Ingenieur April-June 2016 Ingenieur Apr-June 2016 | Page 12

INGENIEUR house maintenance team as their maintenance may only be needed intermittently. To generate sufficient economies of scale so that they become financially attractive, many owners resort to outsourcing to facilities management entities. Among the new developments that are driving Infrastructure A s s e t M an a g e m e n t an d Facilities Management is the need to maintain sustainability including energ y s avings procedures that come with new technology and materials. To be effective, it is essential that facilities management needs are incorporated at the design stage to allow for flexibility in developing an inclusive project financing model that covers the full life cycle of the project and continues to maintain its functionality and serviceability without affecting the well-being of users in catering for refurbishment, retrofitting and other activities needed to facilitate asset and facilities management. Most notable is the emerging technology for infrastructure asset management in the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) which is an enabler in collating data during the design and construction process which can be used to commission facilities and validate per formance so that the facility continues to per form as intended. Fur thermore, implementing BIM will allow information to be captured and be used by most Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to manage complex facilities. 6 10 VOL - JUNE 2016 VOL66 55APRIL JUNE 2013 Here, I would like to emphasise that up -to date information to support management decisions on items such as network inventor y details, traf fic, axle loads, costs and road conditions is vital. However the cost of data acquisition can be very expensive and as such, an appropriate data design is critical to assess physical conditions, safety, level of service, and efficiency of the operation of our road infrastructures. In addition, it is becoming increasingly important for us to be able to predict the effects on the infrastructure that proposed policies are likely to have in the future. Such predictive capabilities, available in Road Management Systems, enable decision makers to test alternative courses of action to determine which policies and strategies will be most effective in accomplishing the desired level- of-service for long-term network per formance and expenditure needs. Irrespective of any other requirements, within the context of delivering appropriate level of service to the customer, all assets have to be managed efficiently and effectively by applying combination of engineering, advance technology, economic and good practices to maximize values of assets over the whole life cycle. I am glad the fields of asset and facilities management are making many organisations review how structure and infrastructure projects may be developed given the new dynamism in the built environment discipline as opposed to the static approach of the past. More importantly asset and facilities management addresses current global issues that have been partly blamed for excessive development of structures and infrastructures in the past. It will take some time before we can reap the reward of maintenance culture towards achieving developed nation status but what is most importance is the willingness of all concerned parties to play a pivotal role in fostering such culture that will benefit future generations. The maintenance culture should not be only confined within Government organisations but also at the private sector. It is my fervent hope that this culture, to fulfil the adage “First Class Infr as truc ture and World Class Maintenance Culture” be adopted and embraced by all of us in ensuring our socioeconomic well-being. The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) reinforces the fact that assets owners uplift and maintain their assets at par with international standard and practices to compete globally. The failure to comply can jeopardise and pose difficulties for foreign investors when operating in our country. Finally, I would like to once again thank the organiser for inviting me to deliver the keynote address and officiating the INFRAASSETS2015. With these words, it gives me great pleasure in declaring this congress officially open.