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BIM: A Better View of Maintenance

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I'm Steve Schuster, associate editor of Maintenance Solutions magazine. Today's topic is building information modeling.

What maintenance or engineering manager wouldn't jump at the chance to have access to complete plans for every component and area of their facilities, rendered in three dimensions and accessible immediately to anyone who needs it?

Managers in all types of institutional and commercial facilities would salivate over such a resource. It would be especially valuable for managers whose facilities remain something of a mystery because original blueprints and as-built drawings have long since vanished or have been rendered useless by decades of upgrades and retrofits.

A growing number of managers now have access to such a resource, thanks to the expanding use of building information modeling (BIM).

BIM is a shared resource for information about a facility. True BIM software is more than a three-dimensional, computer-rendered model of a facility. It includes architectural data, and perhaps more importantly for maintenance and engineering departments, it holds comprehensive information on a facility's HVAC components, plumbing fixtures, doors, and windows, including product manufacturers and model information.

The benefits of BIM are myriad, but cost savings is one of the most promising. The largest slice of any building's life-cycle-cost pie does not come from design and construction. It comes from operating and maintaining the building for 20-50 years or longer. Anything that can streamline this process will help managers control costs.

BIM generally steps into facility management process at a crucial — and generally problematic — moment. As construction of a new facility wraps up, technicians are feverishly working through punch lists, and pressure mounts to finish the project and hand over the keys to the building owner.

For the latest version of a free guide to BIM for facility management from the U.S. General Services Administration, visit www.gsa.gov/portal/content/122555.

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BIM , BIM software , building tools , building applications