Use of BIM in Building Operations and Maintenance : An Approach to Identifying Sustainable Value

Sammanfattning: While the use of BIM (Building Information Modelling) has been increasing over the last decade and enabled a more integrated collaboration of different disciplines in the construction industry, its implementation in the operation phase of a building is still in its infancy in Sweden. Studies have been conducted to identify barriers and opportunities associated with the use of BIM in building operations and maintenance. There is a lack of research proposing a holistic approach to the evaluation of the value of BIM in operation and maintenance from the perspective of economic, ecological, and social sustainability. Therefore, this paper aims to follow up on the identified research gap by investigating: How sustainable value is created using BIM in operation and maintenance from an owner’s perspective?  A sustainable value framework is applied to the findings of an extensive literature review and compared to the reflections of Swedish industry professionals in semi-structured interviews. Based on the value destroyed or missed for key stakeholders by current O&M practices, the opportunities created with the use of BIM are highlighted. It was found that the most added value is expected from an economic and social perspective, reducing current inefficiencies in the integration of databases and documents, process structures, and knowledge management. More efficient information management and improved data accuracy is expected to enable better services, increase employee motivation, and optimize space management. Major struggles highlighted by the industry representatives are costs and a very fragmented work towards the implementation, often limited to internal efforts or small national initiatives. Based on the findings, further research will be needed to test and validate quantitative metrics in case studies, assess to what extent standards can promote the faster and more predictable implementation of BIM in O&M. In addition, the social value implications of using BIM in O&M should be evaluated more in detail.