BIM in facility management and maintenance: the case of Kaisa library of Helsinki University

One of the promises of building information modelling is that it will be used during the whole life cycle of a building. However, there are very few studies of the actual uses of BIM and other information systems by facility management and maintenance personnel. The purpose of this study is to clarify the daily tasks of the maintenance personnel, the types of software used in maintenance and how the information is handed on to maintenance. Key persons involved in the maintenance of Kaisa Library, main library of Helsinki University, were interviewed and a member of the maintenance personnel was observed in his work. Results show that an electrical maintenance manual is an essential part of maintenance personnel’s work. University as an owner has been active in developing and interconnecting FM and maintenance tools it has implemented. However, building information models were not linked to these systems. The representatives of facility management found a partial, stepwise integration based on selective communication between the FM and maintenance systems already developed a way forward. They did not find the advantages of BIM implementation evident enough to legitimate the investments in the implementation.