CU Mar-Apr 2020

TECHNOLOGY focus
must be formatted, presented and
shared across the project team.
So to summarise, on a BIM enabled
project, the client/employer sets the
standards and culture of the project.
My day-to-day work is often spent
supporting these types of organisations
in developing their requirements,
documentation and providing a point of
contact during project delivery. When
we consider the information traditionally
received at the end of a project, this is
typically provided in hundreds or
thousands of PDF files in the form of
maintenance information, operation
manuals, drawings, etc, and is often
incomplete or inaccurate. That is a lot
of information, and it can be very
difficult to search or locate what is
required within it. This is certainly not a
data driven approach.
DC: Isn't Building Information Modelling
focused around data?
DF: Yes, exactly and there is a process
clients/employers can request in their
Information Requirements documents
which is known as COBie which stands
for Construction Operations Building
Information Exchange (COBie). It is a
non-proprietary data format for the
publication of a subset of BIM, and very
much focused on delivering asset data.
If a main contractor at the end of a
project provides COBie (which is
typically in an Excel spreadsheet
format), this can be migrated into a
client's/employer's Computerised
Facility Management System (CAFM),
e.g. Archibus. With a system like
Archibus, no longer is everything lost
within PDF's. All the really useful data
associated with a water pump for
example is captured, e.g. the
manufacturer, life expectancy,
replacement cost, serial number,
spares, what maintenance tasks are
required, what tools might be needed
etc. This data can be migrated into any
system as required, often supporting
planned and preventative maintenance
activities and ensuring statutory
compliance such as legionella water
testing or managing spares lists.
DC: How is the information and data
generated?
DF: Designers using BIM authoring
systems such as Autodesk's Revit can
include COBie parameters in their
objects. For instance, with a 3D object
representing the water pump the
parameter for the flow rate would be
inputted. As the project progresses
once the water pump has been
purchased, the manufacturer's details
can be added. Once it is installed, the
date of installation and warranty
information can be inputted.
For systems such as Revit there is a
free COBie plugin which will allow for
the automated export of COBie into an
Excel spreadsheet format, ready for
migration to a CAFM system or other
systems as required.
DC: Is Excel the only way of exporting
or sharing COBie information?
DF: No, but this is the easiest format
and lowest denominator for now
allowing any organisation, regardless
of size, to provide the required data.
Using Excel or CSV files as a
'connector' is common practice, but we
are seeing lots of new tools and
applications supporting the COBie
process, so this is an area where if you
came back to see me in five years'
time, the technology and process I am
sure would have evolved and become
increasingly seamless.
DC: Is COBie widely requested by
clients/employers and are they getting
the benefit today?
DF: For those organisations who are
perhaps on their third or fourth BIM
enabled project or have complex
assets to manage, such as airports,
hospitals, and process plants, the
answer is yes with regards to adoption
rates. However as a percentage of the
industry as a whole, I suspect it
remains low but exponentially
increasing. As an unquantified answer,
I would estimate that maybe 10% of
projects are requesting asset data in a
COBie format at this time.
Often the requirements can be vague
and open to misinterpretation, so
better definition and clearer
communication of the asset
requirements including COBie is
required. On projects where asset data
in a COBie format is requested, I often
see an incomplete set of information at
handover. The data that is there is
useable but the full advantages that
BIM and COBie offers to asset owners
is not being fully realised.
I must of course point out that I have
also seen the opposite where excellent
data at handover has been used to
support facility management, but these
are less common.
DC: So, what advice would you provide
to asset owner organisations today?
DF: Firstly, if you believe we are moving
increasingly to a digitally led economy
and ways of working then on your next
project you should request BIM
workflows from your supply chain.
Secondly, if you are an asset owner
who has to maintain a portfolio then
consider requesting COBie from your
suppliers, and if you already have an
existing CAFM system or are thinking
of investing in one, definitely request
COBie, so your supply chain is
capturing data now ready to populate
it. And finally, you utilise third party
expertise within your team or employ
someone to be your Information
Manager and ensure they are in place
from the start to the end of the project.
The last item is very important. Many
projects start off with the best
intentions, but unless there is
ownership and someone monitoring the
process on a regular basis at the end
of the project, the information, data and
outputs expected may not delivered.
There is a fantastic opportunity for the
construction sector to reinvent itself via
digitisation and it all starts with the
client/employer organisations leading
the change.
You can discover more about
Excitech's complete range of solutions
at the website below.
www.excitech.co.uk
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