Automatic Validation of Technical Requirements for a BIM model using Semantic Web Technologies

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector, each phase of a project requires the involvement of different specialists. Inherently, an intensely well-managed, and flawless stream of information between all stakeholders during the entire project is needed to achieve a successful project. While progressing through the different stages, a project must continuously comply with several sorts of requirements. Often, the involvement of the cognitive skills of people is still essential when it comes to validating these requirements, which is error-prone and contributes to the downfalls in the information stream of a project. It is evident that the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard already drastically increased the efficiency of data exchange in the industry. However, the descriptive underlying language of IFC, EXPRESS, has a limited expression range. An alternative should be able to provide a flexible manner to describe concepts from several domains using a logical basis that enables users to work with this information in a modular way. Possibilities lie in the technology stack offered by the Semantic Web (SW). Therefore, this thesis aims to demonstrate the added value in using linked data for quality control in the AEC sector. A rule checking system prototype is developed which validates technical requirements that are imposed on an IFC-based BIM model using the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL). The data used to build a small test case are four IFC-STEP files which compose a BIM model of a transformer in a transformer space. This BIM model is validated against a selection of requirements gathered from two human-written documents. The prototype is designed by going through four necessary steps that are needed to develop a functioning rule checking system, (1) rule interpretation, (2) model preparation, (3) rule execution and (4) rule reporting. Before starting these steps, a thorough rule analysis is performed as well as the development of an ontology which are both prerequisites needed for the rule interpretation and model preparation steps. Following this, two proof of concept iterations are executed which each focus on a specific type of requirement and cycle through steps (1) to (3) of the four methodological phases. By using the developed ontology and SPARQL, the basis for the interpretation of most rule types is set in the first iteration. In the second iteration, a python script is written using IfcOpenShell and OpenCascase that retrieves specific geometric information embedded in the IFC data. With the insights from these iterations, the final prototype is developed by a third iteration, only now all going through all four steps. In addition to the rule checking prototype, this thesis results in a workflow schematic of BIM model requirement validation using IFC data, linked building data, python scripting and SHACL. Finally, the thesis concludes with a review of the process and a recommendation for all relevant actors and organizations in the AEC industry on how to improve the current state of requirement checking in projects.