Automatic rule verification for digital building permits

Dissertação de mestrado em Modelação de Informação na Construção de Edifícios BIM A+O sector da construção está a enfrentar grandes mudanças nas exigências do cliente e do mercado, empurrando para a transformação digital e para uma indústria orientada para os dados. Os governos tomaram parte ativa nesta mudança, apoiando a digitalização de processos como o das licenças de construção, introduzindo a utilização de modelos de informação de construção (BIM). A investigação sobre a digitalização do licenciamento municipal de construções mostrou grandes avanços no que diz respeito à extração de regras de forma interpretável e à automatização de verificações; contudo, a conciliação entre as definições semânticas do modelo de construção e os conceitos definidos nos regulamentos está ainda em discussão. Além disso, a validação da acuidade das informações incluídas nos modelos de construção relativamente às definições do regulamento é importante para garantir a qualidade ao longo do processo de licença de construção. Esta dissertação visa propor um fluxo de trabalho híbrido para verificar a informação extraída explicitamente do modelo BIM e a informação implicitamente derivada das relações entre elementos, seguindo as disposições contidas nos regulamentos no contexto de Portugal. Com base em alguma revisão de literatura, foi proposto um novo processo, e foi desenvolvido um código Python utilizando a biblioteca IfcOpenshell para apoiar a automatização do processo de verificação, tradicionalmente realizada por técnicos nos gabinetes de licenciamento municipal. Os elementos desenvolvidos neste documento foram comprovados num estudo de caso, demonstrando que a validação híbrida pode ajudar a detetar erros de modelação e melhorar a acuidade da informação durante a apresentação inicial de modelos para um processo de licença de construção. Os resultados indicam que a inclusão de uma validação automática do modelo contra definições regulamentares pode ser introduzida para melhorar o grau de certeza da qualidade da informação contida no Modelo de Informação, além disso, a proposta de métodos que produzem resultados a partir de informação implícita pode alargar as capacidades do esquema IFC. Contudo, os esquemas desenvolvidos neste trabalho estão ainda em constante revisão e desenvolvimento e têm limitações de aplicabilidade em relação a certas classes do IFC.The construction sector is facing major changes in the client and market requirements, pushing towards the digital transformation and a data driven industry. Governments have taken an active part in this change by supporting the digitalization of processes such as the one for building permits by introducing the use of building information models (BIM). The research on the digitalization of the building permit has shown great advancements in regarding the rule extraction in interpretable ways and the automation of the verification; however, the conciliation between the building model semantic definitions and the concepts defined in the regulations is still in discussion. Moreover, the validation of the correctness of the information included in building models regarding the regulation definitions is important to guarantee the quality along the digital building permit process. This dissertation aims to propose a hybrid workflow to check the information extracted explicitly from the BIM model and the information implicitly derived from relationships between elements by following the provisions contained in the regulations in the context of Portugal. Based on some context and literature review, a process reengineering was proposed, and a Python code was developed using the IfcOpenShell library to support the automation of the verification process, traditionally carried out by technicians in the building permit offices. The elements developed in this document were proven in a case-study, demonstrating that the hybrid validation can help to detect modelling errors and improve the certainty of correctness of information during the initial submission of models for a building permit process. The results indicate that the inclusion of an automated validation of the model against regulation definitions can be introduced to improve the degree of certainty of the quality of the information contained in the Building Information Model, moreover the proposal of methods that produce results from implicit information can extend the capabilities of the IFC schema. However, the scripts developed in this work are still under constant review and development and have limitations of applicability in relation to certain IFC classes.Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree Programme – ERASMUS

Information lifecycle management in Structural Engineering BIM, openBIM and Blockchain technology to digitise and re-engineer structural safety information management processes

Over the past decade, the building information modelling (BIM) approach has increasingly been used in both professional practice and research relating to the fields of civil and structural engineering. Indeed, it has been adopted across the globe, with some governments demanding its use in public projects involving bridges, tunnels and railways, as well as for strategic facilities like hospitals and schools. In Europe, most countries comply with Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurements, which allows such clients to demand the use of BIM methodologies. Some countries, meanwhile, have decided to enforce digital delivery; for example, the United Kingdom has required the use of BIM in all government projects since 2016, while the Italian government published a timeline in 2018 mandating the use of BIM methodologies in all construction work by 2025. As a consequence, companies involved in the AEC sector are embracing the BIM approach by employing new tools and workflows, even though they face obstacles in relation to issues like training costs and time or low initial productivity. BIM-based workflows, innovative tools and collaboration platforms can be employed throughout the lifecycle of an asset, and have been the catalyst for innovation in the entire architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. However, the BIM approach does not have its own agenda for research purposes only, but this has one in applied research with the purpose of aiding professional practice. Thus, this thesis will address the use of BIM in structural engineering not for the sake of the research itself, but with the practical intent of summarizing and presenting the current experience of the use of BIM in structural engineering and then contributing to expanding knowledge about the possible uses of BIM in this regard. This thesis proposes innovative processes for the lifecycle information management of information that refers to the discipline of structural engineering. The proposed processes are based on the BIM approach, an information management framework that allows to standardise information flows using processes that implement tools such as BIM-authoring software, BIM tools and collaboration platforms. In detail, the BIM-based processes here proposed are in the number of three and refer, respectively, to the authorization phase, the testing and closeout phase, and the operation and maintenance phase of the lifecycle of a facility. A further novelty of this work is investigating the use of the open format industry foundation classes (IFC) in the processes that refer to the authorization phase and the operation and maintenance phase, and the use of blockchain technology in the testing and closeout phase. The first aim of this thesis, therefore, is to start bridging that gap by 1) providing the first state-of-the-art on the use of BIM in structural engineering. Additionally, this thesis is original in that it addresses the production, management, and storage of information that pertains to structural engineering. Accordingly, this work aims at: 2) Proposing an open BIM-based process for the application for seismic authorization, in Italian 'autorizzazione sismica' (authorization phase). 3) Proposing a proof-of-concept for the integration of blockchain technology and smart contract into information flows among common data environments (CDEs) in the construction process of structural systems (testing and closeout phase). 4) Proposing an open BIM-based process for the operation and maintenance phase of structures

Automatic code compliance checking in designing building envelopes

Automating the checking of building envelope design according to design regulations is a complex process because design regulations consist of complicated logic statements covering multiple functions. Existing mechanisms of building code computer-aided checking have some limitations dealing with design regulations. This thesis presents a new approach to automate code compliance checking for building envelope design based on simulation results and the building codes. In this approach, building codes and building performance simulation results are independent from the compliance checking software. During the process, a hierarchical object-based representation of simulation results called EBIM (Extended Building Information Model) is proposed to describe the attributes of a building and its sub-systems. A new representation of building codes based on decision tables called EBC (Extended Building Codes) is also proposed so that users can check the building envelope design against building codes based on the standardized simulation results. A rules engine is applied for matching the data of the EBIM against the rules derived from the EBC. This new approach integrates building information modeling, simulation applications, building codes, and decision tables together for automated code compliance checking in designing building envelopes. A prototype implementation system is developed based on the proposed approach. The case study gives two examples: the first one is the procedure of evaluating the hygrothermal performance of an exterior wall of a house using this system, and the second one is an energy analysis comparison when an energy-efficient wall system is installed in a small building as a replacemen

EG-ICE 2021 Workshop on Intelligent Computing in Engineering

The 28th EG-ICE International Workshop 2021 brings together international experts working at the interface between advanced computing and modern engineering challenges. Many engineering tasks require open-world resolutions to support multi-actor collaboration, coping with approximate models, providing effective engineer-computer interaction, search in multi-dimensional solution spaces, accommodating uncertainty, including specialist domain knowledge, performing sensor-data interpretation and dealing with incomplete knowledge. While results from computer science provide much initial support for resolution, adaptation is unavoidable and most importantly, feedback from addressing engineering challenges drives fundamental computer-science research. Competence and knowledge transfer goes both ways