identify legal issues.
• Data curation: Define processes for data validation usually described within the Common Data Environment (CDE) and data interoperability.
• Data storage and usage: Identify the organization's internal and cloud data storage for business continuity. This also includes procedures for data usage, collaboration, and operation.

Three key documents will provide critical data to start a BIM project, as follows:

• Appointment or Contract
• Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)
• BIM Execution Plan (BEP)

There are other documents available in BIM projects, and these will be referenced in the aforementioned critical documents.

To start a BIM project, digital data will also be required, such as the survey files or legacy data.

Appointment or Contract

The Appointment or Contract will define the scope of work, and further details are included in the BIM Responsibility Matrix.

When checking the Appointment, it is essential to identify specific BIM activities that can increase the project risk or require extra time to complete. These activities need to be raised with the Commercial Department to adjust the project fees, if necessary.

It is common to see Bids and Appointments that mention BIM ISO Stage 2 but do not provide any detail on how the projects should be delivered, which will increase the project risk. In a situation where the client does not provide information, the lead appointed party should create a BEP with standard deliverables.

Tip

Define what your company considers the minimum deliverables for BIM ISO Stage 2 or BIM according to a local framework, such as the UK BIM Framework. This will be useful for Bids and Appointments that have not specified their BIM requirements.

The Appointment may include other Contractual Appendices that need to be revised, such as the following:

• Organizational Information Requirements (OIR)
• Asset Information Requirements (AIR)
• Project Information Requirements (PIR)
• Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)

These documents need to be analyzed to minimize risks, and an essential factor is a process to associate specific activities with the project stages.

Every activity must have a meaningful and clear objective, to increase productivity and avoid wasting time producing information that will not be used.

Unfortunately, we still see activities being requested, but the end users are not taking the full benefit. There are a few reasons why this is still happening, but it is essential to align the BIM requirements with a real expectation of the end users. It is a continuous fight for quality information at the correct time to improve efficiency in the AECOO industry.

Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)

The EIR is a document that represents the client's requirements for BIM projects, and it is used during the tendering process and after a project has been awarded.

The EIR is typically divided into three main areas, as follows:

Technical

• Software details and versions
• Level of Information Need
• Common Data Environment (CDE) and exchanging processes
• Data exchange formats
• Training

Management

• Roles and responsibilities
• Management processes and standards
• Data security
• Asset information strategy

Commercial

• Strategy purpose
• Information about BIM deliverables
• Data drops—information exchange milestones

This document contains critical data for starting a BIM project, and it should be analyzed to find activities not in your company's scope of work and requirements that increase the liability risk.

Companies should engage with the client to refine the Exchange Information Requirements (EIR) and support the production of a document that truly represents the client's interest and provides quality information for the design team, as this is a critical document for increasing efficiency in order to deliver a project.

There are cases when the EIR is underdeveloped and does not provide enough information to the design team. We can also find documents that are overdeveloped, with requirements that do not represent the client's real requirements.

A typical example of an EIR that is overdeveloped is when it includes excessive requirements for Asset Management and COBie when the end user does not have the capability to manage this data.

Another example of this is a request for excessive Asset Management data in the early stages of a project, which will not represent a benefit for the design team, contractor, or client. All this data needs to be validated independently of the project stage at which teams are working.

Tip

Make sure that every piece of information in the EIR has a clear objective and benefit.

BIM Execution Plan (BEP)

A concise and objective BIM Execution Plan is imperative for improving a project's productivity, with a defined framework to answer the client's requests and ensure a successful implementation with the design and construction teams.

An effective BEP will facilitate the process of managing models and data, and defines a collaborative approach for appointed parties involved in the project.

Tip

A BEP is the roadmap that guides a project to a successful BIM implementation. Companies need to work in collaboration to produce the BEP and create it with the end user in mind. That is an essential principle for a successful implementation.

BIM Execution Plan (BEP) – Pre-contract

A pre-contract BEP is used during the tender process to demonstrate the company's capability to deliver the project based on the EIR requirements.

The pre-contract BEP should respond to the EIR requirements with the deliverable strategy and should include the collaboration process, key milestones, and the Project Implementation Plan (PIP).

The PIP is part of the BEP, and each company bidding to a project should provide this to demonstrate their capability, experience, and competence in delivering a BIM project.

BIM Execution Plan (BEP) – Post-contract

When the contract is awarded, a post-contract BEP is created in collaboration with all Appointed Parties to agree on the standards, methods, and procedures to be used in the project and respond to the client's BIM requirements.

A BEP is typically divided into four areas, outlined as follows:

Management and commercial requirements

• BEP Introduction and Purpose
• Project Information
• Project Teams—Function and Responsibility
• BIM Project Standards
• Response to the EIR mapping and variances
• BIM Strategic Objectives
• Model Purposes
• BIM Deliverables
• Coordination Meetings
• Project Milestones
• Master Information Delivery Plan (MIDP)
• Security Requirements
• Health and Safety Requirements
• Terms and Definitions Used in the BEP

Information Standards

• Project Setting Out and Coordinates
• Levels, Grids, and Phases
• Volume and Federation strategy
• Level of Information Need or LOD
• Naming Convention for Documents, Drawings, and Models
• Revisions Convention
• Drawings Standards
• Specific Software Requirements
• Best Practices

Information Production, Methods, and Procedures

• Collaboration Strategy
• CDE and Exchanging Processes
• Modeling Scope and Exclusions
• Review and Approval Process
• Model Check/Validation
• Clash Detection Process and Clash Tolerance strategy
• Asset Information Requirements and Validation Process
• Survey Strategy
• Existing Legacy Data

Appendices

• Master Information Delivery Plan (MIDP)
• BIM Responsibility Matrix
• Capability and IT Assessments
• Mobilization Plan
• Information Risk Assessment

To conclude, project productivity and efficiency are improved because every Appointed Party has a clear objective and procedures to produce the deliverables, which will avoid mistakes and reworkings.

Digital data to start a project

We want to enforce the importance of setting up a project correctly at the beginning to maximize productivity and guarantee that multiple software can export and import files to the correct location. This will benefit the project team as they will be able to avoid moving files manually across files and different software, which can often lead to mistakes.

This methodology starts with a survey file or national Ordnance Survey (OS) map that provides the site location with the correct coordinates. The survey file is aligned to True North, so this helps to set up True North and Project North in the BIM software.

If your project doesn't have a survey file, the quickest way to find the correct coordinates and project orientation is to purchase an OS map in drawing (DWG) layout. In the UK, there are a few companies that sell this type of map.

A typical OS map is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.1 – OS map

Tip

The grid intersection on the OS map provides the best coordinate points to set up the Revit file. An alternative is to use the survey stations from survey files.

The Design Lead would typically provide the levels and grids to continue the process to set up the initial project files.

The overall objective is to create a Revit master file to be issued to all consultants so that they can acquire coordinates and start the project at the correct location.

The Revit master file contains the project coordinates (including True and Project North), levels, and grids. This file will be used with the volume strategy to create and set up all subsequent Revit files.

Once the initial Revit file is set up, the project coordinates should be used with other platforms, such as AutoCAD and Rhino, to guarantee a straightforward process to export and import data.

In Chapter 4, Starting a Revit Project Efficiently, we will show a step-by-step guide on how to set up the Revit project coordinates and initiate a project.

To conclude, we have learned about the critical data in order to start a BIM project and about how the primary BIM documents need to be analyzed to reduce risk.

In the next section, we will cover other BIM documents and provide further details.

BIM documentation overview

It is essential to align the BIM documentation with the project strategy to improve efficiency so that the requirements will be well defined, which increases productivity and decreases cost.

Companies must understand which information they should provide for the Design and Construction teams and also define which information they expect to receive for Asset Management to support building maintenance.

We understand it is difficult for clients to have precise BIM requirements at the beginning of the project. Still, this has to change to improve the AECOO industry and ensure that project teams have defined requirements during a project life cycle.

There are clear benefits to having the BIM documentation well defined. Some of these are outlined here:

• Quicker Return on Investment (ROI)
• Client and project standards compliance
• Ensures the BIM requirements from clients and the project team are aligned
• Better communication to deliver the project
• Improved quality assurance and quality control for BIM models and data

We will provide an overview of the currently most used BIM documentation in the AECOO industry.

We can divide the BIM documents into three categories, as follows:

• Client documents
• Project team documents
• Standards documents

Client documents

It is vital to establish that the Appointment or Contract is the primary contractual document, and it should also have high-level information about the BIM requirements but also include the BIM detail that your organization may consider necessary.

The client and the project team need to define on a project basis which BIM documents are contractual or non-contractual. It is common to see in projects the BEP varying from being contractual or non-contractual.

If the EIR is not referenced in the Appointment or Contract, it will likely not be a contractual requirement.

Company BIM leaders, insurance organizations, and commercial departments should be liaising to define those as contractual requirements.

We will now provide an overview of BIM documents for clients that include, but are not limited to, the requirements outlined next.

Organizational Information Requirements (OIR)

This establishes the information requirements for the client's Asset Management system at an organizational level, and it includes strategic decisions and expertise in Asset Management. This document will be used to generate the AIR and provide information to create the PIR.

Asset Information Requirements (AIR)

The AIR defines specific project needs for Asset Management operation and conveys the objectives from the Organizational Information Requirements (OIR). It helps to inform and create Exchange Information Requirements (EIR) and specifies the Asset Information Model (AIM).

Project Information Requirement (PIR)

The PIR conveys the information from the Organizational Information Requirements (OIR) to define the built asset project. This document will support the development of the EIR.

Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)

The EIR defines the information, standards, and processes to be delivered and adopted during the design and construction stages. It should specify the information required to answer the Project Information Requirement (PIR). We covered this in detail in the previous section.

To conclude, the documents listed in the client section will support the project team in developing the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) and producing BIM models.

The following BIM documents diagram shows in more detail how the documents are connected to provide enough information to the project team to produce BIM models:

Figure 2.2 – BIM documents diagram

The Project Information Model (PIM) is formed of the BIM models and documents created during the design and construction stages, and it follows the requirements stated in the BEP and EIR. Ultimately, this set of information will enable the process to create the Asset Information Model (AIM) that will be used during the operational phase.

Project team documents

We will now provide an overview of the BIM documents for the project team that include, but not limited to, those outlined next.

BIM Execution Plan - Pre-contract

This demonstrates that suppliers, architects, and engineers have the capability, during the tendering process, to deliver the project with a BIM methodology. We covered this in detail in the previous section.

BIM Execution Plan - Post-contract

After the project award, the post-contract BEP defines the standards, methods, and procedures to be used in the project to respond to the client's BIM requirements. We covered this in detail in the previous section.

Task Information Delivery Plan (TIDP) and Master Information Delivery Plan (MIDP)

The Task Information Delivery Plan (TIDP) defines all deliverables for each organization involved in a project. This comes in the form of a spreadsheet that includes the document name, title, format, scale, size, and milestone dates.

The Master Information Delivery Plan (MIDP) will combine all TIDPs in a single spreadsheet. To clarify, it is an Excel spreadsheet!

BIM Responsibility Matrix

The BIM Responsibility Matrix defines the responsibility of each organization to produce documents and BIM models. The BIM Responsibility Matrix is a spreadsheet that contains the following items:

• 3D model component category names with the associated Uniclass 2015 classification or New Rules of Measurement 1 (NRM1) codes
• Organizations responsible for delivering the documents and 3D models
• Level of Information Need (Framework to define the Level of Detail and Level of Information)
• Define which model element will require COBie deliverables
• Project stage

BIM and IT capability assessments

BIM and IT capability assessments are questions to evaluate the capability to deliver BIM projects, IT requirements, and cybersecurity requirements.

Project Implementation Plan (PIP)

The PIP is part of the Pre-BEP, and each company bidding to a project should provide this to demonstrate their capability, experience, and competence to deliver a BIM project.

BIM standards and guidance

Standards and guidance are imperative for the evolution of a digital AECOO industry, and they support companies and governments in having consistency in projects.

This consistency can improve efficiency and productivity for multiple sectors in the AECOO industry. It also has other benefits, such as reducing costs and improving collaboration, coordination, and data exchange.

In January 2019, the final version of the British Standard European Norm (BS EN) ISO 19650-1 and - 2 were published to supersede the BS 1192:2007+A2:2016 and the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1192-2:2013.

For more information about the BS EN ISO 19650 series, access this link:

https://ukbimframework.org/standards-guidance/

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We will not be able to cover all BIM standards in detail, but they can be divided into three levels, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.3 – BIM standards

National Standards are country-specific standards such as the British Standards, the European Standards (European Committee for Standardization (CEN)/Technical Committee (TC) 442), and other countries' standards.

Organization Standards are specific guides created by an organization to define software and graphical representations such as line weight, drawing tiles, and others.

To conclude, we have learned about the BIM documents for clients and project teams and have had an overview of industry standards.

In the next section, we will learn about project functions on a BIM project.

Project functions

The standard ISO 19650 series has replaced the word roles with functions, but the meaning is still the same, which is to define the responsibilities of a specific person or group of people.

The Exchange Information Requirements (EIR) and the BIM Execution Plan (BEP) will define project functions to outline key responsibilities, and this can improve productivity as each team member will be aware of the tasks that need to be performed.

It is essential to highlight that project functions are not job titles, and more than one person can take and perform multiple functions.

The Appointing Party (Client) that writes the EIR will define the Information Management function primarily. The Appointing Party can nominate a person from their organization or appoint a third-party company to perform this function.

The project team will define the following functions in the BEP:

• Task Team Manager
• Task Information Manager
• Information Authors
• Interface Managers

In the following sections, we will describe the key responsibilities of each function.

Appointing Party (Client)

The Appointing Party has a critical responsibility to provide quality information to the design team, and this would include the following:

• Organizational Information Requirements (OIR)
• Asset Information Requirements (AIR)
• Project Information Requirement (PIR)
• Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)

  Important Note

  The Common Data Environment (CDE) and project number must be confirmed with the Appointing Party (Client).

Task Team Manager

The Task Team Manager will perform activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Developing the Task Information Delivery Plan (TIDP)
• Reviewing and approving the information produced by their team
• Defining the appropriate information status
• Approving information issued in the Common Data Environment (CDE)

Task Information Manager

The Task Information Manager will perform the activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Reviewing the Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)
• Reviewing the Appointment and checking the BIM requirements
• Creating the BIM Execution Plan (BEP)
• Ensuring that the Task Team can produce information based on the project standards, methods, and procedures
• Implementing project protocols and technical standards
• Providing support and training
• Reviewing Asset Information Requirements (AIR)

Information authors

Information authors will perform the activities including but not limited to the following:

• Creating the model by using a BIM software
• Producing or changing information following the project BEP
• Ensuring that graphical models are spatially coordinated
• Updating the model based on the clash detection process
• Producing deliverables in accordance with the Task Information Delivery Plan (TIDP)

Interface managers

Interface managers will perform the activities, including but not limited to the following:

• Managing spatial coordination to avoid and resolve clashes
• Creating clash reports
• Federating BIM models

Information Management

The Appointing Party (Client) will nominate a person within their organization or point to a third-party company to take the Information Management function.

The list of activities for the Information Management function varies substantially from project to project.

In the BS EN ISO 19650-2 standard, there is Annex A, which is a matrix template for Information Management responsibilities.

AEC UK BIM Protocol

The Automatic Exposure Controls (AEC) (UK) BIM Protocol released in 2015 is still relevant for explaining practical functions that are widely used in the AEC industry.

This document assigns activities to three specific areas, outlined as follows:

• Strategic
• Management
• Production

Strategic – BIM Management

This role represents the company-wide BIM Manager that defines and takes strategic decisions on the BIM implementation and support training.

The company-wide BIM Manager will perform activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Corporate objectives related to BIM
• Research on technology and new processes
• Developing processes and new workflows
• Developing standards and protocols
• Responsible for the BIM implementation
• Providing training for technology and new processes
• Analyzing or create the BIM documentation (BEP and others)

Management – Coordination

This role represents the BIM Coordinator, who will perform activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Providing team training for technology and new processes
• Analyzing or creating the BIM documentation (BEP and others)
• Auditing BIM models
• Model coordination and clash detection
• Content creation

Production – Modeling/Authoring

This role represents the architects, engineers, designers, and BIM modelers that are producing information in the BIM model. They will perform activities including, but not limited to, the following:

• Project-specific content creation
• Project-specific modeling
• Project-specific drawing production

The AEC (UK) BIM Protocol functions can be seen in the following table:

Figure 2.4 – AEC (UK) BIM Protocol functions

It is essential to highlight that these are not job titles, and the same person can perform multiple functions.

To conclude, the information in this section has provided details about the project functions commonly used in the AEC industry and fully defined in the BEP.

In the next section, we will learn about Asset Management and how it can maximize the value of building assets.

Asset Management

Asset Management is a process to support building owners to maximize the value of their asset by providing strategic and operational services.

The lifespan of a building and utilities are limited, and the building life cycle after the construction stage represents the highest cost for real estate owners. If we take into consideration a period of 25 years, it is estimated that the cost to operate, maintain, and repair a building is around 80% of the total cost of ownership.

This is illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 2.5 – Total cost of ownership

The importance of Asset Management during the building life cycle is clear, yet the AECOO industry still has improvements to make in providing digital and structured data to integrate into Asset Management and operational processes.

Efficiency and productivity will increase if the data created during the design and construction stages are flawlessly transferred to the Asset Management digital platforms.

Currently, we still have issues with transferring data between project stages and the Operation/Maintenance (O&M) manuals into a facility management digital system. The main problem is that the available data is not structured, and part of the information is on paper or simple Portable Document Format (PDF) files.

This lack of data integration can lead to significant data loss, decreasing productivity and increasing the cost of maintaining assets and managing data.

The expected process to manage data includes a Common Data Environment (CDE) and full integration with a facility management digital system, as illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 2.6 – Expected process for data integration

The Common Data Environment will help to collect the data during the design and construction stages in the form of BIM models, drawings, and product data. This information becomes integrated with the facility management digital system.

When the Operation / Maintenance Manuals (O&M) are digital and structured, these will be integrated into the facility management digital system, which completes the ideal process.

Unfortunately, the data integration is still fragmented in many projects, leading to data loss and inefficiencies.

It is still common to find projects using private servers to exchange data during the design stage and only utilizing a CDE in the construction stage, which can cause data loss.

There are also potential data losses between the CDE and the facility management digital system if the integration is not established, as the information needs to be structured to enable this process.

Data loss can also occur when the O&M manuals are not digital or organized with structured data, as illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 2.7 – Possible data loss without data integration

Private clients and the UK Government share a similar strategy to improve this process by utilizing COBie as a BIM requirement.

COBie

Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) is an international standard to support Asset Management processes that include space and equipment. It provides the required information post-completion and product data from the construction team to the operational team.

Tip

COBie doesn't add new requirements to typical contractual delivery. It just changes the format of existing deliverables to an open and international standard format.

COBie is a subset of Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), and the most common representation is a spreadsheet. Depending on the facility management system, the process to import data can be different.

COBie spreadsheet information

A COBie spreadsheet contains information about the facility, such as floors and spaces; a list of products; further details on the warranties; and other aspects connected to the Asset Management process.

One COBie file should be provided per each facility on the project. Having said that, if there are multiple facilities, additional COBie files should be provided. All deliverables should be compliant with the Facility Management handover requirements.

A typical COBie spreadsheet is shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.8 – Typical COBie spreadsheet

The main COBie objective is to provide structured data at handover to the Facility Management team and increase efficiency to manage building assets. Without structured data, the AECOO industry will not be able to reach a high level of efficiency in managing data, and this could potentially affect the development of Digital Twin technologies.

The project owner or client has the responsibility to define the Asset Management and COBie requirements, and it needs to be aligned with the Facility Management team's requirements and capabilities.

Tip

It is essential to meet and engage with the Facility Management team at the beginning of the project to verify the Asset Management and COBie requirements.

COBie data requirements

Sometimes, COBie requirements are over- or underspecified and do not represent the real client need, so it is crucial to engage with the client and the Facility Management team to clarify the maintainable assets.

We can increase productivity by checking which building categories or objects need maintenance or replacement, and therefore this information will be included in the COBie deliverable as required.

Tip

Define the maintainable assets to be included in the COBie deliverable and exclude objects that do not need maintenance or replacement.

By adding this data at the project stage, this will increase productivity as well. Not all information needs to be filled in from the very beginning of a project.

Tip

COBie tabs should be progressively filled out throughout a project.

Data information can be filled in progressively and aligned with the design development, relating to the following areas:

• Project Information and Contact
• Requirements and Constraints
• Outline Solution and lifecycle costs
• Construction Information
• Operations and Maintenance Information
• Post Occupancy Validation Information and Ongoing O&M

Project Information and Contact

At the beginning of a project, information in both the Instruction and Contact tabs needs to be filled in. Cells are color-coded based on the criteria shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.9 – COBie color-coded cells

Tabs that need to be checked and filled in include the following:

• Instruction
• Contact—provide relevant contact data

Requirements and Constraints

This is data that needs to be typically included with the expected Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stage 2 or 3. This information is provided to basically ensure that the emergent design and specifications are consistent with the Appointing Party brief in terms of function and cost.

Tabs that need to be filled in include the following:

• Facility—data filled in manually in the BIM file
• Floor—data exported from Floors (extracted from the model)
• Space—data exported from Spaces (extracted from the model)
• Zone—data exported from Zones (extracted from the model)

Outline Solution and lifecycle costs

This is data that needs to be typically included with the expected RIBA Stage 4. This information can be used to ensure that the whole project is aligned with the Appointing Party brief in terms of function, cost, and carbon performance.

At this stage, the model can be used for bidding as we can export data straight from the model by using schedules (doors, windows, equipment, and so on).

Tabs that need to be filled in include the following:

• Type—data extracted from the model
• Component—data extracted from the model
• System—data extracted from the model
• Connection—data extracted from the model
• Coordinate—data extracted from the model

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) Working Group indicates that the likely accuracy for information gathered at this stage is to be 75%-80%, with a tolerance of ± 20-25%.

Construction information

This is data that needs to be typically included with the expected RIBA Stage 5. The checks are there to ensure the design from the previous stage and specifications are consistent with the Appointing Party brief in terms of function, cost, and carbon performance.

The model, now fully coordinated, can be used for construction, and coordinated technical drawings can now be driven for construction.

Comparing this with the previous stage, the model now represents a technical solution that can be built, with all inputs from the contractor already incorporated into the model.

Tabs that need to be filled in include the following:

• Type
• Attribute—data for type, components, systems, coordinates, connections, and documents attributes gets updated to the construction level (extracted from the model)

The CIC Working Group indicates that the likely accuracy for information gathered at this stage is to be 85%-90%.

Operations and Maintenance Information

This is data that needs to be typically included with the expected RIBA Stage 6. All this data will be related to Operations and Management Information. It is related to the operational and detailed functional information supplied by the manufacturers and trade contractors who have installed and commissioned them as systems.

The model now represents the building as built and contains all information provided by all subcontractors. It includes all information regarding systems and equipment installed.

Tabs that need to be filled in include the following:

• Job
• Resource
• Spare

The accuracy for information gathered is expected to be 100%.

Post Occupancy Validation Information and Ongoing O&M

The concept of this post-occupancy information is to review and check how the asset is actually being used. This stage should be used to update the post-occupancy system with the final and most updated operational dataset once all systems and procedures have settled into operation.

The model now represents the building in use and contains all information from the management teams and systems implemented.

COBie concept

The COBie concept is simple, but the process to deliver COBie is not always straightforward because it depends on the BIM model quality.

Organizations usually use Solibri or the Autodesk COBie Extension for Revit to produce the COBie deliverables. The Solibri Model Checker logo can be seen here:

Figure 2.10 – Solibri Model Checker

You can visit the Solibri website at this address: https://www.solibri.com/.

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The Autodesk COBie Extension for Revit is free, and it can increase your productivity to deliver COBie requirements. You can see the extension in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.11 –Autodesk COBie Extension for Revit

You can visit the Autodesk COBie Extension for Revit website at this address: https://www.biminteroperabilitytools.com/cobieextensionrevit.php.

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The Revit COBie extension has a download for each Revit version such as Revit 2021, 2020, and others. Sample files and training material are also available for free on the website.

Note

The Revit COBie extension has issues exporting COBie data from Model Groups in Revit.

To enhance the discussion about Asset Management, we have interviewed George Stevenson from ActivePLAN, who is an expert in Asset Management processes.

Interview with George Stevenson, Managing Director at ActivePLAN

Hi George, thank you for the interview.

We would like to have your views about Asset Management and the future of this sector.

Could you please present yourself and your company?

I am a Xerox-trained information management specialist who came into the construction industry in 1982. Initially, I was involved in developing estimating and planned maintenance software for M&E contractors, which then progressed to database-driven CAD and object-oriented building modeling (Sonata and Reflex, which became Revit). I founded the UK's first Project Extranet/CDE, BIW, which is now Oracle Aconex.

Now, I am Managing Director of ActivePLAN, a 20-person software and information management firm. We are Autodesk developers but principally focus on creating web-based BIM applications for briefing, information requirements, and applications that can be used throughout the design and construction process to deliver better information for asset management. See https://activeplan.co.uk/transforming-construction/ for further information.

Many of our clients are asset owners and FM contractors, so we have developed solutions to transform handover information to populate different FM applications and also to provide an enduring digital O&M/AIM.

We also have solutions to take their existing O&Ms and transform them into BIM-compliant data models—generally 2D. Still, where they choose to invest in point clouds and 3D models (perhaps for Plant Rooms), we include those through our API integration with Forge/BIM 360 and 3D Repo.

Data engineering is a large part of what we do, and I was a founding member of what is now called BuildingSmart and was UK Chair of the FM working group. We have been working with the BRE to develop a data dictionary application to create and manage standardized datasets as reusable data templates. This has formed the basis of the free platform that is being used by product manufacturers—Lexicon.

For many years, I have dedicated 20% of my time to working pro bono on initiatives to improve the industry, and the four current ones are:

• BIM4Housing—Chair
• BIM4HA/HACT Housing Asset Data Standards Working Group
• Golden Thread Initiative—Chair of the Asset Information Working Group
• Constructing Excellence Collaborative Working Champions

What are the challenges for architects and engineers to deliver asset information requirements in the pre-construction and post-construction stage?

Asset information requirements are seldom provided in a form that integrates with their authoring tools (generally, they are PDF documents). So, it tends to be a manual process. Adding the requirements as metadata on 3D BIM objects is not ideal and, if they use IFC to export the data, there are problems because they tend to use 2x3, which is the coordination MVD, and that isn't designed for asset information. This is compounded when people convert from Revit to IFC, import into a federated IFC model, and then convert back to COBie—what could possibly go wrong? Used properly, a native output, directly from Revit using COBie extensions, seems to be more reliable.

However, the biggest issue is that most of the required asset information comes from product manufacturers and installation contractors, who use databases and Excel to produce their data, not Revit or ArchiCAD. In fact, a lot of the assets that need to be scheduled and maintained, such as door closers and actuators, are not modeled by designers—or contractors

ActivePLAN addresses that by providing trade contractors and manufacturers with BIM-compliant data templates (spreadsheet or forms), populated and generated from the Project Information Model, for suppliers to use to provide the rest of the information. Since they come from the federated PIM, which includes all the geometric models, all of the data collected is referenced to the types and instances in the 3D model.

How can we improve productivity and efficiency to deliver the asset information requirements?

The most significant improvement to productivity is to do something once and reuse it many times.

ActivePLAN is helping with that by supporting the development of standardized libraries of requirements and solutions. Individual clients in different sectors can tailor these to reflect their operational needs.

Auditable versions of requirements and auditing of the supply chain's submissions to ensure they include the right information in the correct format is essential. So, we have developed a collaborative platform that automates the validation of the data in a similar way that applications like Solibri, Navisworks, and 3D Repo validate geometry. In fact, the ActivePLAN PIM/AIM platform includes the BIM 360 platform for the Autodesk world and 3D Repo for the Open community.

The requirements for a project are delivered as a web service that can be integrated, via APIs, with Revit, AutoCAD, and other authoring applications, making it easier to populate data as part of the typical design process. These project requirements can include pre-populated values, such as Uniclass codes, minimum heating, lighting, ventilation, and acoustic requirements, along with reference codes that connect specifications and data, providing a Golden Thread of information.

Manufacturers' product data is seldom provided in a standard format, which means finding information is a very manual process, and this adds huge cost and risk to the cost of design, construction, and operations. Manufacturers have been converting their brochures and data sheets to digital for years. However, they have not followed a consistent database format, which means people still need to read and interpret them manually. We worked with the BRE to develop a free data template platform that anyone can use to create their own data templates and product libraries, and that can be shared in a network of interconnected product libraries.

Even if a manufacturer has not yet used the free templates to publish their products in a free product library, a designer or contractor can do it just once to support the specification, change management, procurement, and production of Digital O&Ms—and retain it in a shared library for reuse on future schemes that use that manufactured product.

Why do we still have data loss between the construction and handover stage?

The record of what is actually procured and installed is typically analog (spreadsheets and PDFs) and not managed as machine-readable data that connects back to the geometric model, which should provide location and system information. This would not require the installers to use a 3D model; they simply need to be able to maintain a digital reference to the item in the model.

The people commissioning systems or paying for work completed should be engaged in this validation and verification process. Still, they are often scared off because of the perception that BIM is 3D and they might be expected to wear augmented-reality headsets.

They become disconnected from what was designed, which is typically in the BIM model. Historically, people used to work with detailed schedules. Hence, there was a means of tracking things through the process but, ironically, BIM has created a disconnection because there is an assumption that the required information will be in the models and it seldom is. The strict naming conventions that were standard practice in the analog world seem to be less rigorously policed in the digital world, and we rely on the parameters being set up correctly in the applications.

For example, "systems" are critical to MEP maintenance, yet we seldom see COBie data with Assets and Components referenced to the correct Systems (ideally Uniclass). I understand that there are several ways this can be captured and exported using Revit, but it requires the setup to be appropriately configured—and policed.

If the construction and handover stages are fully integrated, do you think the asset information requirements between stage 2 and 4 will not be necessary as the design is still evolving?

If FMs only see information after stage 4, opportunities to save costs and energy will be lost.

FMs need to see the intended solutions to be able to advise clients on a solution and product selection. This is increasingly important as environmental performance becomes a major driver.

Establishing the spatial model in COBie is essential to ensure that the locations of all the assets are automatically recorded. The asset types would usually be determined by stage 3, even if they are later changed, and registering what they were before they were changed is valuable information for an asset manager replacing a failed product that may have been "value engineered" with the one the designer originally recommended.

How can standardized client requirements and standardized product data improve efficiency in the process to deliver asset information?

This is fundamental. The information asset team's need for pumps, fan coils, doors, or cladding are mostly the same across different sectors—residential, education, retail, offices, and healthcare sectors. Clearly, there are differences of criticality even within these sectors, and the client's requirements need to reflect the needs of the different stakeholder groups on each project.

However, by starting from a peer-reviewed set of standard libraries, the amount of effort required to make those changes is minor. By standardizing performance requirements in a machine-readable format, the post-occupancy measurement can inform the effectiveness of a design and, perhaps, modifications to the requirements.

Similarly, manufacturers can create their standardized product libraries to include the information and performance levels clients are asking for and more closely align what they are creating to the client's needs.

The cost of operational effectiveness and environmental performance can be modeled to create far more sustainable buildings.

In simple terms, few buildings, even today, are delivering fit-for-purpose asset information, because it is still such a manual process that is left to the end when time and cost is running out. By standardising the information from the outset, the committed information manager can invest their time on the aspects that really need their skills, leaving the delivery of the asset information to the process.

What is your view about COBie, now and in future developments? Is COBie a long-term goal or, in the future, could it be replaced by advanced technology to structure data differently?

Everything can be improved, but I am nervous of moving the goalposts when we are finally gaining some traction with people understanding that the data is as (if not more) important as the geometry in BIM.

COBie is a data schema, which can accommodate much more than it is used for at the moment. It isn't perfect but, by using Attributes effectively, we can get it to do 95% of what we need.

It is important to clarify what we mean by the information that asset teams need.

They use different applications for different reasons. For example, there are:

• CMMS—Computerized maintenance management applications that are principally used to generate work instructions for regular/planned maintenance. This typically would include just 10% of the assets in the O&M.
• Helpdesk—These support reactive maintenance, and there is a trend towards using CRM applications for this purpose.
• H&S/O&M—Typically, the as-built records of what was installed with the associated documentation. There is a requirement to keep this updated with any changes, but that is seldom done. ActivePLAN delivers this as a Digital O&M or Asset Information Model (AIM) that contains everything, including the asset types in the CMMS.
• Survey and inspection—These are specialist mobile applications that need very focused information and to be able to deliver that data back to an AIM.
• Lifecycle management—This is often done in spreadsheets.
• Space management—This is sometimes termed FM and includes room bookings, generally delivered as a separate application (or module) to the CMMS application—for example, IBM Maximo and IBM Tririga.
• BMS/Digital Twins—I am connecting these because they are both ways of using/applying the coordinated Asset data that is in the AIM.

A completed COBie data model or Excel workbook should contain all of the information required for each of these applications/uses. However, we should not expect these applications to read a full COBie data model or workbook—or indeed develop an IFC module.

Even the large CMMS applications, who have developed the means to deal with COBie, convert it to import into their database. So, it makes more sense for the handover COBie data to go into an Asset Information Model like ActivePLAN that can hold and manage ALL of the required information and generate tailored outputs for the different CMMS applications plus all of the types of applications mentioned above.

In the modern world of "data services", by ensuring the COBie data schema is complied with, web services can provide the dynamic interoperability that enables the contractor carrying out an inspection/service of fire doors—for example—to record a failure in their CMMS application, raise a "job" to repair it, and feed back to the AIM the changed status of that asset so that an appropriate risk can be assessed in the context of the whole building.

The work we are doing with BRE is teaching us about the use of Ontology and how this can be used to provide a context for determining what needs to be collected and how it should be used. The data scientists we are working with are happy to use COBie as the data exchange mechanism—the key thing is getting the right data for the right purposes.

There have been discussions about removing "Coordinates" from the schema. This would be a real shame because the asset information needs to be "located" and not merely referenced to a space. If you have 20 CCTV cameras in a single space, holding the x/y/z coordinates in the data (that is, not a separate geometric model) is essential.

What are the challenges of integrating operations and maintenance (O&M) and asset management (AM) in the construction industry?

I see Asset Management as the overall process of which operations and maintenance are subprocesses, alongside lifecycle planning/replacement, small works, space management, BMS. They are (and will continue to be) supported by many applications, used for many different reasons by different stakeholders. This is easily addressed if we can overcome the two largest barriers—the quality of data (structure, content, reliability, and currency) and lack of investment.

The latter affects the former.

FM is often the first thing to be cut when money is tight. Money for new developments is often easier to secure than funds to install a new heating or air-conditioning system. Even with PFI, where the importance of investing in facilities is well recognized, contracts are often put in place, where the FM has little choice but to cut corners.

Few projects (even today) are delivering reliable information about the location of fire dampers and fire stopping, so how is the FM supposed to budget and plan for their inspection, maintenance, and replacement?

Clients seldom know what is in their buildings (in some cases, they don't even know how many buildings they have). FMs are often expected to tender for maintenance on existing estates, with very incomplete data about what they will be maintaining. They might commission surveys (they often need to do this on brand-new BIM-delivered buildings). Still, many of the items they are expected to maintain are not easily visible for surveyors to record, so they are not picked up.

Is a Digital Twin the future of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Asset Management integration?

Digital Twin is a term used by different people and with different meanings. I attended the September 2019 Digital Twin event at the ICE in London, where a veteran from Formula One explained that they have been using Digital Twins for 20 years—they used to call it Simulation.

I think that is how we should differentiate between a 3D model, even one with IoT sensors, and a proper Digital Twin that is able to simulate activities and scenarios to inform better asset management.

BMS applications are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are undoubtedly part of this process, as is Artificial Intelligence.

We have been experimenting with AI since 2018 to understand how agents can be trained to respond to a question or an event. My business partner, Tim Aikin, has sensors all over his house, feeding his own Digital Twin, using ActivePLAN AIM as the platform.

We are also experimenting with Graph database, to take the spatial model from a residential tower block, assign the fire protection assets to systems and spaces, and model the impact of a failure of a single asset on the spaces and people within them. Our next step is to create scenarios using AI to simulate how people will respond to an event and how the environment could be improved to make them safer.

The fact is that all of these processes are reliant on better asset information that is kept updated and the more people who are connecting with, and using, that information for different purposes, the better.

How could Revit and BIM authoring tools improve to facilitate the process to deliver Asset Management? Is data in the Cloud the future of asset management in BIM tools?

All applications can be improved to facilitate the process, but we need to understand that BIM is about the information and not the applications that create it. Holding asset data in an application that is primarily designed to create 3D models is not sensible.

Data is best managed in databases, and the Cloud makes that even easier.

Different stakeholders can be given the rights to use and update elements of the information, ideally from the applications they are using for their day-to-day tasks—not only 3D modeling applications.

Revit and other authoring applications support APIs, so there is no need to add the non-geometric data to the 3D objects themselves. The dynamic connection to a Cloud service gives the impression of the data being in the model when the user clicks on it. Still, it is being managed (and created) elsewhere—often by subject matter experts who have quality-assured the data.

George, thank you very much for the interview.

To conclude this section, we learned about the importance of Asset Management during the building lifecycle, and how structured data is critical to integrate data across multiple Facility Management platforms. COBie provides structured data that is used in the strategy of private clients and the UK Government to support Asset Management processes.

In the next section, we will learn about how to create an Action Plan to start a BIM project.

Establishing an Action Plan to start a BIM project

An Action Plan helps organizations to start BIM projects with an established process to manage project data and turn goals into reality, which will avoid problems during the design, construction, and building life cycle.

The Action Plan will provide a list of tasks to be completed to achieve initial objectives to manage project data, and it can increase efficiencies on your workflow to start a project.

The Action Plan will include the following tasks, but is not limited to these:

• Defining the initial BIM objectives to manage project data
• Listing the task to be completed to reach your objectives
• Prioritizing essential tasks in conjunction with project deadlines
• Defining initial project deadlines to receive information
• Defining the resources required to complete your tasks
• Measuring and evaluating the progress and updating the Action Plan as required

An effective Action Plan can help to keep you on track to set up BIM projects correctly and improve productivity to manage BIM data.

Action Plan to manage project data

The main objective of this Action Plan is to analyze BIM contractual requirements, reduce risk, and collect all necessary information to start a BIM project.

Sometimes, a project starts without a BEP fully defined, and also, your company may not be the Lead Appointed Party that is developing the BEP.

When the BEP is completed, all Appointed Parties will follow it to deliver the project.

Listing the tasks to reach your objectives

The following tasks will help define the project objectives and support the initial process to set up a BIM project:

1. Analyze the BIM contractual requirements.
2. If the client does not have BIM requirements, your company should define the standard BIM deliverables contractually.
3. Engage with the Client and Asset Management team to clarify every BIM requirement.
4. Request the following documents to the client:
   • Organizational Information Requirements (OIR)
   • Asset Information Requirements (AIR)
   • Exchange Information Requirements (EIR)
5. Request and analyze any legacy and survey files and Ordnance Survey maps.
6. Check and validate the information received.
7. Request or develop the BEP and collaborate with other organizations.
8. Request or develop the BIM Responsibility Matrix. The BIM Responsibility Matrix needs to be checked against design/construction responsibilities and the Appointment.
9. Check the BIM and IT Capability Assessments.
10. Set up or request the Master Coordinates file to define the correct project coordinates at the beginning of the project.
11. Book in a kick-off meeting to explain in detail all agreed terms to deliver the project.

To produce the Action Plan, we can use this simple table:

Figure 2.12 – List of tasks to be completed

Prioritizing important tasks and deadlines

During the process to create the Action Plan, we can prioritize essential tasks such as the contractual requirements and the BIM Responsibility Matrix.

Defining project deadlines for data exchange

The project deadlines will provide useful guidance when you need to request and receive that necessary information to make informed decisions.

Defining the resources required to complete your tasks

Projects can vary in complexity, and resources or information may be necessary.

Measuring and evaluating the progress and updating the Action Plan as required

We can measure and evaluate the benefits of the Action Plan if your project team has understood the contractual and non-contractual BIM deliverables.

The end product of this process is a project correctly set up with all BIM requirements agreed and aligned with real clients' requests.

As mentioned before, the client's requirements can be incomplete or overspecified.

To conclude, we have learned about how to create an Action Plan to start BIM projects efficiently and have contractual and non-contractual BIM deliverables agreed by the client and project teams.

Summary

In this chapter, we have learned about the importance of Project Data Management to increase efficiency and improve productivity.

We explained the benefits of having clear BIM requirements defined by the client, and which BIM documents the client is responsible for providing to the project team.

We provided an overview of the BIM documentation for clients, project teams, and industry standards.

You also learned about the project functions that are involved in a BIM project, the importance of Asset Management, and how to create an Action Plan to start a BIM project.

In the next chapter, we will cover how a good Revit template and graphical standards can improve productivity.