2006-07 - Construction Innovation

National Research Priorities
Transforming existing industries
Sydney Opera House FM Exemplar project
Construction Innovation’s Sydney Opera House FM Exemplar Project was developed as a response to
the Australian Government’s Facilities Management Action Agenda, which aimed to develop a strategic
framework for a more sustainable and internationally competitive Australian FM sector.
The uniqueness and complexity of Sydney Opera House,
which attracts an estimated 4.5 million visitors and stages
2000 performances a year, was used as a template for
developing knowledge to form the basis for future innovation,
learning and standards – with applications for the broader
FM industry.
The FM sector plays a significant role in the delivery of facilities
services to the built environment. While its primary function is
the provision of buildings and the minimisation of operational
life cycle costs, the sector is also responsible for ensuring
that services are delivered in a way that contributes to the
productivity and profitability of building occupants, as well
as improved returns for owners and investors.
Australia’s FM sector employs more than 170,000 people
and generates approximately $12 billion of Australia’s GDP.
By combining direct and indirect contributions, it is estimated
FM accounts for over $12.4 billion in GDP, equivalent to
1.65% of Australia’s GDP. The Sydney Opera House FM
Exemplar Project focused on three areas of interest to the
FM sector – digital modelling, services procurement and performance benchmarking. The digital modelling
component of the research was based on integration of FM digital data from a range of software systems
into a partial Building Information Model (BIM) of the Sydney Opera House.
Construction of the Sydney Opera House commenced nearly 50 years ago and the completed building
differs from the original drawings. There is no definitive set of plans or documentation incorporating service
changes made over the years. This lack of consistent data in a single source presents many challenges for
management and future development of the facility.
Construction Innovation’s research demonstrated that the BIM could be used for FM by mapping the
relationship of objects such as lifts, ventilation and fire systems within the building and integrating this
into a model with FM functions, such as facility condition reporting and energy consumption.
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