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The Benefits of BIM and Soft Landings

Senior Management Perspectives on BIM 2018

In Senior Management Perspectives on BIM 2018, IWFM (formerly BIFM) identified that FM has yet to fulfill the fully-fledged, mission critical role it should be playing in the management of building information modelling (BIM) projects, too often not part of initial design teams and thus not positioned to provide input to architects and contractors. Equally, there are not enough BIM aware clients who appreciate what BIM can do for building lifecycle costs. 


Instead, most clients focus on capex and see BIM as an additional cost. This thinking applies for buildings that are already operating but also for new buildings, which have many stakeholders financing the construction but who are not concerned with lifecycle costs. 


Jason Clark, Executive Director – Regional Head of Property Management UBS, cited not only FM’s inability to grasp the concept of BIM but also its inability to understand its own data and information management needs. David Stevens, Vice chair - CIBSE FM group, identified the major issue as a knowledge barrier, and even a cultural barrier, that divides contractors and the FM community. Paul Thomas, Principal Consultant - Turner & Townsend, said the biggest problem “is FMs’ lack of knowledge about what they're going to do with the BIM data at the end of the process – they’ve no idea about what to do with it, what to use it for, or how to manage it.” Mike Packham agreed there is a disjoint between the construction teams and the FM teams. He said: “It's all very well setting the employer's requirements and the asset information requirements up front, but if the FM team are not tasked to manage that, they revert to their job description roles.” Andy Hamer added: Sometimes they're not even involved at all.”


On the question of how FM can demonstrate the value of BIM to clients, Mike Packham, Managing Director BWA, said “value” depends on ownership of a building. “If you're a developer you're going to sell the building, so do you really care? If you're a lease holder, a tenant, you've got a five or ten-year lease in the building, again, are you really interested in that short period? The money, the big money, is if you’re an owner looking at whole lifecycle cost over 20-25 years. So, I think you need to think about what value means to the different sectors of the market.”


Attendees agreed that for BIM to succeed in FM, it needs endorsement from the C-Suite. Andy Hamer said: “We need to be having the conversation at C level - the people with the money. If I can go in there and, rather than talk about BIM, say, 'I can make your building run quicker and faster, I can do it cheaper, and I can increase your margins’ then that would be a powerful message.”


In Strategic FM Framework RICS guidance note, Global 1st edition April 2018, RICS stated that “Successful alignment of FM results in a match with the key aspects of the DO’s corporate behaviours while retaining a professional FM approach which delivers compliance, reliability, cost effectiveness, and independent advice to the DO.” Furthermore, on Soft Landings “To create and maintain effective facilities, facility managers should be involved fully in the design, construction and handover of buildings. The UK public sector’s implementation of the ‘Soft Landings’ approach to handover is helping other professional disciplines to engage with FM from the earliest stages of design and construction. This provides a structured process around FM input to concept design, monitoring design changes, undertaking design reviews, planning, commissioning and handover of premises and ensuring a smooth transition from construction to operational occupancy.”

The Verdict

Author Perspective

  

Both publications were issued in 2018. The author found that the barriers remain largely unchanged in 2020 especially most clients focus on capex and see BIM as an additional cost. This focus may intensify when I.M.F. predicts worst downturn since the Great Depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic social distancing impact. 


If this prediction is indeed a true reflection of current clients thinking, handover approach on practical completion is critical where FM practitioner will be involved to complete the building services delivery plan and to fulfil the duties of client under CDM 2015. 


In BS 8536-1 : 2015, soft landings is defined as a process for the graduated handover of a new or refurbished asset/facility, where a defined period of aftercare by the design and construction team is an owner’s requirement that is planned and developed from the outset of the project 


O&M Manuals, H&S Files, Building Manuals and Building User Guides are the key information not only for the understanding of the building services but also the design strategy on the intended use of the building. BIM is a huge topic and the author only intends to highlight some critical areas in his experience during the crucial practical completion liaison with the project team. 


The final O&M Manuals is not generally available in full form until several months after practical completion. To the principal contractor, much of this information will already exist in one form or another, so preparing the manuals might simply be a matter of compiling and assembling its components. To the author, It can be time consuming to locate a piece of information because there is neither standardisation of presentation nor indexing methodology such as the use of RICS Cost Classifications. The above example is just a highlight of time element needed to resource the FM adequately. 


The author would also like to highlight the importance of design strategy such as fire safety, work at height & energy management etc. as well as identification of residual risks. The author often experienced that building regulations approval does not necessarily meet the relevant regulatory compliance requirements. An example is in the area of fire safety. As the building is most likely to be handed over unoccupied, the risk of harm is expected to escalate when it is occupied. However, the fire strategy for the intended use will remain unchanged. The risk assessment therefore should be based on the design strategy rather than as a standalone exercise. The maximum occupancy level, for example, is predetremined. The principle of fire prevention such as fire separation and evacuation must be clearly demonstrated as well as the correct use of fire detection system such as cause and effect analysis.


The author does not accept the following from Paul Thomas who said the biggest problem “is FMs’ lack of knowledge about what they're going to do with the BIM data at the end of the process".


It is a matter of lack of adequate resourcing. It is true of IWFM finding that most clients focus on capex and see BIM as an additional cost which have many stakeholders financing the construction but who are not concerned with lifecycle costs. Adequate resourcing practical completion handover remains a key first step for the purpose of building services delivery and warranty protection in current economic climate.

Building Regulations And Fire Safety Procedural Guidance

Resurrection of fire certificate?

  1. The inclusion of a fire strategy as part of the Building Regulations submission can assist the fire safety enforcing authority in providing advice at an early stage as to what, if any, additional provisions may be necessary when the building is first occupied. For building designs that place a reliance on fire engineering or place management expectations on the occupier, the fire strategy document is an essential means of providing this information and communicating it between relevant parties. Whilst not currently required by legislation, the fire strategy, is a key document and can eventually be passed on to the Responsible Person along with the other relevant fire safety information required at the time of completion, as required by regulation 38 of the Building Regulations. It will also assist the Responsible Person in developing their fire risk assessment for the purposes of the Fire Safety Order, and it will act as a record of the rationale behind the fire safety design of the finished building. The in-use fire risk assessment should be a reviewed regularly, culminating in an assessment based on the design information that has been passed along the design supply chain. This ensures that the level of detail relating to the systems and other control measures within the building is high from the outset and that the end user and their risk assessors are aware of all the fire safety aspects of the building. 

The principles of The soft landings framework

Transition from design & construction into operation & use

  1. This British Standard is not intended to provide detailed guidance on design or construction, but is concerned with information and data that are needed in order that due consideration can be given to operability and performance requirements for the new or refurbished asset/facility. It does not cover decommissioning or other end of life activities. 
  2. This British Standard is intended for use by individuals and organizations preparing or contributing to design, construction and operations, in both the public and private sectors, including owners refurbishing an existing asset/facility, organizations procuring a new asset/facility, and the designers, constructors, subcontractors, operators, operations teams, facility managers and other specialists engaged in such activities. 

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