Today, I’d like to take some time to discuss the differences between traditional operations and BIM-based operations. Currently, many property management teams still rely heavily on the “2D drawings + Excel” approach. However, as buildings grow more complex, this method can become overwhelming. BIM offers a promising solution that brings new possibilities to traditional operations and maintenance.
1. Challenges in Traditional Operations and Maintenance
Traditional property management primarily focuses on labor and services inside buildings, aiming to extend their lifespan and meet basic usage needs. Typical responsibilities include security, preservation, cleaning, and the maintenance, repair, and upkeep of equipment and systems such as electrical, HVAC, elevators, water supply, drainage, and safety installations.
Effective property management is closely linked to overseeing building usage, ensuring occupants enjoy a safe, healthy, comfortable, clean, eco-friendly, convenient, and functional environment.
However, this requires accurate and reliable building information, which usually comes from facility and equipment manuals, manufacturer data handed over during construction, usage licenses, completion drawings, and technical schematics for water, electricity, mechanical systems, fire protection, and pipelines.
These documents, whether in paper or electronic format, often change hands over time due to staff turnover or company changes. As a result, many property managers rely heavily on handover manuals or their own long-term experience to manage operations. This often leads to missing, lost, or inaccurate data. Over time, these gaps can widen, sometimes resulting in a complete lack of information, which severely complicates maintenance and repairs.
2. Facility Management Using BIM Completion Models
Traditional property management depends on 2D drawings as the basis for maintenance and operations. These drawings use flat geometric shapes and symbols (such as door and window icons or fill patterns) that can be difficult for non-experts to interpret and require professional knowledge.
In contrast, BIM technology provides a 3D visual model that integrates detailed information directly into the building representation. Users can select components within the model to access comprehensive data, offering a genuine WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) experience.
The BIM completion model consolidates, verifies, and updates data from both the design and construction phases. When effectively employed during the operational stage, BIM allows for easy traceability, querying, and record integration, enhancing management capabilities. Its intuitive and visual interface significantly improves the efficiency of building facility management.
The primary goal of BIM-based facility management is to grant management personnel quick, convenient, and complete access to essential information. This empowers property teams to ensure that buildings and equipment operate smoothly for occupants. As such, the WYSIWYG nature of BIM can greatly enhance operations and maintenance management.
That concludes today’s informal discussion on traditional versus BIM operations. While BIM-based operations are more convenient, faster, and easier to understand than traditional methods, they still require property staff to have relevant professional knowledge and the ability to interpret BIM models. Therefore, property companies should invest in appropriate BIM training for their personnel.
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