FOCUS
The golden key George Stevenson discusses recent initiatives to improve data flow in building information modelling and help deliver the golden thread
I
N MY view, the golden thread should provide an accurate record of how a building was designed, built and maintained, with a focus on elements that affect safety. This would be a digital way of specifying the asset and design requirements, capturing the right information about the designers’ solutions and how they might have been changed during construction. We can then use this to create a digital information model of what was installed, retaining the original designer’s specifi cation. Operations teams then need to maintain it, recording changes in use and to the assets themselves. Fire is understandably the focus of the new
regulations and guidance but, as we are now all too well aware, there are other threats to life. Better information about the built environment and how it can continue to protect us is therefore vital.
Back to reality
When there is a fire in or a terrorist attack occupies a building on TV or in a fi lm, they call up the building plans and use those to cut services or move from space to space to guide people
36 JUNE 2020
www.frmjournal.com
in or out. In reality however, emergency services arriving at most buildings would struggle to fi nd the fl oor plans and, even if they did so, they would probably be the as-builts that were handed over 20 years ago, and never updated to refl ect walls being removed or built.
Fire scenario Firefi ghters need information about the fi re corridors and the assets and systems protecting those routes. If asbestos has been removed, for instance, has the replacement material been recorded and what’s the impact? They will also want information about all the spaces, to ensure that noone is trapped, so up to date layouts of each space and how it is used are important. The location of the fi re alarm panel and details of incoming services, such as where they run and how to disconnect them, should be easily accessible. They might need some details of the ventilation system and which spaces it supports, in order to work out how the fi re might spread if a damper fails. The smoke extract system and how it should perform is another area they may need to understand, along with the products that are critical to its success.
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