Can you check my COBie? Part 2: BIM Police
In my previous article, we discussed if COBie should be delivered in the STEP Physical File format or a spreadsheet format.
In this article, we will look into the checking process that occurs on a number of projects, where multiple Information Managers act as the BIM Police.
Before jumping into the article, I would like to make some things clear. Having an Information Manager (IM) on a project is greatly beneficial since they support the implementation of the CDE and BIM Execution Plan, enforce clash detection processes and assist the project team with the technical queries; they check COBie, educate clients and the delivery teams, they implement information management processes and procedures on a project level as well as at the organizational level, etc, etc, etc. It all depends on the scope, but having ‘BIM Police’ or ‘BIM Community Supporters’ is great!
However, sometimes too much support is a bit confusing. Built environment professionals who were on a BIM project with a COBie deliverable have most likely experienced something like this:
The supply chain members submit their COBie deliverable for review. Normally, this review will be undertaken by the Information Manager. They are employed by the contractor simply because the contractor does not have sufficient capacity or capability to undertake the checks (and possibly for a number of other reasons (note: IM could be part of Contractor’s internal team)). Once the data is checked it will be sent to the technical advisor acting on the client’s behalf. They will perform the same checks that the supply chain members and information managers were supposed to perform. Once the checks are complete the COBie deliverable will be passed to the client, who will try to import this data into the Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) system.
As you can imagine, the information can be rejected at each and every step of the project. All of these different parties providing different feedback can lead to confusion in the supply chain (who are the ones that actually need to deliver the COBie).
Let’s look at it in a different light and try quantifying this process:
- Let’s assume that we have 5 supply chain members delivering COBie on the project
- Let’s give them two days in total to self-verify the COBie deliverable
- This deliverable will then be uploaded onto the Common Data Environment (CDE), which will take more or less a day to be reviewed by the document controller and passed to the Information Manager
- Information Managers using their magic will review the COBie and produce a report (this is given that the resource to check COBie is available at that time)
- If the information is accepted it will be passed onto the Technical Advisors who will do the same checks as the Information Managers before passing it to the client
- At this time the client will load the COBie into their CAFM system (let’s imagine that everything works smoothly and it only takes one day).
In total this ideal scenario will take 8 days to complete. Let’s try and put a cost on this process.
An average consultant will probably charge around £500 a day (you may not be paid this much, but this is the bill presented to the client). In this example let’s take the upload day out of the equation, simply because it’s passive rather than active time. This would mean that 7 days are charged to the client. On a very simple project, we can have at least 3 information exchanges, which would equate to 21 days’ worth of checking. Now it’s only simple math – 21 days multiplied by £500 equal £10,500 (just for verifying COBie, validation is normally not included).
You and I know, however, that this is not a true representation and not a single project has followed this ideal scenario. Let’s see what happens if the information gets rejected at every step of the process one time at every stage:
You can clearly see from the diagram above that the associated cost can spiral. This is obviously only one scenario, but if you were ever involved in a project you will know that the information can be rejected not one but multiple times.
You might be inclined to suggest that no one ever actually charges this much for checking COBie. I suppose that is true to a certain degree and the reason will probably surprise you. If the information is rejected at one stage, no one seems to care to check the re-submission the second or the third time simply because the scope of services of the Information Manager or Technical Advisor did not account for it. However, this scenario brings a bigger problem – incorrect data is being passed from one stage to another leading to a very unpleasant process at the handover.
I don’t know about you but I was shocked to learn how much human resources and money is being spent on a project for COBie checking alone! By the way, did I mention this is time only spent on COBie verification (not validation)?
P.S. the article above represents my own views only.
P.P.S. the example above represents only one scenario that follows the D&B procurement route and involves multiple parties. There are hundreds of scenarios where the project may have many information exchanges, more or fewer subcontractors involved and the project team may not even have an Information Manager. However, similar examples have occurred and are still relevant on multiple projects.
Furthermore, there are a lot of tools that streamline this process in their own unique way, however, the purpose of the article is to review the involvement of the “BIM Police” and quantify COBie verification on a project.
P.P.P.S. don’t get hung up on the consultant’s day rate.