Identification of Key Performance Tasks to Demonstrate the Benefit of Introducing the Facilities Manager at an Early Stage in the Building Information Modelling process on Public Sector Projects in Ireland.

Modelling (BIM) governed process was investigated in this thesis. Governments are now seeking a more rewarding methodology in the management and procurement of public sector building assets. This has seen an integrated focus by International Governments on BIM as a partial solution in both managing and procuring public sector building assets. Despite BIM bringing the Facility Manager closer to project conceptualisation, there was still a reluctance and a lack of perceived benefits of having them involved earlier in the design phase. There remains a lack of clear evidence on what improved contribution the Facilities Manager can provide. This thesis provides a review of current initiatives in place in the Irish public sector and advocates BIM and early Facility Manager involvement as a solution in establishing a more intelligent public sector estate. There was a strong understanding that early Facility Management involvement is a crucial requirement in the design process to ensure the model is challenged for operability and maintainability issues. Their involvement though has been hindered by a clear lack of understanding to what areas they can contribute to within the early BIM design process. In depth observational studies identify inefficiencies that currently exist in the Irish public sector. In particular, demonstrations have been provided to show how the Facility Manager can be included in the design team to assist in addressing a number of these inefficienes. Surveys carried out by the author suggest that there was a high level of awareness and early usage of BIM in Ireland. Despite the lack of involvement of the Facility Manager in the traditional process there was an understanding that he/she can utilise current BIM technologies in addressing key areas of concern which are usually left unaddressed until the operational phase. The thesis presents a number of Key Performance Tasks (KPTs) that can be used to demonstrate the benefit of including the Facility Manager earlier in the BIM process for public sector projects. The KPTs have been piloted, refined and validated on a number of pilot and public sector projects. The output from this research has demonstrated that the inclusion of the Facility Manager can ensure a more robust Facilities Management (FM) design process for public sector projects, thereby realising improved project outcomes