6D BIM model offers an easily-accessible and understood way of extrapolating information. Various details that would have gone unnoticed in paper files are now easily interrogated graphically. This approach really comes into its own by allowing facilities managers to pre-plan maintenance activities potentially years in advance and develop spending profiles over the lifetime of a built asset, working out when repairs become uneconomical or existing systems inefficient. This approach of planned and proactive planning offers significant benefits over a more reactive one – not least in terms of costs.

Ideally the information model should comprise of regular updates on repairs and replacements added in. In fact, what is even better is that a myriad of equipped data and diagnostics can also be fed in to inform decision making still further.