Advancing the Facilities Management Process in Ireland Through the Implementation of Building Information Modelling Within the Public Sector

It is widely accepted that it costs up to five times more to operate and maintain a building than to construct it. Despite this statistic the Irish construction sector has done little to move towards cutting edge technologies that will help in addressing this impact on life cycle cost. This is due partly to the fact that the Irish construction sector continues to operate in a depressed state. Despite this harsh reality Ireland must find a way to create a public sector that has a more energy efficient and enhanced physical environment in which to operate without sacrificing user thermal comfort. This paper outlines how Building Information Modelling can achieve this goal by ensuring that a more beneficial Facilities Management process can be realised. The data collation methodology included the use of a questionnaire survey that was designed and distributed in collaboration with the Irish Property and Facility Management Association. The outcomes of this questionnaire were compared with two international industry reports , as well as, how the UK BIM Strategy can be adopted in Ireland to advance the Irish AEC / FM sector. The research findings strongly advocate that BIM can ensure a unique FM approach which can reduce life-cycle costs for the Irish Government.