INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Information
Integration
for Facility
Management
Ciro D’Urso, Senate of the Italian Republic

The administration of a parliamentary institution implemented a

Computer-Aided Facility Management system to better manage the
institution’s real estate. The state-of-the-art CAFM system integrates
graphical and alphanumerical data for more efficient property
management.

F
acility management helps organizations
more efficiently manage their real estate,
and it’s extremely important when you’re
managing historic buildings that house
the offices of the Parliament of Italy. The Infor-
mation Systems Development Department and
the Real Estate Department of the Italian Senate
manage a considerable amount of information
about seven buildings containing approximately
3,000 rooms (including halls, prestige offices,
and technical areas) and covering a total area of
60,000 square meters. The facility management
involves maintaining accurate data about the
floor plans, space utilization, asset location, and
technical plants.
An efficient facilities-management informa-
tion system can better support the primary or-
ganization itself, increase the building’s life
expectancy and value, optimize appliance main-
tenance, help schedule routine maintenance ac-
tivities, and improve the quality of the working
environment.1 Unfortunately, current systems
are usually vendor-specific or proprietary, and
standardization attempts—such as the Industry
Foundation Classes (ISO 16739), developed by
the International Alliance for Interoperability
(www.iai-tech.org); the Facilities Management
Classes2; and the Integrated Facilities Manage-
ment Information System based on STEP (the
Standard for Product Model Data)3 —have yet to
overcome all the complexities involved.
So, my colleagues and I at the Information
Systems Development Department and Real
Estate Department developed our own Computer-
Aided Facility Management (CAFM) system
that combines traditional CAD software with a
set of software modules. In particular, the sys-
tem uses two types of data: graphical (managed
by traditional CAD software) and alphanumer-
ical (managed by modules integrated with CAD
software). The graphical data, implemented
through producer-defined formats and open-
source model definitions (www.opendwg.org),
visually represents the buildings and infra-
structure. The alphanumerical data concerns
information related to the buildings and their

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 CAFM client CAFM client
(client-server model) (Web-based model) Intranet /
-User interface window extranet
contents; the technical plants; and -Browser window
-CAD and other software modules -Java plugins
general attributes that the comput- -RDBMS middleware
er environment can store, analyze,
or present. The CAFM system’s
ability to link graphical elements CAFM
with attributes in the form of application server
alphanumeric data lets it extend -CAD engine
basic GIS software to a company’s -Flash engine
management system so that the -XML, XSL, XSLT
system doesn’t present just spatial
information.4 RDBMS
Other computerized systems
CAFM packages (Human Resources
System Requirements department, stationary
CAFM data
The first system requirement we de- requests, file system/
veloped outlined the project’s funda- document management)
mental objective:

R1. Floor plans registry. The system Figure 1. The Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) system
must implement the real estate regis- architecture. The core is the relational database management system
try of the electronic planimetries (in (RDBMS), which stores all objects.
an appropriate CAD format), always
having the last version available and managing
the versioning and the concurrent updates.
The planimetries contain the geometrical repre-
sentation of the building’s floors.
Next, we focused on building operations,
which are characterized by three main facilities-
management functions: maintenance and op-
eration management, property management, and
services (see www.ifma.org). We needed not only
electronic versions of the floor plans but also al-
phanumerical information related to each plan.
We stated this requirement as
R2. Alphanumerical data registry. The system
must be able to store and update building in-
formation, including the coding, typology, and
occupation of the rooms; any logical models
of the technical plants in the buildings; as-
set management and classification for tech-
nical plants; and the location of people and
departments.
Our final requirement focused on safety:
R3. Compliance to safety regulation. In the
context of evaluating fire risks and employee
safety at the work place, the system must au-
tomate the drafting of technical documents in
accordance with national regulation.
Italian regulations require employers to iden-
tify any risk factors in the company and evalu-
ate their potential effects. Employers also must
identify and implement preventative measures,
monitoring their effectiveness and making im-
provements as needed. They usually identify
such measures in a document of risk assessment
prescribed by law called a DVR, which includes
various detailed attachments. In fact, the regu-
lations require employers to specify in the DVR
each room’s measurements, flooring, wall type
and material, ceiling type and material, door type
and location, and furniture type and location.
The document also must state each room’s maxi-
mum occupancy, identify emergency exit paths,
and calculate the risk of fire.
System Architecture
Figure 1 shows the CAFM system architecture.
The core is the relational database management
system (RDBMS), which stores all objects. Pro-
cedures, functions, and SQL views developed in
the RDBMS implement part of the business logic
layer to support interoperability with other com-
puter applications.
The overall system is accessible via the enter-
prise network though the intranet or extranet
using a secure access protocol and a one-time
password (OTP) device. The main software mod-
ule (the CAD software) manages the electronic

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 INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Rooms Assets
Area Furniture
No. of people Chairs
Roofs Desks
Walls Bookcases
Windows
Doors Lights*
Stairs Bulbs
Halogen
…
… Patch panels
*Technical plants can be viewed under two aspects: their general attributes and the
assets that compose them.
Figure 2. An extract from the CAFM system’s information taxonomy.
The taxonomy provides the proper level of specification.
version of the floor plans stored in the RDBMS,
while another software component (part of
which was acquired as a commercial off-the-shelf
application and then customized) provides con-
nections between each file representing a floor
plan and the related attributes, also stored in the employee attributes—such as their title and orga-
RDBMS (such as space inventory, room codes,
occupation status, and asset data).
Two models exist for making the informa-
tion available to users: the traditional client-
server model and a Web-based model. Both have
strengths and weaknesses, depending on the sce-
nario and user. After a deep analysis, we decided
to implement both models. The two environ-
ments share the same data and spatial objects,
but the client software has much more function-
ality than the Web-based model, because CAD
software can more fully exploit client resources.
After implementing the infrastructure and in-
stalling the software modules on the proper hard-
ware, we started to feed data into the system. We
focused on two main issues: integration with our
central information system and security. We used
the requirements as our roadmap in realizing the
overall system, first developing the electronic ar- room number—so to fulfil the request, the ap-
chive for the floor plans (R1) and then structur-
ing the system to manage the information about
all plants and building assets (R2). Finally, we ex-
ploited the features offered by some technologi-
cal packages (the Flash engine and XML/XSL/
XSLT transformations) to introduce automatic
report generation, starting from SQL queries
4 IT Pro November/December 2011
itpro-13-06-Dur.indd 4
Plants
Electrical
executed on the gathered data (R3).
Panels We converted floor plans from paper
or old computer versions to the new
Lights*
format (the dwg format), storing all
Room files in the RDBMS. We also defined
a set of metadata associated to each
dwg file to satisfy research needs.
Network
After the digitalization of the pla-
RJ-45 plugs nimetries, we started collecting in-
Switches ML
formation about assets to create a
sufficiently detailed taxonomy (see
Figure 2).
System Integration
To address the integration issue, we
implemented a module that links the
management system for legal and
personnel information with the pla-
nimetries to help locate employees.
This reduced data duplication and kept respon-
sibility for managing personnel information with
the Human Resources (HR) department (not the
Information Systems Department).
In addition, CAFM can graphically represent
nizational unit. Considering the entities schema
and the relationships between the HR manage-
ment system and the CAFM database, the in-
tegration was very straightforward. We simply
linked the two database schemas—for example,
we’d link a particular SQL view, defined in the
HR system and readable by the CAFM system,
using the employee identification number stored
in both (see Figure 3).
One end the CAFM system is a consumer of
information managed by the enterprise infor-
mation system (EIS), while the other end of the
system is the information provider itself for ap-
plications that need the real estate data. For ex-
ample, consider the application that manages
stationery requests (shown in the lower right
corner of Figure 1): the system must know where
to deliver the items—which building, floor, and
plication reads the appropriate database views of
the CAFM system.
The system also improves information quality
by revealing data inconsistencies. For example,
consider the room number—there could be a
mismatch between the actual room number and
the number listed in the computer system.
10/12/11 1:01 PM
 Typology
Building Plant Task Link entity
of task

H Role
R
Floor
Organizational
Assignment
V unit
Person
i
e Economic
Room Link entity
position
w
s Employee

Category
Macro
category

CAFM system Human Resources system

SELECTBuilding.edificio,Building.id_edificio,Floor.piano,Floor.id_piano,Room.vano, Person."ID_N", Person."ID_VANO”,

Person."POSIZIONATO", Person."COGNOME", Person."NOME", Person."QUALIFICA", Person."IMMAGINE_ACCESS",
Person."ROTAZIONE", Person."X", Person."Y", Person."Z", Person."IMMAGINE", Person."X1", Person."X2", Person."Y1",
Person."Y2“,“VIEW_HR"."TIPO“,“VIEW_HR "."CODICETIPO“, “VIEW_HR "."PERSONARIFERIMENTO“,
“VIEW_HR "."DESCGRUPPO“, “VIEW_HR”."DESCSERVIZIO", “VIEW_HR "."SERVIZIO“,“VIEW_HR "."INCARICO“,
“VIEW_HR"."CARRIERA,…
FROM Building, Floor, Room, Person, “VIEW_HR“
WHERE Building.id_edificio= Floor.id_edificioAND Floor.id_piano= Room.id_pianoAND Person_.id_vano= Room.id_vanoAND
Person."ID_N" = “VIEW_HR "."ID_N"(+)

Figure 3. Integration between the CAFM and Human Resource systems based on SQL-views. The HR database
provides the main data about an employee, and a plain SQL instruction can join the information from two
different repositories.

System Security Application and Results

For security purposes, we implemented a role-
based access-control model to clearly identify
the competence and responsibilities of the ac-
tors involved. The roles are classified as build-
ing engineers, plant engineers, safety managers,
general operators, and so on, and an access
matrix relates each role with information speci-
fying the allowed operations and building
access.
We also exploited our taxonomy to catego-
rize the data the CAFM system manages, such
as geometrical layout; rooms-floors, rooms-
people, rooms-[...]; pla nt-elect r ica l, pla nt-
hydraulic, plant-[...]; and assets-furniture,
assets-[...]. So, for example, a building engineer
might have read-write access to the geometrical
layout of planimetries associated to buildings M
and G but just read permission for buildings C
and K.
During the first year of system implementa-
tion, we focused on the digitalization task,
spending a tremendous amount of time devel-
oping a reliable repository of the floor plans.
Furthermore, we elicited requests for addi-
tional functions and reports, formulated by
system users (the managers and technical staff
in the Real Estate Department), and we organ-
ized classroom and hands-on training ses-
sions. Then we were able to turn our attention
to controlling fire risks and managing space
utilization.
Evaluating Fire Risks
To reduce the risk of fire in any of the buildings,
we first identified elements considered to be a fire
hazard (certain types of flooring, ceiling, walls,
and furniture). We also retrieved technical re-
ports of each plant (about the electrical wiring,

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 INFORMATION SYSTEMS

List ofof
List buildings, floors,
buildings, floors,
rooms
and rooms

Main dataMain
about each
data building
about each
(area, number of rooms,
parliamentary group, taking into ac-
number of people,…) count room size and quality and the
distance between rooms. We can
generate reports through SQL que-
ries that specify room size, attributes,
and location and help us propose the
Here the user can define and submit some new room assignments. We can then
queries in a guided manner (selecting the
attribute of interest from a list) present the plan using the system’s
Web-based component, allowing for
Main
Main
datadata
aboutabout
each
each
roomroom
of each
of each interaction and graphics in a Flash
floor
floorinofone
onebuilding
building(and
(here are
visualized
visualized data data related
related to risk
to fire of fire)
risks)
environment (see Figure 5).
The approval process is complex,
because the politicians review the
Location of the
Location of asset
the asset
in terms of building, plan and request changes, leading to
floor, and room various iterations before assignments
are final (one of the last elections
involved eight iterations). The sys-
tem lets us simulate space allocation
in real time to quickly present new
drafts for politicians to review. Prior
Attributes of the to implementing the system, a room-
fire estinguisher
Here the user can select allocation change took approximately
Here the user can select which
which room examine and one working day to represent and re-
room to examine, and the system
the system provides a
provides a preview of the floor
preview of the floor plan
plan with the room outlined
ceive feedback. In the last election,
with the room outlined
using the new system, the same pro-
cess took only one hour.
Figure 4. Using the CAFM system to evaluate fire risks. The real-time
query console (a) shows information associated with each room and
(b) attributes related to the maintenance needs of a particular asset,

E
fficient facilities management
such as the fire extinguishers. offers considerable cost sav-
ings. Building, plant, and in-
air conditioning, heating, and so on) through frastructure planning and construction account
SQL queries (see Figure 4). for only 20 percent of all costs; the maintenance
The CAFM system can extensively report on the phase (approximately 40 years) accounts for the
information it gathers—for example, noting when other 80 percent. 5–8 The CAFM system pro-
a room is about to exceed its capacity—to generate vides considerable economic value to Italy’s
technical documents in accordance with national various government institutions. Recognizing
regulations. The system can also generate emer- this benefit, many Italian organizations have
gency exit plans as part of the DVR document. acquired facility-management services and re-
Prior to implementing the CAFM system, an lated CAFM systems from specialized vendors
employee had to spend an entire month gather- for building and infrastructure maintenance. In
ing the necessary fire-risk information to meet fact, for the second half of 2009, regional agen-
regulatory requirements. Now, that same em- cies had contracts worth more than 10 billion
ployee can generate and verify the required data euro (Source: International Facility Manage-
in just one day. ment Association, http://www.ifma.org/, http://
www.ifma.it/).
Reassigning Rooms after Elections A further effort is needed to address all infor-
Whenever Italy has political elections, we need mation that daily a facility manager must consider.
to provide suitable spaces for the members of For example, we plan to integrate a pervasive
Parliament and their staff. We assign the spaces monitoring system into the CAFM to analyze real-
according to the actual composition of each time energy consumption throughout the day

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 for each building and plant. This will
help us develop short- and medium-
term cost-cutting strategies through
the revision of physical elements and
contractual clauses with commercial
providers.
Parliamentary
groups with
Acknowledgments rooms in the
The views expressed here are those of the author; selected floor

they don’t necessarily reflect those of the Italian

Senate or any other organization. Thanks to Giuseppe
Briotti, software analyst at the Italian Senate,
and to Marco Desideri, founder of Infocad.FM,
for their technical contributions to the project.

References
1. J.N.W. Bos, “Software Analysis of a Figure 5. The Flash view of space assignments for parliamentary
Flexible Object-Oriented Facility Man- groups after a political election. Each room is marked with a different
agement Information System,” Product color, depending on group allocation.
and Process Modelling in the Building In-
dustry, Balkema, 1995, pp. 379–385. 6. D.J. Ferry, P.S. Brandon, and J.D. Ferry, Cost Planning
2. K. Yu, T. Froese, and F. Grobler, “A Development of Buildings, seventh ed., Blackwell Science, 1999.
Framework for Data Models for Computer Integrated 7. F. Sieglinde, “Life-Cycle Cost Analysis,” W hole
Facilities Management, Automation in Construction, Building Design Guide, 29 June 2010; www.wbdg.
vol. 9, nos. 5/6, 2000, pp. 145–167. org/resources/lcca.php.
3. F.F. Cheng, P. Patel, and S. Bancroft, “Development 8. D. Cotts, K. Roper, and R. Payant, The Facility Man-
of an Integrated Facilities Management Information agement Handbook, third ed., Amacom Books, 2009.
System Based on STEP—A Generic Product Data
Model,” Int’l J. Construction Information Technology, Ciro D’Urso is head of the Information Systems Devel-
vol. 4, no. 2, 1996, pp. 1–13. opment Office at the Senate of the Italian Republic. His
4. T. Schurle, A. Boy, and D. Fritsch, “Geographic In- research interests include project management, software
formation Systems and Facility Management,” Inter- engineering, facility management, and business analytics.
national Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing D’Urso received a five-years MS in engineering and a two-
and Spatial Information Sciences, vol. 32, no. 4, 1998, years specialization degree in statistics, operations research,
pp. 562–568. and decision sciences from La Sapienza, Rome. He’s a
5. Y.M. Dessouky and A. Bayer, “A Simulation and De- senior member of IEEE. Contact him at cirodurso@ieee.org.
sign of Experiments Modelling Approach to Main-
tenance Costs,” Computers & Industrial Eng., vol. 43, Selected CS articles and columns are available
no. 3, 2002, pp. 423–436. for free at http://ComputingNow.computer.org.

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