When a building is designed and constructed, a lot of information is collected that could be used in the maintenance or repairs of the property. The Real Estate Unit of the Jyväskylä Educational Consortium tested how information models could be used to serve the needs of property management.

What kind of problem was the project trying to solve?

Information models are a data repository of building information created during the design and construction of a building. The models should also serve the functions in the building during its operation and maintenance. With information models, it would be possible to maintain up-to-date space data and produce information required in property management for the service log.

As yet, this potential is not used although the maintenance costs of a property may be up to ten times those of the design and construction of the building.

Objective: information models to be used throughout the life cycle of the building

The aim of the experiment was better use of the information models of properties during the different stages of the life cycles of buildings from design and construction to maintenance and repairs.

This way the owners of the properties and the people responsible for their maintenance would have constant access to up-to-date information on the surface materials, machines and devices in the buildings. At best, an easy user interface for maintenance would be available for cleaners and maintenance personnel to use in their work.

The project was aimed at verifying how the valuable information contained in the so-called as-built models produced during construction can be used in the maintenance of properties.

What was done in the project?

With the help of a pilot site and its information models, the project developed processes, solutions and operating practices that enable smooth integration of information to help service and maintenance work. AO Lievestuore, a campus of the Jyväskylä Educational Consortium served as the pilot site.

The experiment aimed at two-way data transfer in which maintenance information would be updated to the as-built model. To enable this, first, a decision had to be made on what information would be needed, how it would be produced and how the information would be kept up to date.

The preconditions for the utilisation of as-built models as source data for operation and maintenance were created and documented as a maintenance information model plan. Furthermore, it was established at the pilot site how the information contained in as-built models can in practice be used as a support for functions during the operation and maintenance of the property.

Who benefits?

The results of the experiment benefit property owners with a need to increase the efficiency of the work processes related to the maintenance and repairs of their properties and to use up-to-date information in them.

What were the outcomes of the experiment?

The aim of the experiment was achieved successfully. The project was able to establish how the valuable information contained in the property owner's as-built models can be used to support the operation and maintenance of the property.

The experiment helped to understand the connections between matters related to data models, data transfer and documentation and their impact on each other during the maintenance and repairs of the property.

As a result, an example solution was created of a maintenance user interface based on an information model. In addition, the possibilities to duplicate the final results and apply them to the needs of other property owners were investigated.

The operating practice can be applied to the maintenance and repair phases of a variety of properties. This requires that the property owner plan the utilisation of the information in advance and monitor its quality from the beginning of the modelling, already when the data is produced.

It is essential to know how the owner wants to use the information and what kind of information is required for it. All of the information needed during property management is not generated during the design or building phases, so it has to be considered what information really is necessary on a case-by-case basis.