Investigating information needs for specific processes in real estate to prioritise data

The availability and interpretability of information is key to a successful construction project and the steering of real estate.Due to the current possibilities in methods and software (such as Building Information Modelling (BIM)) more information can be collected and processed than before. It is expected that BIM will improve the flow of information between stakeholders and project phases.Methods and tools, however, cannot determine which information is needed in respect to corporate necessities, real estate specifics, and project specifics, economical or legal aspects. This leads to the following research questions:What are necessary processes and tasks in real estate? How can this data be prioritised?First an extensive literature review on processes and tasks on the basis of the current BIM discussion in real estate is conducted. The result is a list of processes and tasks examined thereafter, amended and ranked by real estate experts. Approaches to structuring and prioritising data are presented. The results of this paper are the basis for further examinations: It is planned to conduct interviews with experts for each process or task to specify which information is needed to fulfil the requirements of the process or task. The findings of this research help to identify relevant data in dependency of the objectives and the given circumstances. The methodology can be used in consulting building owners or other stakeholders to determine their information demand prior to e.g. the start of a new project.