Related Pages

March 2010 COBie Challenge: AssetWORKS

National Facility Management & Technology Tradeshow - Baltimore, MD

by E. William East, PhD, PE - Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers

The Construction Operations Building information exchange (COBie) information exchange format is a non-proprietary platform for the exchange of facility life-cycle data needed by facility managers. This page provides links to information used to evaluate the product listed in the table below against the requirements of the Facility Handover Model View Definition (PDF 1.4 MB) and the COBie draft specification (DOCX 36 KB). COBie is based on an underlying Industry Foundation Class (IFC) Facility Management Model View Definition (MVD) format. The information content of the FM Handover MVD and COBie is the same, the format of the two models are interoperable using a freely published bimServices.

The specific version of COBie exercised in this challenge was COBie 2.26. Version 2.26 made slight modifications to the organization of warranty data to resolve issues related to the practical usage of warranty information identified in the Dec 2009 COBie Challenge.

In this challenge, design software vendors created and exported files for a two-story, duplex apartment building described in the March 2010 COBie Challenge. Construction and commissioning software systems imported and augmented this information. Finally, maintenance and asset management software consume this facility handover information. The sections below indicate the specific COBie produced and/or consumed by the designated software vendor.

Product Information

COBie Consumer Challenge

During the project COBie information may be consumed during design, construction, commissioning. The following table identifies which of the information exchanges were the subjects of the COBie Consumer Challenge for the subject product.

During this COBie Challenge the vendor consumed the complete COBie file (ZIP 32.1 MB) for the reference project to begin the operation and management of the facility.

To assess the quality of COBie file import the author conducted a webinar with the vendor in the weeks leading up to the COBie Challenge. During this meeting the vendor was required to provide a live demonstration of their use of the COBie data and answer a battery of questions to determine if the project data was correctly loaded.

The checklist, shown below, lists each question with two columns to the right CMMS applications are generally considered to be those related to "Maintenance Management" information exchanges listed in the table above. CAFM applications are generally considered to be those related to the "Asset Management" information exchanges listed in the table above. Some of the imports are not relevant to both CMMS and CAFM applications. Such a distinction is noted by the letters "n/a". The checks that are applicable are denoted by a result of either pass, fail, or out of scope. Pass means that all information requested by the author, regarding the related checklist question was immediately found using the standard commercial product provided by the vendor. A Fail indicates that one or more sets of information related to the associated checklist question was not immediately found. The result of "Out of Scope" means that the specific vendor does not, or not currently, supports the importation of that type of information.

The results for the consumption of COBie data for the sample product, as identified in the tables above, are listed in the table below. Note that the product tested supports requirements traditionally included in both CMMS and CAFM applications.

	Traditional Application		Product Specific Quality Assurance Test Results
	CMMS	CAFM
Verify building name was correctly imported.			Pass
Verify that correct space names and numbers were imported.			Pass
Verify that space area measurement values were imported.	n/a		Pass
Verify that space function codes were imported or translated to local classification scheme.	n/a		Pass
Verify that equipment is identified as part of the designated building service.		n/a	Pass
Verify that the equipment is identified within a single room.		n/a	Pass
Verify that equipment is classified as fixed or movable.		n/a	Pass
Verify installed equipment is identified.		n/a	Pass
Verify that the equipment warranty information was loaded.		n/a	Pass
Verify replacement part information was loaded.		n/a	Pass
Verify that PM schedules were loaded.		n/a	Pass
Verify Safety plan information was loaded.		n/a	Pass
Verify that tools, materials, and training have been uploaded.		n/a	Pass