COBie data built from the project record.
Specset (formerly Specbook AI) is AI document control for construction. To produce COBie or an owner’s asset data workbook from the construction record, Specset reads the equipment schedules, specifications, approved submittals, and O&M package into an asset record of locations, systems, assets, warranties, and maintenance plans, with every field cited to the page it came from. From that record it produces COBie as an XLSX workbook, or the owner’s own workbook, for IBM Maximo or another maintenance system, at closeout or before it, so operations start from the job’s own documents instead of re-keyed data. The owner’s team checks the file, and Specset can help your team load the file into IBM Maximo or the owner’s system.
Where asset data handoff stalls.
Each problem below comes from the national COBie standard or a federal owner’s published requirements. Each answer says what Specset does with the project record before the data goes to the owner.
- 01
The maintenance system waits on the handover
The National Institute of Building Sciences states that COBie’s purpose is to help project teams capture and deliver data on a facility’s maintainable assets, with the goal of reducing or even eliminating the delay between handover and when the facilities management system can begin operations and maintenance of those assets.
How Specset helps: Specset builds the asset record while the project runs. Approved submittals, warranties, and O&M file into the turnover record at approval time, so the data file at closeout comes from records already in place, not from a data-entry phase at the end of the job.
- 02
Every owner asks for different fields
In the COBie standard, each field is designated as always required, required if stated in the contract, or a reference to another field, and the standard allows asset owners to define the specific fields they want in their data delivery.
How Specset helps: Upload the owner’s template or field list, and Specset’s agents complete it from the asset record, with every value cited. A field the record cannot resolve is flagged for a person, not guessed.
- 03
Federal owners make the workbook a contract deliverable
On Navy projects, the contractor populates up to 17 required facility asset data fields for each subsystem in the eOMSI Facility Data Workbook, and the final workbook is a contract deliverable for upload to the Navy’s maintenance database, MAXIMO. UFGS 01 78 24.00 20 also asks the contractor to add, delete, and update systems that changed during construction or were missed during design.
How Specset helps: Upload the Facility Data Workbook and Specset’s agents fill it in from the specifications, equipment schedules, and approved submittals, with each value cited to the page it came from. A system whose approved submittal differs from the specification shows the submittal behind it. Changes made in the field without a submittal stay with your team to add.
- 04
COBie is due at more than one milestone
GSA’s 2024 P100 Submittal Matrix lists COBie spreadsheet submittals, including an initial and an updated COBie spreadsheet, among the items GSA requires to validate that a project is moving forward. The COBie standard notes a deliverable may be generated for any phase of a project, with the tables and fields selected for that phase.
How Specset helps: Approved submittals, warranties, and O&M file into the turnover record at approval time, so construction-phase COBie updates draw on records already in place. Specset can produce COBie before closeout, for an initial or updated submittal, from the record your team has at that point. Design-phase COBie comes from the design team.
What COBie is.
COBie, the Construction to Operations Building information exchange, is part of the National BIM Standard-United States.
A format for maintainable assets. NIBS describes COBie as a standard organization of the data used to manage and maintain facility assets, which lets the owner populate their facility maintenance system quickly and accurately. The maintainable assets include mechanical equipment, electrical equipment, plumbing fixtures, and other items that require maintenance, upkeep, and replacement.
Federal origins. NIBS notes COBie was first published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007. It can be used whenever a handover occurs, including at the end of new construction or a renovation, and it is not limited to buildings.
Spreadsheet handoff. The COBie standard is non-graphic data defined against the IFC schema, and it can also be represented as a spreadsheet. Some owners use their own workbook instead, such as the Navy’s Facility Data Workbook.
Specset’s output is the spreadsheet form: it produces COBie as an XLSX workbook, or completes the owner’s workbook or field list, from the cited asset record. Specset does not export IFC files. IBM Maximo is one example of a maintenance system that takes this kind of data.
Handoff workflows on one record.
The schedules, specifications, submittals, and O&M package stay in one project record. The asset record and the data file read from the same documents.
- 01
Build the asset record from the job’s documents
Specset reads the equipment schedules, specification Part 2, approved submittals, and the O&M package into a linked record of locations, systems, assets, products, and companies, with every field cited to its source page.
- 02
Import the package you were handed
When the contractor delivers a closeout package with its own naming scheme, one agent reads each file, matches it to its asset, and files it by role. Anything ambiguous goes to a person.
- 03
Produce the owner’s data file
From the asset record, Specset produces COBie as an XLSX workbook, or completes the owner’s workbook template, for IBM Maximo or another maintenance system, with every value cited. Run it before closeout for an initial or updated submittal, or at turnover.
- 04
Export the full project record
At closeout, export the full project record. In Specset, the record is kept as long as your contract with Specset specifies.
Who this is for.
Teams that deliver, receive, or check asset data at turnover.
Owners and facility teams
Agencies, campuses, and facility owners who run a maintenance system and need it populated at turnover. Specset produces COBie as an XLSX workbook, or completes the owner’s workbook or field list, from a cited record.
Contractors
General contractors owe the COBie spreadsheet or the owner’s workbook as a closeout deliverable. Specset builds it from the submittals and O&M documents the job already produced.
CM and owner’s rep firms
The firms that accept closeout for the owner check the handoff before it is loaded. Every value in the file traces to the page it came from.
What stays with the owner’s team.
Specset builds the data from the record. The owner decides what goes into their system.
- Specset does not decide which fields the owner requires. The owner’s standard or contract does.
- Specset does not decide which data the owner’s system accepts. The owner’s team checks the file, and Specset can help your team load the file into IBM Maximo or the owner’s system.
- Specset does not replace commissioning or field verification of installed equipment.
- Specset does not guess a value the record does not contain. It flags it for a person.
Public sources for this page.
Standard and federal owner facts above come from these publications.
- NIBS COBie, Overview
- A standard organization of data used to manage and maintain facility assets. First published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007. Not limited to buildings.
- NIBS COBie, Overview and purpose
- Reducing or eliminating the delay between handover and when the facilities management system can begin operations and maintenance.
- NIBS COBie, Structure and format
- Fields are always required, required if stated in the contract, or a reference. Owners can define the fields they want.
- WBDG, NAVFAC BIM and eOMSI program
- Up to 17 required asset fields per subsystem. The final Facility Data Workbook is a contract deliverable for upload to MAXIMO.
- UFGS 01 78 24.00 20
- The contractor updates systems that changed during construction or were missed during design.
- GSA 2024 P100 Submittal Matrix
- Initial and updated COBie spreadsheets among the submittals GSA requires.
What teams ask about COBie and asset data handoff.
01What is COBie?
COBie, the Construction to Operations Building information exchange, is a National BIM Standard format for the data used to manage and maintain a facility’s assets, such as mechanical and electrical equipment and plumbing fixtures. NIBS says its purpose is to shorten the delay between handover and the start of operations and maintenance in the owner’s facilities management system.
02Can Specset produce COBie data for IBM Maximo?
Yes. From the cited asset record, Specset produces COBie as an XLSX workbook, or completes the owner’s own workbook template, for IBM Maximo or another maintenance system. Every value traces to the page it came from. The owner’s team checks the file, and Specset can help your team load the file into IBM Maximo or the owner’s system.
03Is COBie required on federal projects?
It depends on the agency and the contract. GSA’s 2024 P100 Submittal Matrix lists COBie spreadsheet submittals among the items GSA requires. Navy projects use the eOMSI Facility Data Workbook, a contract deliverable for upload to the Navy’s MAXIMO database. Your contract says what is due and when.
04Where does the data come from?
From the documents the job already produced: the equipment schedules, specification Part 2, approved submittals, and the O&M package, including warranties, installation manuals, and commissioning reports. Every field carries a citation to its source page, and anything the record cannot resolve is flagged for a person.
05How is this different from Specset’s closeout workflow?
Closeout turns the delivered documents into the operating record: assets, warranties, and maintenance plans. The COBie handoff is the data file built from that same record for the owner’s maintenance system. Both run on the same project.
Send one closeout package and the owner’s template.
Bring the specifications, the equipment schedules, the approved submittals, and the O&M package, or the closeout binder you were handed, plus the owner’s COBie or workbook requirements. Specset returns the data file built from a cited asset record. The owner’s team checks it before it is loaded.