Implementation of a BIM-FM Platform at an International Airport Project: Case Study

Abstract

Despite that the need to develop an integrated building information modeling–facility management (BIM-FM) system is often emphasized in the literature, real-life implementation case studies focusing on large-scale facilities are scarce. The goal of this paper is to describe the capacities of building information modeling (BIM) in the facility management (FM) phase by presenting the experience gained during the development and utilization of BIM-FM platform at a large-scale facility and to illustrate technical challenges and lessons learned from the perspective of practitioners. The selected case is an international airport facility, in which a BIM-FM platform was implemented and used in the FM phase for 4 years. Two data collection methods were used in the case study: (1) interviews with the project team; and (2) investigation of documents, models, and BIM-FM platform. The main contribution of this paper is that it provides qualitative insights on how BIM-FM integration was performed in a large-scale project, including BIM-FM platform selection and development processes, and identifying the technical challenges and lessons learned that were observed through the utilization and maintenance of a BIM-FM platform. The findings of the case study can be used by the practitioners to effectively adopt BIM in the FM phase, and by academics to understand the challenges and to develop related approaches.