BIM for FM Opportunities: Overcoming Challenges and

Sharing Lessons Learned

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Angela Lewis , P.E., PhD, LEED AP; Deke Smith , FAIA, Jim Whittaker , CFM, P.E.
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Facility Engineering Associates, buildingSMART alliance
Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract
As new technologies enter the facilities industry, facility managers continue to have fewer resources,
more facilities and more responsibilities. This makes it challenging to find the time and resources to
follow current industry trends, such as building information modeling (BIM). Although the value of BIM
has been financially demonstrated for construction, determining how to best use BIM within facility
management is in its infancy. The purpose of this paper is to help facility managers, consultants and
other stakeholders understand key terminology to evaluate the use of BIM for facility management
through the use of three case studies. The content of the case studies focus on the challenges and
lessons learned. Key terminology discussed includes BIM, construction operations building information
exchange (COBie), information exchange, industry foundation class (IFC) and OmniClass. The paper
concludes with a synthesis of key findings resulting from the case studies and a brief discussion about
how to get involved with shaping the development of BIM FM.

Introduction
BIM, building information modeling is “a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of
a facility” (NBIMS-US 2012). But what does this mean? To some, BIM is a 3D model. However, the 3D
part of BIM is “just” the physical part of the model. The “I” in BIM, information, is equally, if not more
important, especially in facility management. Understanding what BIM is and how it can be applied within
facility management is important to overcoming current industry challenges to achieve the BIM FM vision.

The BIM FM vision: click a 3D object in a BIM and instantly have current, user-specific asset data.
“Although such a BIM promises an opportunity to improve productivity, support proactive decision making
and reduce costs, the industry must acknowledge the challenges that have to be overcome before facility
managers, building operators and others will have a BIM that aligns with this vision” (Lewis et al. 2012).

Understanding BIM FM: Key Terminology

To understand BIM FM today, it is necessary to think like a facility manager, but have some knowledge of
information technology, software development and open standards. As BIM FM evolves, the need to
understand software development will decrease because processes that are currently central within many
BIM FM discussions will take place “behind the scenes.” The term that is perhaps most commonly talked
about is COBie, the Construction Operations Building information exchange. COBie is part of the National
BIM Standard – United States. It is a standard to exchange information from one phase of the facility life
cycle to another. The end goal of the information exchanges is to provide the information that facility
managers need to operate and maintain their facilities. An information exchange is the process of passing
information from one party to another. The “party” can be a person, such as from a commissioning agent
to an electrical contractor, or software, such as from BIM authoring software to COBie, and from COBie to
a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). The information flows defined by COBie
make it unique to other standards, as COBie defines information flows, which allow information to be put
into a useful format. For example, when information about an air handling unit is entered into COBie, the
information can be imported and exported into COBie complaint software and used to make decisions
through automated reports. In contrast, if the same data is listed on an equipment sheet saved as a PDF
it is not possible to automate reports using the PDF. Additionally, the information flows supported by the

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use of COBie support the development of contracted information flows during the design, construction
and operations stages of a building life cycle. Today, COBie can be viewed as part of software, such as
CMMS or as a spreadsheet (NBIMS-US 2012). As BIM FM evolves, it will become less necessary to view
COBie as a spreadsheet.
TM
During discussions about COBie, the terms OmniClass , industry foundation class (IFC) and National
TM
Building Information Modeling Standard (NBIMS) commonly enter the discussion. OmniClass is a
comprehensive set of 15 tables that classify the built environment over the life of a facility (NBIMS-US
2012). Some examples of OmniClass tables are Table 21: Elements and Table 23: Products. OmniClass
TM TM
is an open standard and draws from other standards, including MasterFormat and Uniformat
(OmniClass 2012).

Industry Foundation Class (IFC) is an object-based file format developed to facilitate interoperability in the
building industry. It is a vendor neutral, open standard that is not controlled by a single vendor or vendor
group (NBIMS-US 2012). IFCs have been developed since 1994 (Laakso et al. 2012). At the time this
paper was written, 149 IFC compatible software applications were developed, including but not limited to
model viewers, facility management, architectural, structural and construction management software (BSI
2012).
TM
NBIMS-US, the National BIM Standard - United States Version 2 is an open standard that aggregates
reference standards, terms and definitions, information exchange standards and practice documents into
one document. The purpose of NBIMS-US is to “advance the art and science of the entire life-cycle of
the vertical and horizontal built environment by providing a means of organizing and classifying electronic
object data and thereby fostering streamlined communication among owners, designers, material
suppliers, constructors, facility managers and all stakeholders associated with the built environment”
(NBIMS-US 2012). The goal of the standard is to provide a framework to support collaboration and trust
between stakeholders using an open, non-proprietary standard that is accessible to all industry
professionals (NBIMS-US 2012).

Overview, Challenges and Lessons Learned from Three Case Studies

High level project summaries, challenges and lessons learned are provided below to provide practical,
real-world examples of BIM FM projects. Each of these case studies is part of a book, BIM for Facility
Managers, which is anticipated to be published in 2013 by Wiley. The three case studies represent three
different facility management organizations: the State of Wisconsin Bureau of Facilities Management,
Division of State Facilities, Department of Administration; the University of Chicago and the University of
Southern California Facility Management Services. Two of the case studies use of BIM FM during new
construction projects. One case study, the University of Chicago first implemented BIM FM during an
existing building renovation.

Case Study #1: State of Wisconsin Bureau of Facilities Management, Division of State Facilities,
Department of Administration
The State of Wisconsin Bureau of Facilities Management, Division of State Facilities, Department of
Administration started implementing a BIM FM pilot program with four buildings in 2011. The pilot
program included the development of the A/E (architect and engineering) BIM Guidelines and Standards.
As the name implies, the A/E guidelines and standards contain information that is most relevant to
architects, engineers and constructors. It describes how the State of WI requires BIM authoring software
to be used and the objectives for the use of BIM from pre-design to construction close out. Although the
standard does not specifically define requirements for facility management, it sets the foundation for
these requirements through the sections about open standards for software interoperability, model
quality, level of development and the objectives, applications and deliverables (State of WI 2012).

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One of the pilot projects was a residence hall on the University of Wisconsin River Falls campus. The
goal of the pilot was to determine how and what data from the BIM could be populated from the BIM into
the CMMS. The CMMS at the campus is used to manage work orders, track preventive maintenance,
assign charge backs, manage parts inventory and run reports. The CMMS also has equipment records
classified by equipment type.

To extract the information from the BIM, the architect exported industry foundation class (IFC) files from
AutoDesk Revit, a BIM authoring software. The IFCs where then processed using a SQL database to
extract the relevant facility management information from the files. The extraction process took several
hours to complete when using a computer with a quad core processor with 8 Gb of memory running on a
64 bit Microsoft 7 operating system. Given the amount of time it took to process the data and that it is
also necessary to review the data after it is processed, it was concluded that it is best to process small
portions data at a time. Reviewing the data required an understanding of building systems because a lot
of building data used by facility management team to support operations and maintenance is building
systems. Additionally, much of the data from the BIM was not labeled in a consistent manner so it was not
always easy to identify what information was in the model. For example, sometimes equipment was
labeled with a generic name, such as inline pump. In other cases, it was labeled by equipment vendor,
such as A.O. Smith. Labeling the information in a consistent manner is important so that can be properly
associated with the correct equipment records.

Characteristics that made the University of Wisconsin River Falls residence hall a good pilot project
included:
 The facility management team was interested in participating in the effort, including the CMMS IT
manager
 Architectural and engineering design was completed using BIM authoring software
 The use of an electronic submittal process during construction and commissioning allowed the
data to be collected electronically

Two key lessons learned during the State of Wisconsin pilot projects include:
 It is important to have well written specifications that define the type of data that will be collected
from the design and construction process and populated into the CMMS. Although detailed
information is necessary, the specifications should not be so detailed that they will not be relevant
across the State, considering the needs of different State Agencies and the different CMMS
software products used across the State
 It is necessary to understand what data can be provided from the design and construction teams.
For large owners and facility managers, holding listening sessions to understand the challenges
of design and construction teams who are likely to provide design and construction services can
be an effective strategy to understand current levels of experience with BIM and what skill sets
can be expected before starting a project.

Case Study #2: University of Chicago Administration Building Renovation

The University of Chicago Administration Building is located at the center of campus. The 15,000 square
foot (1,394 square meter) building was built in 1949. In 2011, the building was renovated to modernize
the office areas, add additional restrooms and upgrade the mechanical systems. At the start of the
project, formal BIM FM requirements were not determined. Instead, as the project was underway, the
opportunity for BIM FM was recognized when the BIM Protocol Manual for the project was being
developed with the support of the construction manager. It was determined that the small, yet complex,
project would make an excellent project to pilot the use of BIM FM. Thus, the goal for the project became
to develop a historical database of FM data that could be used to populate Maximo and to determine the
processes necessary to achieve this goal. It was determined that selecting a small renovation project
was beneficial because:
 It was easier to make modifications to the data set, as the project team was small.

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  Changes to the processes used could be made quickly compared to a large project because
there were fewer levels of communication and approval. This became especially important
because it took time to develop and refine new ideas.

To guide decisions about the level of detail information was be gathered to support facility management
processes, AIA Document E202 – 2008: Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit was used. This
document defines five levels of development (LOD). The fifth level, LOD505: As constructed assemblies
with accurate size, shape, location, quantity and orientation information was used to help define what
information to collect for facility management.

To support the handover process from construction to facility management, a translational tool was
developed using a modified version of COBie in the form of a spreadsheet. This tool allowed information
to be collected during construction and imported into Maximo, the University’s CMMS. The translational
tool was used to define what information to collect, such as asset name, vendor information, asset
location, serial number, barcode number and installation date. Equipment information was collected for
air terminal units, air handling units, split systems, supply and return air fans, hot water circulating pumps,
air cooled condensers, drinking water fountains, urinals, water closets, lavatories and lighting fixtures. To
make sure equipment was named uniformly, pick lists were created.

The two primary benefits of using BIM for FM identified through this project include:
 Improved management of building asset information
 Improved accuracy of data
 Streamlined project turnover and transition to operations

The primary challenges identified through the case study include:

 How to identify the correct level of detail for information gathered during the construction process
that will be used to support facility management processes
 Determining how the 3D model component of the BIM could be of benefit to facility management,
including what software should be used to view the model
 How to leverage the various skill sets of team members to achieve the BIM FM goals

Key lessons learned from the case study include:

 More professionals with the ability to communicate across industry disciplines (architecture,
construction and facility management) who are knowledgeable about CMMS are needed
 Processes to support information exchanges from construction to facility management are in their
infancy

Case Study #3: University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts

In 2009, the University of Southern California, School of Cinematic Arts dedicated a new multi-building
complex. The $165 million complex was completed in three phases. As it was required to use BIM for all
three phases, USC Facility Management Services (FMS) was able to apply the lessons learned from each
phase to inform how BIM FM would be used. The second phase of the project was the turning point for
BIM FM, as the team started to see some of the benefits for BIM FM. One of the results from the second
phase was the development of a prototype portal for use by FMS. The portal, although not the final
solution used for day-to-day operations, it provided an invaluable interactive tool which helped to refine
the needs and uses of a facility management portal developed using 3D models and information from the
BIM. One of the key lessons learned from the case study is that software tools should be carefully
evaluated before using them for applications other than the functions for which they were designed.

Synthesis of Lessons Learned

As the process and standard practices to implement BIM FM are still evolving, there are many
opportunities for lessons learned. The lessons learned discussed in this paper center on information,

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necessary skill sets and software functionality. The facility management industry has an abundance of
data. Thus, methods are needed to clearly define what data the facility management team needs and in
what format the data is needed. Additionally, the team must determine what methods will be used to
maintain the information overtime. Management of information over the building life cycle is critical to the
success of the BIM FM effort. If the information is not kept up to date, the goals of the effort are less
likely to be achieved. Team members must have the knowledge necessary to have discussions across
the design, construction and facility management team; this requires an understanding of facility
management software, such as CMMS. Finally, it is necessary to be able to determine the core
functionality of various software products.

Synthesis of Challenges
World class facility management teams are willing to recognize that all projects have challenges.
Additionally, such teams are willing to think outside of current processes and practices to find solutions.
Each of the facility management teams discussed within the case studies are world class facility
management teams. Five challenges that were encountered by these facility management teams, as well
as the facility management industry (Lewis et al. 2012) include:
 The facility management industry is reactive
 Facility management software is often underutilized and poorly implemented
 The increasing number of software offerings is creating an over abundance of data and decisions
about what type of software (and data) to use
 Process changes require cultural change
 Integration is expensive and what will be integrated must be clearly defined

Opportunities to Be a Part of the BIM FM Solution

In order for BIM to be most successful, it is necessary to change many current business practices. BIM is
a team sport and the full benefits of BIM can only be realized when the information flows from the
authoritative source to other information users throughout the life-cycle ensuring information is only
entered one time. In order for this to occur, it is necessary to be able to have confidence in the source of
the information and also have confidence that information you provide to the BIM will not be used
inappropriately. In order to accomplish this, it is necessary to implement strong information assurance
techniques and also capture and carry along metadata with the objects. These capabilities exist in the IT
world so it is not necessary to re-invent them.

The organization in the United States developing the standards that are necessary for true interoperability
is the buildingSMART alliance, a council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. The Alliance is also
the North American chapter of buildingSMART International, the home of open BIM. Therefore, it is only
natural that the buidingSMART alliance promotes open BIM standards. These standards include
reference standards, such as ISO 16739 (Industry Foundation Class [IFC]), information exchanges such
as COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange) and guidelines, which are not true
standards, but provide the guidance to the user on implementing the other two aspects. An example of a
consensus approved guideline is the BIM Implementation Guide developed with Pankow funding at Penn
State.

There are multiple ways to get involved in the Alliance, as a sponsor, as a corporation or as an individual.
Involvement in each of these ways is necessary to achieve the BIM FM vision. Associations, such as
IFMA, are also involved through Memorandums of Agreement indicating that they are committed and are
committing their membership to supporting open BIM standards. Several organizations such as the
American Institute of Architects (AIA), United States General Services Administration (GSA) and the
American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), as well as others continue to join these ranks. They are
committing to provide content to the National BIM Standard-United States (NBIMS-US), and provide
education material and information to their constituents. Another excellent example is where multiple
associations join ranks to penetrate and entire phase of the industry. IFMA and I2SL is an excellent

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example where two groups have joined ranks working to position facility managers so that they can
accept and use BIM’s that have been developed during design and construction. To not take advantage
of this information is currently an unfortunate situation, which the industry must work to change.

Conclusion
As stated earlier, BIM FM is in its infancy. In order for BIM FM to be common industry practice, it is
necessary for thought leaders to help facility managers determine why BIM is worth investing in and
define the value proposition for BIM FM. Furthermore, new processes, retraining and funding for pilot
projects and standards development will be needed.

Implementing BIM FM is a business decision that should be driven by owners and facility managers.
Forward thinking decision makers will realize that implementing BIM FM is like switching from typewriters
to computers: it is disruptive, requires process change and retraining. Although the FM industry is known
for being risk adverse, a shift it this type of thinking is needed. To start shifting your thinking, make an
effort to learn more about BIM and BIM FM. See the list of sources of additional information and
references below to start learning more.

Sources of Additional Information

buildingSMART alliance: www.buildingsmartalliance.org
COBie College: A series of YouTube videos: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9E7A408B074B90C9
Building Information Modeling: A Strategic Implementation Guide for Architects, Engineers, Constructors,
and Real Estate Asset Managers by Deke Smith and Michael Tardif
BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers
and Contractors. By Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks and Kathleen Liston

References
BSI (2012). Model Support Group, Implementation Support Group, All Applications. www.buildingsmart-
tech.org/implementation/implementations Accessed July 28, 2012.
NBIMS-US (2012). National BIM Standard – United States Version 2. www.buildingsmartalliance.org
Accessed July 28, 2012.
Laakso, M.; A. Kiviniemi. (2012). The IFC Standard – A Review of History, Development, and
Standardization. Journal of Technology in Construction 17:134-161.
Lewis, A.; J. Whittaker (2012). Identifying and Overcoming Industry Challenges to Reach the BIM FM
Vision. Journal of Building Information Modeling, Spring 2012.
OmniClass (2012). About OmniClass. www.omniclass.org/about.asp Accessed July 27, 2012.
State of WI. (2012). State of Wisconsin Division of State Facilities Master Specifications /Design
Guidelines www.doa.state.wi.us/dsf/masterspec_view_new.asp?catid=61&locid=4 Accessed July 27,
2012.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Paul Teicholz, PhD, for the opportunity to include case study summaries
from his upcoming book, BIM for Facility Managers. The book will be published by Wiley in 2013.
Additionally, the authors thank the case study participants, as well as all of the volunteers who actively
engage in open standards development and those who use these standards to work towards the BIM FM
vision.