It could soon become easier for facilities managers of buildings to locate a leaking pipe or a hidden cable. Facilities management is an area that is on the radar for the authorities, as they seek to transform the construction sector.

Plans are afoot to help give facilities managers quicker access to comprehensive data about their buildings digitally, as opposed to hard-copy documents or manual inspections, said a Building and Construction Authority (BCA) spokesman.

Building and construction projects often involve many different parties, such as developers, consultants, sub-contractors and facilities managers.

Using technology such as Integrated Digital Delivery, which leverages on Building Information Modelling (BIM), would help ensure that less data is lost in translation.

Mr Chris Lee, country manager for software corporation Autodesk in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, said: "Prior to BIM, general contractors often handed the keys to a building to the owner, along with a vast and complicated paper trail of information on parts and equipment.

"With a 3D BIM model of a building, owners and facilities managers have a kind of historically intelligent X-ray vision of its internal mechanics. This includes details from occupancy data and energy reports, to equipment serial numbers and make and model data."

As a result, facilities managers can do preventive and predictive maintenance, better plan for new construction, better service warranty requests, and make more informed budgeting decisions, he added.

Toh Wen Li