## 5 BIM-Enabled Asset Information Delivery Process
_Data extraction from design models into an external database_ (_Creation of an asset registry_)  
The creation of a database with information from the design models, structured by assets, is necessary to facilitate the provision of information during construction. Figure 12 shows the data parameters for a specific asset in BIM being imported into the BIM-FM platform that served as an external database. Although the models are databases themselves, there are a few reasons why they are not used to collect O&M information directly. First, the need for access to software such as Revit, and the necessary familiarity with it, can be a barrier for the general contractor (GC) and trades that limits their ability to associate O&M information with the assets. Furthermore, BIM authoring tools are not well suited to incorporate large number of PDFs. Finally, design models often contain large amounts of information that are not required or useful for FM, which can be overwhelming and end up compromising the access to the required asset information. In project A, proprietary BIM-FM platform software developed by the BIM consultants was employed to facilitate the stakeholders' collaboration and access. This software, BIMFMi, served as a consolidated external building data repository. It also had a cloud-based interface in which the contractors and subcontractors were trained and granted access to upload documents and semantic information to specific model objects related to their activities. A key aspect of this phase is the data format used to manage the information, especially outside the BIM authoring tool environment. COBie has been proposed as a standard data exchange format in the industry. However, the BIM consultants opted for a bespoke solution that worked well with their external database software, BIMFMi. Although this specific software was used in this project, other solutions are available for managing BIM data externally, such as Autodesk BIM 360 Ops, VueOps, EcoDomus, and even Excel spreadsheets. _Association of asset information from the construction phase with respective digital assets in the external database_  
In this step, the GC and trades provide both semantic information and PDF documents to the external database. A fundamental aspect of this step is the association of the information with specific assets in a structured way. Figure 13 shows the different types of asset information that can be accessed in the external database. This differs from what happens in a traditional handover in which the asset information is delivered in O&M binders that are organized by a classification system, such as Omniclass. In project A, the information provided at this point was directly uploaded into the external database, meaning that this information was not necessarily incorporated into the models. Figure 12: Schematic example of the information developed in the design models being incorporated into the external database (BIMFMi). * _Validation of the Asset Information in the External Database_  
Concurrently with the previous step, the semantic information and PDFs provided in the external database are validated against the information requirements. In project A, the GC was in charge of overseeing the asset information uploaded by the trades and making sure that it was accurate. The BIM consultants were responsible for verifying whether the information uploaded to the external database was complete and reporting this to the owner. * _Asset information upload into FM systems_  
Finally, the information collected in the external database is uploaded into the CMMS, Maximo in project A. As part of this step, the Owners and CMMS Consultant parsed and complemented the asset information collected in the BIM process using Excel spreadsheets. Once the data was properly formatted, it was uploaded into Maximo using.csv files. It is important to note that not all of the asset information available in the external database was necessarily imported into Maximo because BIMFMi remained as a source of information available to the owners.