The difference in BIM component data requirements between prescriptive representations and actual practices

Utilizing Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Facility Management (FM) can reduce interoperability costs during the Operations and Maintenance (OandM) phase by improving data management. However, there are technological, process related, and organizational barriers to successful implementation of BIM integrated FM (BIM-FM), and process related barriers might be solved by the use of BIM integrated FM (BIM-FM) guidelines. However, the guidelines need to be updated with lessons learned from actual practices in order to maintain their validity. In order to diagnose current practices and identify key differences between prescriptive representations and actual practices, this exploratory research compares BIM component data requirements between guidelines and actual practices at public higher education institutions in Virginia. The gap in BIM component data requirements between the guidelines and the actual practices may prevent successful implementation of BIM-FM. This research is composed of three parts: a synthesis of prescriptive representations, determination of actual data requirements in practice, and comparison of differences between guidelines and practices. Document analysis and case study via document analysis and in-person interviews were conducted to collect data. Then, direct comparison was conducted to test the research question. Though the researcher disapproved the established hypothesis of 'There would be some differences in BIM component data requirements between prescriptive representations and actual practices' due to the difference in level of information and details between prescriptive representations and actual practices, this exploratory research provides useful information.