Abstract
Purpose: The integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Facility Management (FM) remains challenging. A key problem is in the project setup itself: the responsible FM organization is not determined at the start of the design phase. As a result, FM cannot be involved in the BIM process from the outset, making it impossible to define information requirements (IR) in a timely manner. Even once a FM organization is in place, their late involvement or limited expertise in BIM-specific IR often adds further complexity. To address this challenge, it is necessary to establish fundamental IR that can be requested independently of the early involvement of FM staff. Such a foundation would ensure that essential data for building operation is systematically captured, regardless of whether FM representatives are present in the initial project stages. Design/methodology/approach: This study presents a literature review of existing approaches to defining IR for building operation. The review analyses the limitations of these approaches, focusing on shortcomings that hinder their applicability as a basis for operational FM. The identified limitations were used as evaluation criteria to assess each publication. Findings: Results show that all the existing fundamental IR have multiple limitations, such as a restricted scope to specific services or building types, inadequate adoption of standards, and absence of validation in practice. By identifying and consolidating these limitations, this study establishes a set of conditions that future fundamental IR need to fulfil to enable reliable and transferable use of BIM data in building operation. Originality: This study synthesizes limitations across existing IR approaches into a structured set of evaluation criteria for fundamental IR for FM. Practical implications: The results provide a foundation for developing future fundamental IR for FM (FIR4FM) that can be requested independently of the early involvement of FM.