Welcome to the October 2018 issue of the “Smart Operation & Maintenance – for the worker of tomorrow” newsletter! This month we revisit the topic of BIM for Asset Management, with an article co-authored by our Managing Director, previously published by the Building Services Operation and Maintenance Executives Society (BSOMES) of Hong Kong.
Reliability
BIM for maintenance: smart… or not?
The use of “smart” BIM for O&M meets practical “dumb” challenges, especially in the Chinese market where maintenance practices are not well established. Useful lessons can however be learnt from experience and standards used in the industry. A project role must be created for O&M data preparation, first to define specifications, formats, schedules before major equipment contracts are signed, then to follow up data preparation activities during construction. As far as software is concerned, a practical advice is to avoid conflicts with project teams and software vendors: instead, an O&M layer added onto the BIM model can provide the necessary support. Examples of projects in environmental utilities and buildings in mainland China and Hongkong are given.
1 The armchair technician syndrome
As Building Information Modelling (BIM) is fast becoming mandatory for major construction projects, owners are considering how to use BIM to support operations and maintenance (O&M). Meanwhile, “BIM for Facilities Management” and other “Building Life-cycle BIM” have become hot topics at conferences all over the world.
Vendors, eager to sell more software licenses, tend to show unrealistic demos for “armchair technicians”, far removed from the daily reality of maintenance people. The typical scenario consists in navigating into a 3D model, sometimes using Virtual Reality goggles, selecting a specific piece of equipment and accessing related maintenance information, perhaps creating a “maintenance work order”. Numerous proof-of-concept projects based on this ill-conceived yet smart-looking approach have shown no real-life application.
Practical hurdles in data preparation have also impaired actual applications. In the Chinese market in particular, as-built drawings are seldom available to the building owner (if they exist at all), equipment suppliers may not have proper technical documentation and O&M practices are generally lacking (as shown in the “Maintenance in China” survey conducted by Shanghai University and Siveco). As a result, most BIM models remain “empty” from an O&M perspective and we often hear “smart” software vendors blaming “dumb” building technicians for their project failure.
2 Learning from the industry
As buildings grow higher and technically more complex, preparing O&M from the construction stage is becoming a necessity. Ultra-high buildings for example are more than just large concrete structures: they rely on a growing number of large-scale industrial systems (HVAC, water treatment, power supply, elevators etc.) that are akin to highly-automated process plants. Lessons can be obviously learnt from industrial experience...
BIM for Asset Management in Urban Energy: feedback from the Sino-Asia Pacific Urban Energy Conference 2018
On September 12, Siveco China VP Paul Wang was invited to speak at the Sino-Asia Pacific Urban Energy Conference 2018. This gathering of industry professionals was co-organized by the Asia Pacific Urban Energy Association (APUEA), Fengxi Energy Company and Xi'an District Heating Company.
Siveco to speak at the 5th Wuhan Sino-French Eco-City Forum on October 26
On October 26, Siveco China Managing Director Bruno Lhopiteau and VP Paul Wang are invited to attend the 5th Wuhan Sino-French Eco-City Forum. Paul Wang will also give a speech during the "Green Economy" session of the conference.
