THE PROPOSED USE OF A BASELINE MOBILE APPLICATION FOR RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES MANAGEMENT IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity. This is especially true in sectors with large amounts of information to handle. With the introduction of Building Information Modeling (BIM) into the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, the idea of BIM-Enabled Facilities Management (FM) to ease information flow has become increasingly popular over the years. However, not many have tried to inculcate BIM-Enabled FM in an integrated baseline application for residential management to improve communication. Also, limited number of studies perused mobile application-based management in residential sector to improve communication or the FM workflow. The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a baseline tool to improve FM workflow in residential sector is not a topic that has been researched upon extensively. Yet, ICT for FM with BIM has been investigated in many educational buildings and market products boast lavishly on the variety of FM-based applications for offices and commercial assets. This study will examine the precursory literatures available on FM, BIM, ICT and What-If Analysis; examine the feasibility of creating a baseline application model to improve residential FM workflow based on available studies and market application; and identify the main concerns and issues of mobile-based FM in residential sector to understand why the current applications available need to be revamped. A feasibility study was carried out and supported by experimental mobile application creation and interviews with local FM professionals. This is done to show the potential of a new and improved mobile-based FM in residential sector. A hierarchical process was done to inculcate prioritization in the application model through What-If Analysis. The application model was successfully created to account for this prioritization process and to include all the required features of a mobile-based residential FM management.