BIM IN ASSET MANAGEMENT MONTHLY FORUM 23-09-2026
Date: 23 September 2026
Duration: 1 hour 27 minutes 43 seconds
- Meeting Objective
The September BIMinAM Monthly Forum focused on improving as-built and handover information, Golden Thread implementation, AI and data engineering, smart buildings, and whole-life asset information management. The meeting also provided updates on current working groups, collaboration initiatives and future areas of industry development.
- As-Built Information and Handover
A major discussion centred on the draft guidance developed with the Construction Leadership Council to define what “as-built” information should mean. The guidance focuses on the information required by owners, operators and facilities teams to safely operate and maintain buildings over their lifecycle. It is currently under consultation, with the next stage intended to establish how the required information should be collected, verified, delivered and who should be responsible for it.
Participants highlighted continuing resistance to providing complete digital handover information, with contractual arrangements, cost, insurance and liability among the issues raised. The discussion stressed that accurate technical information must be established at the beginning of a project rather than being treated as an end-of-project exercise.
- Verification and the Golden Thread
The forum emphasised that having a digital information repository alone is insufficient. Information must be taken to site and validated against the physical building. Participants described cases where drawings and records differed from what was actually constructed, highlighting the importance of visual inspection and evidence-based verification.
The Golden Thread Task Force has now been formally established as a collaborative structure bringing together specialists to develop tested solutions for clients. A key principle is the use of consistent classification and taxonomy, enabling different software systems and information sources to connect and exchange data.
- Collaborative Asset Information
The Task Force is exploring collaborative projects in which multiple organisations share the cost and benefit of developing common information solutions. Examples discussed included PFI handback, coordinated asset surveys, asset information models, inspections and the integration of 360° photography.
A key example demonstrated how low-cost 360° cameras can capture site information, with experienced staff remotely identifying and tagging assets. The resulting structured information can then support asset lists, condition assessments and future maintenance activities.
- AI and Data Engineering
The AI and Data Engineering Group provided an update on local and interoperable AI solutions, with particular emphasis on data sovereignty, avoiding dependence on a single AI provider and maintaining the ability to switch between models and services. Local AI was also discussed as a potential resilience measure when external connectivity or services are unavailable.
Work is also progressing on IFC ingestion and manipulation, enabling large building models to be broken down into manageable components, modified and exported again using IFC as an exchange mechanism. This supports ongoing changes to buildings throughout their operational lifecycle.
- Smart Buildings Working Group
A new Smart Buildings Working Group was introduced to examine how advances in technology and AI can improve building operations. The discussion identified an opportunity to connect building controls with asset management systems.
The proposed approach links three levels of building data: real-time control data, short-term operational notifications and longer-term analysis. Connecting this information with asset records could improve maintenance, compliance monitoring, energy analysis and identification of underperforming spaces or equipment.
- Golden Thread Tasks Project and Competency
Franco Pittoni presented the Tasks Project, which aims to create a structured list of tasks involved in producing data and information containers throughout the Golden Thread. Each task is being considered against factors such as the relevant activity, project stage, responsible party, required inputs, comments and applicable standards or regulations. The standards/regulations element is being developed separately because of its complexity.
A further competency workshop is planned to explore how competency can be defined and managed within the industry.
Key Takeaways
- Accurate as-built information must be defined early, specified contractually and verified against the physical asset.
- Digital information is only valuable when it is accurate, accessible, structured and usable by asset owners and operators.
- The Golden Thread Task Force is promoting collaboration, common taxonomy and shared investment to solve industry-wide information challenges.
- AI and data engineering can support asset management, but interoperability, data sovereignty and human oversight remain important.
- Smart-building controls and asset-management information should be better integrated to support maintenance, compliance, energy management and operational decision-making.
- Future work will focus on the “how” and “who” of delivering verified handover information, alongside competency, standards and practical implementation.