In this blog, Causeway Business Member Katerina Belohoubkova of Integrated Facilities Solutions in Dublin writes of the need to implement digital building information management strategies for these COVID 19 times.
The construction industry is going through a major shift that will require property owners and facilities management (FM) operators to look at, define and implement Digital Building Information Management strategies for these unprecedented COVID 19 times.
The Pandemic that exists has put further reliance, emphasis and focus on having access to validated and secure digital building information for designing, building and maintaining our buildings, campuses, estates and organisation property portfolios. We have implemented important protocols and guidelines to ensure that our buildings are fit for occupancy. We also need to ensure that the people who own, operate, and maintain these buildings have secure access to the buildings information.
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We are still at a stage where 80% of projects are not specified correctly for handover, 75% of projects still specify a mixture of boxes of paper, ring binders and USB’s for handover information. FM and Operations Teams have minimal input, engagement or involvement in the early stages of a construction project. This has to stop, projects have to be properly specified with the right standards. Building information management specialists should be appointed at pre-design stage to ensure that the clients building information strategy is in place. Soft landings is a critical component and all stakeholders will need to be involved to ensure buildings operational readiness.
The IFS team have built up significant experience and knowledge in building information management. They are uniquely placed to represent the client’s needs at project inception and ensure a single source of truth in the delivery of structured digital data for the asset lifecycle. IFS regularly speak with owners that are constantly struggling to locate accurate and reliable data to make decisions for their buildings and assets and this is a real issue more than ever in these challenging times.
IFS manage mission-critical information for blue-chip companies building owners across a number of sectors. From leading multi-nationals who are developing and operating data centres to support their regional growth and customers, to financial institutions, pharma projects, transport developments and university and healthcare campuses in Ireland, UK, Europe and the US. IFS have been appointed by Children's Health Ireland (CHI) as the Digital Construction Handover Information Specialist for Irelands New Children’s Hospital – 1st Public Digital Hospital. We have also joined the project team of the new Irish Rail National Train Control Centre as BIM for FM & Digital Construction Handover Information Specialist.
Many of the current challenges in the industry associated with the lack of visibility, traceability, and certainty in building information management can be addressed by adopting existing standards and technologies. IFS have partnered up with GS1 Ireland to assist owner operators to learn and adopt standardised data sharing practices. GS1 Ireland is an international standards Organisation that specialises in the development and implementation of open global standards for item identification and tracking, enabling the sharing of data about objects, their history, location, and maintenance needs. The resulting added value from the use of standardised digital data and processes is resource efficiency and productivity gains throughout the asset Lifecycle.
Integrated Facilities Solutions are key contributors to our Digisting the Construction Sector series of events taking place in 2021. Register now for the first event on how to make a successful digital transformation workshop event on 11 February 2021.