Case examples

Vision

Sydney Opera House has been a strong advocate of the concept of BIM enabled FM since it nominated itself in 2004 to be used as the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRCCI) Exemplar Project – facilities management as a business enabler. Having been declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 2007 and having celebrated 40 years in October 2013, the Opera House commenced on a long term renewal programme.

Development and implementation of a world class ‘BIM4FM’ solution will improve operational and cost efficiencies to support a greater visitor experience and will play a significant role in conservation and preservation, which support the Opera House’s cultural programme.

Process

Detailed interviews and analysis were carried out to gain an understanding of current processes and workflows, and future needs for the building. Existing information systems were scrutinised to gain an understanding of how they were used and interrelated. This required an in-depth analysis of a number of legacy systems and databases. Any disconnection between system content was addressed by finding comparative data in each and building on this to form a solution.

In collaboration with the client’s Building management team, a detailed facilities management specification was defined and developed to meet the building stakeholder needs, for the existing building and its future development
Requirements were then tested in the market to ensure a solution was achievable in reality. Fifteen different vendors were interviewed to test that the solution proposed was possible within the current industry. From this, a technical specification was delivered with confidence that it could be realised. A detailed model management plan for the Revit model of the building was also developed.

A web based BIM enabled FM interface was implemented that will link a constantly maintained geo-spatially accurate model of the building to its engineering, maintenance and building control systems. 

Outcome

The Opera House vision of a BIM enabled FM solution was realised through the creation of a rigorous technical specification based on thorough ‘on the ground’ research of their management and IT systems and testing this in the market to demonstrate a practical solution is available.

This project is now on going. BIM-consortium selected to help preserve and upgrade Sydney Opera House, written by AECOM and the Opera House, provides a comprehensive update. 

An update is also provided through the BIM implementation video featuring Graham Kelly from BIM Academy.