BIM-based Automated Design Checking for Building Permit in the Light-Frame Building Industry

• Author / Creator

  Narayanaswamy, Harish

• Automation of the code compliance checking process has been explored extensively, particularly in recent years with the emergence of building information modelling. Still, automated code compliance checking has not yet been fully realized, as there is no standardized method for rule interpretation and building model preparation for code compliance. Manual checking of design code compliance, meanwhile, requires significant effort and time and is error-prone, while uncertainty and inconsistency in assessment lead to delays in construction process. Hence, the development of a BIM tool (i.e., an add-on software application to Autodesk Revit) to automate municipal zoning bylaw and wood framing design compliance checking for residential buildings is presented. This research also discusses the pros and cons of existing methods of code compliance checking and proposes a new classification of building code regulations for better implementation of the building rules in stages. The proposed classification is based on the complexity involved in rule interpretation and the level of difficulty involved in data extraction from the BIM model. The developed tools provide a novel, simplified framework for rules representation and for interpreting them using .NET coding language. By creating model views in Autodesk Revit of building objects based on the required elements’ threshold parameter values, the add-on software application offers automated code compliance checking functionality to validate zoning bylaws related to lot dimensions based on municipal bylaws and to validate wood framing designs based on building code requirements and construction engineering specifications. A case study is presented to demonstrate the implementation of the application and its benefits compared to existing design checking approaches.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Building Information Modelling (BIM)
  • Building Permit
  • Automated Code Compliance Checking
  • Wood Framing Checking
  • Building Code

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-r9h5-a683

• License

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