Bridging the gap for success

Discussion paper

 

Soon, all public sector facilities managers will need to be up to speed as the government requires fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data in electronic form) on all public sector projects by 2016. This pressure has galvanised the BIM debate, and is likely to impact on the private sector as more enlightened clients and integrated supply teams embrace the collaborative spirit of BIM as advocated by the Latham and Egan reports of the late 1990s. 

This paper focuses on the issues surrounding BIM and how they relate to facilities management – both as a profession and as an industry. The report’s content is taken from the first BIFM FM Leaders Forum on the theme ‘BIM and FM: Bridging the gap for success’. One thing was very clear from the discussion – BIM might have emerged from the construction side of the built environment sector, but it must not be ignored by the FM industry. Equally importantly, BIFM must lead the engagement to ensure the profession is in a position to influence the technology’s development, and ultimately benefit  from it by realising the efficiencies over a building’s full lifecycle that BIM could offer.

Yes, there is much to clarify and many obstacles to be overcome, but it is obvious that BIM is not going to go away. It is not a fad – it is a process to be added to the skill set of the UK facilities management profession, and as such BIFM has a vital role to play in promoting understanding and best practice.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this report and who took part in this FM Leaders Forum. This paper is designed to provoke more debate and inform members, so please do engage with us as we engage with BIM.