Hello BIMfans,
When I made my information model I didn’t want it to be just for show, it wanted it to be a (useful) tool to manage my home. That is why I was very pedantic fussy particular about what information I needed by forming several Plain Language Questions, my Model Purposes, and my Data Requirements. Since this blog’s outset, one clear output I had in mind was to use the information model to manage any repair or replacement work needed within my home. To do so, I will need to form a preventative maintenance schedule; time for some Classical Conditioning!

When I first wrote my Data Requirements, I was keen to incorporate a way to capture the condition of each of my components. The problem was, I needed a way to record this consistently; luckily for me, there is a way to do this.  BS 1192-4, the British Standard for COBie, includes some additional attributes under table 14, which are also included as part of IFC4 Schema, under the Pset_Condition property set.

Pset_Condition
AssessmentDate, when the assessment was completed YYYY-MM-DD;
AssessmentDescription, qualiative description of the assessment; and
AssessmentCondition, the condition:  Very Poor, Poor, Adequate, Good, or AsNew.

So, a plan was formed.  When I produced my components, each of these attributes were added to the one I intended to manage. As a result, this information appears in each of my graphical models, IFC exports, and COBie files (the joy of a single source of truth).  As the majority of these components were assessed when Chris John undertook a (very thorough) property condition survey before we bought the home, there isn’t much additional information to be collected.  The only exception being new items such as my Nest thermostat and Philips Hue bulbs that have been installed since.

Using these assessment attributes, I can manage each of these components and develop my preventative maintenance schedule. For example, using the AssessmentCondition attribute, I can filter and identify any Very Poor or Poor components. Of the 100+ manageable components I have in my home, I can use Revit‘s scheduling function to filter this information down to just those components and form a manageable schedule.

NOTE: I could have done this using my COBie file, but I won’t.  COBie isn’t a data management tool. Until I acquire an asset management system, using the information embedded in my graphical models, as I have done, is the best solution.

And there we have it.  By using the information that I have already populated within my information model I was able to create a preventative maintenance schedule highlighting what components need to be repaired or replaced. This means that PLQ3.2 is complete; Woohoo!

Operation and Maintenance
3.1 What are the sizes and condition of the windows & doors?
3.2 What assets are in a poor condition?
3.3 What costs can be attributed to my assets?
3.4 What are the most cost effective thermal improvements that could be undertaken?

Now that I what needs doing around my home, I wonder how much it’ll cost to fix…