Building lifecycle management cannot be complete without facility management and indeed, the way data is handled in this industry has changed quite a bit over the years. One of the most ground-breaking developments has been the Construction Operations Building information Exchange (COBie) standard. This guide will walk you through everything that pertains to COBie in facility management from its definition and history to its benefits and implementation.
Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE) is a particular data exchange standard that enables the transfer of building data during the entirety of the building lifecycle; that is, from design to construction and from operation to maintenance. It is most commonly applied in facility management (FM) and operations, where the objective is to provide appropriate information on building assets and components in a systematic manner to ensure access, management, and use.
COBie is able to provide a lot of relevant information about the designs including –
COBie helps ensure that facility managers have the data they need to make informed decisions about maintenance, repairs, and upgrades, all of which help improve the overall management of a building.
COBie was first mentioned in the early twenty-first century as part of enhancing the life cycle management of assets. As time went by and more HVAC systems, lighting, elevators and other building systems began to be installed, it became evident that there was a need to have a common operational model that would enable the sharing of operational models between the different facets of the construction and the facilities management industries.
One of the leading building industry organizations, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), contributed significantly to the inception of COBie. The requirements map made it possible to fill a need between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and facility management. The objective was to address the transfer of important operational information that was generated during the construction phase to the facility management teams in a usable format that was well organized.
As the years went by, there were other versions of COBIE that came, the last being the COBie 2.5 standard which is the one used widely today. Due to collapsing support from organizations like buildingSMART International and the industry experts, COBIE started gaining the credibility it deserved to be regarded as one of the BIM integrated approaches to project delivery and building management.
As a component, preventing its misrepresentation calls for a management strategy, a clear set of aims and objectives, and a constant flow of synergy between the different stakeholders.
The following are fundamental steps to adopting COBie in facility management:
Before proceeding, it is crucial to explain the data requirements that have to be provided and that will enable its use over other building management systems. COBie is fundamentally a structured data system, and facility managers are reminded to learn the format structures and ensure that their authorized software tools can import or export COBie integrated data formats.
It goes without saying that COBie is dependent on the design and construction phases and, as a result, it requires architects, engineers and contractors to work together. These teams have to work together and include COBie related information into the BIM model during the design and construction phases. For example, there is nothing much that can be done during the project in order to smoothen the implementation process than waiting for the data handover strategy to be formulated at the beginning of the project.
Facility managers will require training on the day-to-day operations of the facility that would incorporate the COBie. This entails the ways of using the COBie integrated software, the accessing of required information, and making changes whenever need be.
There is a need to ensure that during the process of setting the facility management sceneries, there are COBIE compatible tools such as FM software and BIM software.
5. Maintain Data Integrity
After implementing COBie, it's crucial to maintain the integrity of the data. Facility managers should ensure that COBie data is updated regularly, especially after any upgrades, repairs, or replacements of building systems or equipment.
Although COBie and BIM (Building Information Modeling) are often discussed together, they serve different purposes in the building lifecycle.
Integration between COBie and BIM is essential for a seamless transition of information. While BIM provides the design and construction information, COBie ensures that operational data is transferred for effective management.
Facility managers face several challenges in their roles, and COBie can help address some of these issues:
Adopting COBie for facility management comes with numerous advantages:
The implementation of COBie technology allows Facility Managers to efficiently manipulate building data, creating and targeting the specific information that they need at any particular time, which increases costs and enhances efficiency.
The addition of COBie coupled with BIM streamlines the management of the facility’s lifecycle, including the stages of its construction, the practical application of the facility, and the sustaining of such construction efforts. With constant change to the structure’s complexity, the use of the COBie in the management, will revolutionize the approaches used while ensuring efficient and successful operations.
In addition to this, putting in place the COBie technology means that an organization is resilient to the changes brought along by advances in technology in the field of facility management.
.webp)
Reach out to us to know how we can help your team utilize the latest technologies in construction and achieve faster and better results.
