Business needs

The facility management process is often delayed (ramp-up time) and hindered by the high cost of surveying the existing building information for operation and management. Even if new buildings are created using modern CAD, the information for facility management is not included and cannot be extracted. It is usually created in parallel, using low-level Excel and Word files, it is replicated, potentially outdated and not synchronized. All adds to the costs of lacking interoperability as recently stated in studies. Current exchange mechanism for commissioning (and inventory) data are usually CSV (comma separated values) files, or Excel files. In all cases the meaning of such files has to be established again and again among the participants.

The lack of a standard to exchange structured facility management data is even bigger than the lack of standards for CAD.

Solution

With the establishment of IFC or ifcXML exchange and sharing of FM data such shortcomings can be overcome easily and at a far lower cost (compared with implementing IFC for BIM). The exchange has to be driven by a Commissioning Data FM view (part of this project) that can be easily extended to contain also geometric representations later. Access to external catalogs for property definitions (each bigger operator of a building portfolio ? including the public landlords and most of the CAFM systems have own hierarchical catalogues of elements and their required and optional properties, often with an unique key) is important. The IFC based solution should be capable to keep and manage such links.

Relationship to Existing IFC Developments

The project uses the existing IFC specification in its current release IFC2x3 and the basic support within the extended coordination view (omitting the geometric representations). If additions to the IFC specifications are needed they will be proposed as part of this extension project. Most additions to the IFC specification are expected within the documentation (clear definition of properties and basic quantities) and the view definition (Commissioning data FM view of IFC).

Scope of work

The scope of the project is the agreement on the information needed to be submitted for completed buildings (or buildings undergoing an inventory). The source of the information may be design or construction BIM models, inventory data, or existing facility management data. In the first phase of the project the information handed over will only contain alphanumeric data about the spatial infrastructure (spaces, finishes, furniture, fixture, equipment and spatial structure) and the technical infrastructure (HVAC and electrical elements, systems). In a later stage the geometric representations of some or all of the elements will be taken into account.

In Scope

• spatial structure, technical systems
• finishes, furniture, fixture, equipment, HVAC and electrical elements with
  
  • assignment to spatial structure
  • assignment (if applicable) to technical systems
  • basic parameters and quantities for each building element and space element
    
    • definition of quantities will be taken from quantity take-off project PM-4
  • extended set of attributes for elements and spaces needed for facility management
    
    • definition of catalog access for attribute declarations
  • extended set of quantities for elements and spaces needed for facility management
    
    • definition of catalog access for quantity declarations (from QTO project PM-4)

Out-of scope

• organizational data in facility management
• accounting and costing information in facility management
• maintenance logs, work items, purchase and other orders in facility management

Supporting Activities

The German Ministry of Transportation, Buildings and urban affairs and the Bavarian building authorities have defined their requirements for the IFC project and will participate. The FM Handover view definition will support the national code of practice called "BFR Gbestand" - federal regulation for data exchange of inventory (or commissioning) data.

Two German research & development projects had been commissioned under the ZukunftBAU funding scheme. They are now completed (in Dec 2008) and results are available (page in German with an English summary).