FOCUS
Golden thread
Figure 2
from analogue to digital, allowing an accounting system to take data from many sources, relate it and ensure everything matches and balances, the information required to underpin the golden thread must be digital, with data in an agreed, standard format that other applications can automatically read and interpret without human intervention. In this context, a portable document file (PDF) of a manufacturer’s data sheet is analogue not digital, because although you can search a PDF for a word or a value, it is not connected to fields in a database. When a maintenance engineer needs to know the manufacturer of the fan that was installed and the designer’s performance specifi cation to inform finding a replacement, the reference code of the fan in the drawing fi le should exactly match the fan in an Excel or Word schedule, and exactly match the reference of the fi le detailing the specific product information in the O&M manual. People seldom use reference codes consistently – they might add a hyphen or a prefi x, which would break the golden thread. If audits are carried out, much of the checking can be automated, although the content of the product data sheet needs to be read by a person.
Golden thread tips Here are the important elements of the process that needs to be followed: • clients should provide a clear, project specifi c set of information requirements
• designers and contractors should check at each work stage that they are delivering those
• manufacturers and suppliers should be engaged much earlier
• ensure the handover data complies with the standards and keep it updated standardise, standardise, standardise
• 38 JUNE 2020
www.frmjournal.com Is BIM the solution?
As we have seen from recent Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reports, there is a perception that poor quality asset information is only an issue with existing buildings and that building information modelling (BIM) projects will deliver reliable asset information in a digital form easily used by their various asset management applications – even by Excel. Client experience is that very few BIM projects
are delivering what they expect and the more experienced clients are transforming that knowledge into wisdom; that is, knowing how to specify what they want and ensure they get it by putting processes in place. The golden thread is a process that applies that wisdom to capture the essence of BIM. There is a common misconception that BIM is about 3D and new build. While that is partially true, it is about much more than that. BIM experts will agree that it is about the information. Indeed, it might be more helpful to expand the acronym to ‘better information management’, which broadens the scope to include existing estates and a much wider community of contributors and users of the coordinated information. Activeplan is a software developer, whose
main driver is managing the fl ow of information between the many software applications that are used. Our focus is on the asset types that will need maintaining, repairing or replacing during the life of the asset – often known as the Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie) data, which is largely delivered by mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) specialist contractors and their supply chains.
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