Developing BIM-Enabled Built Asset Facility Information Management System: A Case of Public Universities in Addis Ababa
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Date
2022-06-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Facilities management (FM) is a discipline comprising various processes, activities and maintenance services to support the main functions of built asset facilities. It demands sets of comprehensive information. Lack of information is one of the major challenges in the O & M phase of the built asset. The emergence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems, helped to solve the issue and improve the efficiency of built asset facilities management. Currently, the public universities have no data/information and related documents on the built asset facilities. The built asset facilities information management system is conventional and has a major difficulty. Therefore, it is necessary to study BIM-Enabled Built Asset Facility Information Management System. This study aims to explore the current practice of built asset facility information management systems in public universities and identify the required information for BIM-enabled built asset management. The importance of identifying the required information is to facilitate the FM decision-making process. Finally, this study aims to develop the conceptual framework of a BIM-enabled built asset facilities information management system. The study adopted both descriptive and exploratory types of research. A multiple-case study was conducted on the three public universities in Addis Ababa. Data collection and analysis were based on an extensive literature review of similar studies followed by a semi-structured interview, document analysis, and observation. The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods. All interview, document analysis, and observation data were analyzed using the thematic and statistical analysis method. The study findings indicated that the FM office in public universities didn’t have the data or information of the old built asset facilities but to some extent, they have as-built drawings for recently completed projects. So, the lack of information has an impact on the time and the cost of the O & M process of the built asset. The FM office practiced the conventional method to capture, visualize, transfer and manage the built asset information. Currently, all the basic, technical, managerial, commercial, financial, and legal information are extremely relevant for built asset management in the selected public universities. Accordingly, to manage the built asset information, the FM office in public universities needs a single platform. As a result, a BIM-enabled FM conceptual framework was proposed. Finally, the future study should further develop the proposed framework and adopt it in public universities.
Keywords: FM, Built asset, BIM, BIM-FM Integration, Information requirement, information management system, Asset Information Modeling (AIM).