Effects of BIM and COBie Database Facility Management on Work Order Processing Times: Case Study

This study investigates the effects of using building information modeling (BIM) and construction operations building information exchange (COBie) data for facility management (FM) over multiple campuses of the Health Science Center (HSC) buildings of a large university. While research conducted in the past to determine the impact of using BIM for FM was based on interviews and surveys, this study utilizes actual data exported from the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) used by the HSC. Work orders in BIM user and non-BIM user campuses were processed and compared with a two-sample t-test. The results of the statistical analysis contradict the findings of earlier studies that work order processing time may be reduced by using BIM for FM. In fact, a lack of standard rules for recording work order data across all campuses within an organization is a hindrance to validating the effects of using BIM and COBie data for FM. Research has yet to show a clear value for using BIM and COBie data for work order processing times, and this paper may help FM professionals and researchers understand the aspects involved.