Application of BIM in “as-is” modeling to support operation and maintenance: A case study of university student housing

Abstract

The application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) to existing buildings has gained relevance as a strategy to support asset management, especially in the operation and maintenance (O&M) phases. However, in buildings already in use, its adoption is limited by the absence of reliable “as-built” documentation, fragmented technical records, and renovations not incorporated into the documentary archive. This study examines how BIM-based “as-is” modeling can support the O&M of existing university buildings when reliable “as-built” documentation is unavailable. To this end, an applied, qualitative, and descriptive case study was developed, with Blocks A and B of a student housing complex linked to a Brazilian federal public university as the unit of analysis. The methodological procedure included a critical analysis of technical documentation, field inspections, measurements, photographic records, architectural, structural, and plumbing BIM modeling, integration of the models in a federated environment, multidisciplinary coordination, and clash detection. The results revealed inconsistencies between original drawings, undocumented renovations, and the actual condition of the buildings, indicating that the fragility of the documentary archive is a barrier to BIM adoption in O&M. It was found that, without “as-built” models, “as-is” modeling requires greater technical effort, field verification, and reconciliation among different sources of information. As a contribution, the study demonstrates that BIM-based “as-is” modeling can convert legacy documentation, field surveys, and discipline-specific models into an integrated information base on the built asset, supporting interventions, building systems coordination, and lifecycle management.