A Semantic Representation Method of Building Codes Applied to Compliance Checking

Compliance checking is a very important step in engineering construction. With the development of information technology, automated compliance checking (ACC) has been paid more and more attention by researchers. One of the most important steps in automated compliance checking is the representation of the code information. However, the relationship constraint is often ignored in the code information and spatial geometric relationship is challenging to represent. The general code representation method does not have enough ability to identify the situation that does not meet the checking conditions because it is easy to cause semantic ambiguity in the checking results. This paper proposes a code representation method, and the building code information is represented in five parts. Relationships in the engineering domain and spatial relationships can be represented in constraint mode; different spatial relationship constraint-checking methods are also explicated. Constraint subject and constraint item can distinguish checking conditions and requirements, which supports semantic checking results. The mapping between the building information ontology and the code concepts is established, which can be used to automatically generate reasoning rules for compliance checking. Finally, the proposed method is verified by the representation of the China Metro Design Code and the application of the actual Metro model.

Automated summary

Compliance checking is crucial in engineering construction, and automated compliance checking (ACC) has gained increasing attention with the advancement of information technology. However, accurately representing code information and considering relationship constraints, especially spatial geometric relationships, remain challenging. Existing code representation methods often lack the ability to effectively identify non-compliant situations due to semantic ambiguity in the checking results. This paper proposes a code representation method that divides building code information into five parts, facilitates constraint representation of engineering and spatial relationships, and provides distinct checking conditions and requirements with semantic checking results. The proposed method is validated using the China Metro Design Code and an actual Metro model.