• Building owners spend $4.8 billion a year verifying that documentation they have about their buildings matches reality, according to an estimate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
• That cost, another $613 million to get information into usable forms and the expense of replacing lost documents are costs they do not want as part of operations and maintenance.
• When AEC and EPC firms begin to assemble the huge amount of information about a building, they should consider what the whole project will require for data storage and access through the building's life.

From the article:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology estimates U.S. operations and maintenance firms spend at least $4.8 billion annually verifying that documentation accurately represents existing conditions in their facilities and another $613 million transferring that information into a useful format. ...