Prospects of Building Information Modelling-Facility Management implementation in Malaysia

Abstract

The potential of implementing building information modelling (BIM) in facilities management
(FM) processes is seen in facilitating more collaboration and information integration during the
operations and maintenance (O&M) phases. In general, there are more studies on BIM
application in the earlier phases than for facility applications. Specifically, there has been little
discussion on best practices for implementation. This paper reports a pilot study on the readiness
of UTM to implement BIM in its FM processes. A structured face-face interview was conducted
with top management addressing four themes namely current scenario for handling facility data;
business model; implementation strategy for digital data; and awareness to BIM. Findings show
that the business model was mainly traditional using routine maintenance. Condition surveys
were used for scheduled based maintenance. Outsourcing was used for only work orders above
certain skills, risks and spending limits. No central automation of FM was detected and there
was low awareness of BIM. The study concludes that the FM strategy in the study area is lacking
a robust automation drive that can support the disruptive demands of BIM implementation in
FM. Future work should be conducted only on universities that have already deployed BIM in
their FM processes.