Standardized Names for Object Types and Attributes as Basis for Cooperation Between Planning and Building

Abstract

When using Building Information Modeling (BIM), it is expected to increase interorganizational collaboration in the construction industry. To reach this goal, it is necessary to use open standards for model exchange such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The non-profit organization buildingSMART defines this standard. IFC provides object types and attributes, which describe properties of objects. The IFC standard do not address possible values for attributes; but beside coordinated names for object types and attributes, coordinated values for attributes are required. This is necessary for the evaluation of digital models for different purposes. Several approaches in the fields of ontology and classification systems address this issue. However, at present time there is no clear distinction between prerequisites that modeled objects have to fulfill and products, which satisfy these requirements. Suppliers or construction companies at the interface between planning and construction propose products for the modelled requirements of the planning process. This paper describes an approach that bases on a dictionary, which provides standardized object types, attributes and values. A project database and a database with products, called supplier database, use this dictionary as a basis. Resulting from the modeling phase, the project database is ultimately mapped with the supplier database to propose products that fulfill the requirements. The approach presented in this paper can be regarded as a next step in using a standard that already exists: the buildingSMART Data Dictionary.