Analysis of BIM use for asset management in three public organizations in Québec, Canada

Purpose: Given the ongoing digital transformation, building information modeling (BIM) has great potential to create a collaborative environment in the whole lifecycle of the built asset, from inception to decommissioning. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This paper relates current developments in Québec with regard to the use of BIM for asset management (AM). The steps taken by three public organizations to develop their capabilities and take advantage of new possibilities are presented. The main methodological approach is based on participant observation, through case studies complemented by a questionnaire. Findings: This paper reports on results and analysis of an important module of a broader research project on the impact of new technologies and collaborative methods for projects and AM. The results of this first research module points to the importance of using pilot projects to develop a continuous improvement approach, where feedback loops from projects support the development of AM capabilities and culture. Another important finding is the importance of sharing experience for the three public organizations involved. Originality/value: The main contributions of this paper are to document this overarching research program and to gain deeper insights by reflexively considering the steps taken and the ones ahead for the quest to enhance the transfer of information for built assets at the end of projects to the operations and maintenance phase and to use BIM for operation.