Evaluating Alternative Methods for Capturing As-Built Data for Existing Facilities

There is a lack of intelligent digital data for effective support of improvements and/or maintenance of existing United States Army facilities. The move by the Corps of Engineers in mandating the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the first step towards getting intelligent as-built engineering data into the hands of the installation's Directorate of Public Work (DPW). However, this only addresses new facilities, which represent a very small portion of the DPW's facility information needs. The real need is to find the most efficient method of capturing existing facility as-built information so that the DPW can maintain its daily operations and maintenance as well as real property asset management activities. This paper presents a comparative analysis of alternative technologies for capturing as-built information for existing facilities at Fort Lewis in Washington State. Field surveys were performed on four buildings over a period of four weeks to capture facilities data based on the COBIE (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange) standard. Data was captured using (1) paper forms and computer data entry, (2) laptop computers, (3) digital pens, and (4) handheld computers. Hand-held computers were determined to be the most efficient technology (cost and time) under the experimental conditions of the study. However, the most important findings of this study do not reside in the specific issues related to each technology, but in the lessons learned regarding three major challenges that uncovered during the experimental process: logistical issues, operational issues, and user interface issues.