The product of completing the steps to better construction documents is a Facility Information Specification (FIS). A significant benefit of an FIS is that it provides owners with a tool for managing the Building Information Modeling process. With an FIS incorporated into the project close-out submittal specifications, an owner can request model data reports at project milestones to monitor both the percentage of completion and the quality/completeness of BIMs. Those reports, at a minimum, should include a complete list of equipment in the model by Equipment ID, and the location of each individual piece of equipment in the model by building, floor, (zone), and room number.
If a model data report for a 50 percent design submission does not contain 50 percent of the equipment and its location, one of three things has happened: 1) the equipment doesn’t exist in the model; 2) the equipment hasn’t been tagged by Equipment ID, or 3) the model hasn’t been constructed properly to correctly locate the equipment. An enforceable FIS enables an owner to perform QA/QC on both the geometry and the data of BIMs without ever acquiring BIM expertise. It’s possible to build a sloppy model that looks great graphically, but it’s not possible to build a sloppy model that meets the requirements of an FIS.
Michael Tardif is managing partner of Building Informatics, which helps building owners lower the total life-cycle cost of buildings by specifying and applying the information created during design and construction that is needed for life-cycle facility management.
Email comments and questions to edward.sullivan@tradepress.com.
8 Steps to Getting Better Construction Documents
What Is the Facility Information Specification (FIS)?
