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Numerous strategies are used to identify and regulate facilities management activities in different countries. Thus, there is a common requirement that the managed facilities should be safe and acceptable for the user. The availability of a national facilities management standard is essential to understanding the obligations of the owners, users and the different service providers. Standards are also required for the facilities management service assisting companies to plan the workload for the contractors. By 2001, Tallinn Technical University in co‐operation with the Estonian Association for Property Management and Maintenance developed the national standard for facilities management activities. The standard is built up as a hierarchic list of activities to satisfy the goals described in the standard. The aim of this standard development project was to simplify and rationalise the understanding of all the activities required when running different properties and maintaining them in proper state of repair and suitable for the user. This standard defines the relevant terms and the major obligations for the related parties to develop a common understanding about facilities management, but also defines the major performance criteria for the definition of quality.

As societies become aware that their future will be directed and shaped more and more by resource and environmental constraints, it is relevant for any country to carry out critical appraisal of any resources potentially available and the key criteria when assessing this trend is “sustainability”. The resource that is physically existing today and which has to develop a healthy, secure and socially acceptable environment for the majority, is housing. Housing management is currently and will continue to be an important field for facilities management studies. This paper examines some of the main aspects of the management schemes currently in use in the housing sector in transition economies and the influence of these on the quality of the housing stock as a resource. The critical criterion when examining and proposing any of the alternative management schemes is the sustainable development of society.

This study aims to initiate an investigation into the drop-out rate from building information modelling (BIM) courses.

During 2017-2018, BIM courses (16 weeks) have been developed as active learning modules. Peer instruction was used to engage students and improve the overall student’s performance. Students’ activity data were captured and analysed based on study groups and suggested study module completion dates.

By mapping students’ activity data against suggested completion date at various assessment milestones revealed a possible degradation of motivation throughout the course which, in turn, may have been a possible cause of drop-out.

This paper presents ongoing research and a preliminary understanding about peer instruction effectiveness in BIM-related subjects as high intensity courses. It investigates whether a student’s active participation can improve their motivation to acquire a subject’s learning outcomes and reduce the drop-out.

The peer instruction methodology that is used here is quite universal and can be successfully applied to various other subjects to increase the student’s involvement in the course.

Results are drawn based on students’ involvement at the high intensity course and show the gradual increase of a learner’s motivation once they get continuous support from fellow learners and a teacher.