Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Building information modeling (BIM)-based model checking to ensure occupant safety in institutional buildings

  • Technical Paper
  • Published:
Innovative Infrastructure Solutions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Occupant safety is pivotal in building designs. The present study developed a building information modeling (BIM)-based methodological framework and rule set for occupant safety-focused design checking for institutional building designs in Ontario, Canada. A comprehensive review was conducted to determine safety-related regulations, standards, and best practices included in the Ontario Building Code (OBC) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) guidelines. Identified safety standards were defined in a BIM model checking software as a ruleset. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the proposed ruleset for an institutional building in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The case study demonstrated that the intended ruleset did not contain errors and effectively performed the rule check. The proposed rule set prevents safety hazards for building occupants by accurately identifying building elements that do not comply with the safety guidelines and codes. Furthermore, the proposed approach promotes BIM adaptation in the Canadian construction industry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Dhillon RK, Rai HS (2017) Automation of building code checking with BIM. Int J Adv Res Comput Eng Technol (IJARCET) 6(10):1522–1525

    Google Scholar 

  2. Eastman C, Lee J, Jeong Y, Lee J (2009) Automatic rule-based checking of building designs. Autom Constr 18(8):1011–1033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2009.07.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dodanwala TC, Shrestha P (2021) Work–family conflict and job satisfaction among construction professionals: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion. On the Horizon 29(2):62–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/OTH-11-2020-0042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Dodanwala TC, Santoso DS (2022) The mediating role of job stress on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention of the construction professionals. Eng Constr Archit Manag 29(4):1777–1796. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-12-2020-1048

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Dodanwala T, Shrestha P, Santoso DS (2021) Role conflict related job stress among construction project professionals: the moderating role of age and organization tenure. Constr Eco Build 21(4):21–37. https://doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.v21i4.7609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jiang L, Leicht RM (2015) Automated rule-based constructability checking: case study of formwork. J Manag Eng 31:1. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Luo H and Gong P, (2015) A BIM-based code compliance checking process of deep foundation construction plans, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-014-0120-z.

  8. Porwal A, (2013) Construction waste management at source: a building information modelling based system dynamics approach. University of British Columbia.

  9. Sacks R, Eastman C, Lee G, Teicholz P (2018) BIM handbook: a guide to building information modeling for owner, managers, designers, engineers, and contractors, vol 73. Wiley publishing, Hoboken, N.J

    Book  Google Scholar 

  10. Eastman C, Teicholz P, Sacks R, Liston K (2011) BIM handbook a guide to building information modeling for owners, managers, designers, engineers, and contractors (2nd Edition). John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ismail A, Ali K, and Iahad N, (2017) a review on Bim-based automated code compliance checking system.

  12. Martínez-Aires MD, López-Alonso M, Martínez-Rojas M (2018) Building information modeling and safety management: a systematic review. Saf Sci 101:11–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.08.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Marefat A, Toosi H, Mahmoudi Hasankhanlo R (2019) A BIM approach for construction safety: applications, barriers and solutions. Eng Constr Architect Manag 26(9):1855–1877. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-01-2017-0011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Solihin W, Eastman C (2015) Classification of rules for automated BIM rule checking development. Autom Constr 53:69–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2015.03.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hossain MdM, Ahmed S (2022) Developing an automated safety checking system using BIM: a case study in the Bangladeshi construction industry. Int J Constr Manag 22(7):1206–1224. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2019.1686833

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ismail AS (2017) A review on BIM-based automated code compliance checking system. In: International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems. pp 1–6.

  17. Lee JM, (2010) Automated checking of building requirements on circulation over a range of design phases. Georgia Institute of Technology.

  18. Ding L, Drogemuller R, Jupp J, Rosenman M, and Gero J, (2004) Automated code checking. In: CRC for construction innovation, clients driving innovation international conference, pp 1– 17.

  19. Dimyadi Jand Amor R, (2013) Automated building code compliance checking—where is it at?. In: Proceedings of the 19th world building congress: construction and society, 5, 172–185.

  20. Bouzidi KR, Fies B, Faron-Zucker C, Zarli A, Thanh L (2012) Semantic Web Approach to Ease Regulation Compliance Checking in Construction Industry. Future Internet 4(3):830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Nguyen T-H and Kim J.-L, (2011) Building code compliance checking using BIM technology. In: Proceedings of the 2011 winter simulation conference (WSC), pp 3395–3400. https://doi.org/10.1109/WSC.2011.6148035.

  22. Chahrour R et al (2021) Cost-benefit analysis of BIM-enabled design clash detection and resolution. Constr Manag Econ 39(1):55–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2020.1802768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Kincelova K, Boton C, Blanchet P, Dagenais C (2020) Fire safety in tall timber building: a bim-based automated code-checking approach. Buildings 10(7):121. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10070121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Taciuc A, Karlshøj J, and Dederichs A, (2016) Development of IFC based fire safety assesment tools. In proceedings of the international Rilem conference materials, systems and structures in civil engineering, pp 60–69.

  25. Balaban Ö, Elif S, Gülen Ç (2012) automated code compliance checking model for fire egress codes. Digital Appl Constr 2:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  26. Rasdorf SLWJ, (1990) Logic-based approach for modeling organization of design standards. J Comput Civil Eng, pp 102–123.

  27. Malekitabar H, Ardeshir A, Hassan M, Stouffs R (2016) Construction safety risk drivers : a BIM approach. Saf Sci 82:445–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Martin J, Odell J (1998) Object-oriented methods A Foundation, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N. J.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Yang QZ and Li X, (2001) Representation and execution of building codes for automated code checking. In: Proceedings of the ninth international conference on computer aided architectural design futures, pp 315–329.

  30. Khemlani L, (2005) CORENET e-PlanCheck : Singapore's automated code checking system https://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2005/CORENETePlanCheck.html

  31. Hakim MM and Garrett J. H. (1992) Jr Issues in modeling and evaluating design standards. In: Proceedings of the 1992 computer and building standards workshop, pp 12–15.

  32. Hakim MM, Garrett JH (1993) Engineering computers a description logic approach for representing engineering design standards. Eng Comput 9(2):108–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Robbin JW (2006) Mathematical logic: a first course. Courier Dover Publications, New York

    Google Scholar 

  34. Lee H, Lee J-K, Park S, Kim I (2016) Translating building legislation into a computer-executable format for evaluating building permit requirements. Autom Constr 71:49–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2016.04.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Preston P, Edwards G, and Compton P (1994) A 2000 rule expert system without a knowledge engineer. In: proceedings of the 8th AAAI-sponsored Banff knowledge acquisition for knowledge-based systems workshop, Banff, Canada, pp17–1.

  36. Solihin W, (2016) A simplified BIM data representation using a relational database schema for an efficient rule checking system and its associated rule checking language. Georgia Institute of Technology.

  37. Dimyadi J, Eastman C, and Amor R, (2016) Integrating the BIM rule language into compliant design audit processes integrating the bim rule language into compliant design audit processes. In: Proceedings of the 33rd CIB W78 international conference.

  38. Jain D, Law KH, Krawinkler H (1989) On processing standards with predicate calculus. Comput Civil Eng: Comput Eng Pract 1:259–266

    Google Scholar 

  39. Pauwels P et al (2011) A semantic rule checking environment for building performance checking. Autom Constr 20(5):506–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2010.11.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Yurchyshyna A, Faron-Zucker C, Le Thanh N, and Zarli A, (2008) Towards an ontology-based approach for formalisation of expert knowledge in conformity checking model in construction. In: 2008 IEEE International technology management conference (ICE), pp 1–8.

  41. S. M. Cornick, D. A. Leishman, and J. R. Thomas, (1991) Integrating building codes into design systems. In: International workshop on computers and building standards in Espoo, Finland.

  42. Solibri, (2020) How Solibri works and supports construction workflow. https://www.solibri.com/how-it-works

  43. Preidel C and Borrmann A, (2009) Automated code compliance checking based on a visual language and building information modeling. In: ISARC Proceedings of the international symposium on automation and robotics in construction.

  44. Zhang S, Teizer J, Lee J, Eastman CM, Venugopal M (2013) Building information modeling ( BIM ) and safety : automatic safety checking of construction models and schedules. Autom Constr 29:183–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Mutis I and Hartmann T, (2018) Advances in informatics and computing in civil and construction engineering.

  46. A. Borrmann, M. König, C. Koch, and J. Beetz, (2018) Building information modeling: why? what? how?. In: Building Information Modeling, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp 1–24, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92862-3_1.

  47. Yang QZ and Li X, (2001) Representation and execution of building codes for automated code checking. In: Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures 2001, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp 315–329, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0868-6_24.

  48. Getuli V, Ventura SM, Capone P, Ciribini ALC (2017) BIM-based code checking for construction health and safety. Proc Eng 196:454–461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.224

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Ding L, Drogemuller R, Jupp J, Rosenman M, and Gero J, (2004) Automated code checking. In: CRC for construction innovation, clients driving innovation international conference, pp 1–17.

  50. Dimyadi J and Amor R, (2013) Automated building code compliance checking—where is it at?. In: Proceedings of the 19th World building congress: construction and society, pp 172–185.

  51. L. Ding, R. Drogemuller, M. Rosenman, D. Marchant, and J. Gero, (2006) Automating code checking for building designs. Clients Driving Innovation: Moving Ideas into Practice

  52. Lee H, Lee J, Park S, Kim I (2016) Translating building legislation into a computer-executable format for evaluating building permit requirements. Autom Constr 71:49–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Rezgui THBKLN (2013) Towards automated compliance checking in the construction industry. In: International conference on database and expert systems applications, pp 366–380.

  54. Malsane S, Matthews J, Lockley S, Love P, Greenwood D (2015) Development of an object model for automated compliance checking. Autom Constr 49:51–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Meem TI, Hossain MdM, Akter J (2022) BIM-based analysis of construction safety tracking using behavior-based safety in Bangladeshi construction industry. Int J Build Pathol Adap. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-06-2022-0090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Martins JP, Monteiro A (2013) A BIM based automated code-checking application for water distribution systems. Autom Constr 29:12–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Shih S, Sher W, and Giggins H, (2013) Assessment of the building code of Australia to inform the development of BIM-enabled code checking system. In: Proceedings of the 19th World Building Congress: Construction and Society, pp 1–12.

  58. Hjelseth E and Nisbet N, (2010) Exploring semantic based model checking. In Proceedings of CIB W78 27th International Conference, vol. 27, pp. 1–11.

  59. Hjelseth Eand Nisbet N, (2011) Capturing normative constraints by use of the semantic mark-up rase methodology. In Proceedings of the 28th International Conference of CIB, pp. 1–10.

  60. Zhong BT, Ding LY, Luo HB, Zhou Y, Hu YZ, Hu HM (2012) Ontology-based semantic modeling of regulation constraint for automated construction quality compliance checking. Autom Constr 28:58–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Kasim T, (2015) BIM-based smart compliance checking to enhance environmental sustainability. Cardiff University

  62. Peldszus S, Tuma K, Struber D, Jurjens J, and Scandariato R, (2019) Secure data-flow compliance checks between models and code based on automated mappings. In 2019 ACM/IEEE 22nd International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS), pp. 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1109/MODELS.2019.00-18.

  63. Porto MF, Franco JRQ, Vianna BF, Porto RMAB (2017) Automatic code checking applied to fire fighting and panic projects in a BIM environment—BIMSCIP. In IMCIC 2017–8th Int. Multi-Conf Comp Inf Cybern Proc 15:353–357

    Google Scholar 

  64. Jiang S, Wu Z (2017) A BIM-based code checking approach for green construction. In ICCREM. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784481066.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Kim H, Lee J, Shin J, Choi J (2019) Visual language approach to representing KBimCode-based Korea building code sentences for automated rule checking. J Comput Des Eng 6(2):143–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcde.2018.08.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. H. Zhou, (2018) VPL-based code translation for automated compliance checking of building envelope energy efficiency. Constr Res Cong, pp. 1–12

  67. Soliman-Junior J et al (2021) Automated compliance checking in healthcare building design. Autom Constr 129:103822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2021.103822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Guo D, Onstein E, la Rosa AD (2021) A semantic approach for automated rule compliance checking in construction industry. IEEE Access 9:129648–129660. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3108226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Abdullah A, Nassar K, Mandour A (2022) Built-in versus standalone code checking: the case of automated egress path checker. Constr Res Cong. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483961.090

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Guerrero JI, Miró-Amarante G, Martín A (2022) Decision support system in health care building design based on case-based reasoning and reinforcement learning. Expert Syst Appl 187:116037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2021.116037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Han CS, Kunz JC, Law KH (1998) Client/server framework for on-line building code checking. J Comput Civ Eng 12(4):181–194. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3801(1998)12:4(181)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Malekitabar H, Ardeshir A, Hassan M, Stouffs R (2016) Construction safety risk drivers: a BIM approach. Saf Sci 82:445–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Zhang S, Teizer J, Lee J, Eastman CM, Venugopal M (2013) Building information modeling (BIM) and safety : automatic safety checking of construction models and schedules. Autom Constr 29:183–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2012.05.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Parsamehr M, Perera US, Dodanwala TC, Perera P, Ruparathna R (2022) A review of construction management challenges and BIM-based solutions: perspectives from the schedule, cost, quality, and safety management. Asian J Civil Eng. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-022-00501-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely acknowledge the financial support received from the Graduate Scholarship program of the Canadian Standards Association and the Discovery Grants Program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave., Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    Mohammadsaeid Parsamehr, Tharindu C. Dodanwala, Piyaruwan Perera & Rajeev Ruparathna

Authors
  1. Mohammadsaeid Parsamehr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tharindu C. Dodanwala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Piyaruwan Perera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Rajeev Ruparathna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajeev Ruparathna.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table

Table 4 Rule result severities
Full size table

4.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Parsamehr, M., Dodanwala, T.C., Perera, P. et al. Building information modeling (BIM)-based model checking to ensure occupant safety in institutional buildings. Innov. Infrastruct. Solut. 8, 174 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-023-01141-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-023-01141-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation