There are different types of information requirements related to the delivery or operational phase of an asset, spanning from organizational information requirements, asset information requirements and project information requirements.

All asset and project information that is to be supplied as part of asset management or project delivery should be specified by the appointing party through sets of exchange information requirements (EIR). They should be expressed in such a way that they can be incorporated into project-related appointments or instructions12 and passed along the supply chain.

The content of the EIR basically covers three areas:

• Technical: Details of software platforms, definitions of levels of detail etc
• Management: Details of management processes to be adopted in connection with BIM on a project
• Commercial: Details of BIM Model deliverables, timing of data exchange and definitions of information purposes

This asset and project information to be supplied collectively by the solution providers (i.e. the Engineer and the Contractor and the Suppliers) can be supplied only if the Building Owners and the Operators have themselves at an earlier stage clearly spelled out their needs and requirements as these will be the base for any future validation and commissioning or acceptance of the to be built facility. This covers the project itself and its BIM objectives.