Approach for the IFC based Integration of Life Cycle Data and Processes in Building Information Models

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has gained much attention and development in the recent years for planning, design and construction of structures. The developed Building Information Models are also used for applications... [ view full abstract ]

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has gained much attention and development in the recent years for planning, design and construction of structures. The developed Building Information Models are also used for applications in life cycle management or structural health monitoring. During the life cycle of building structures, the collected data and their analyses are essential for the maintenance and repair. Additionally, this information can be utilized to predict the static condition of structures. In the collected data from monitoring or inspection, there exists a wide variety of data formats and characteristics that need to be handled for further analyses and simulations. In contrast to BIMs, the global interpretable formats are not always used; however, there is a format consistency requirement for the same type of survey data. Employing BIMs for the survey of existing buildings requires a concept of integration of variable data characteristics of building elements or building areas. This enables a continuous assessment of structures with an analysis directly referenced to the corresponding building elements based on a consistent and verified building model. This paper introduces a method for the integration of various survey data in BIMs. For a universally exchangeable model which is preferably independent of proprietary formats, this method uses the internationally standardised Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) as a data format for the underlying BIM. The variety of survey data formats is characterised and integrated into the IFC model by the developed framework and described in this work. Conventions for the representation of survey data and simplified analyses have been shown to provide a strategy for the complete reconstruction of relevant information. A framework using an IFC model containing survey data has been developed that can be used by applications for further analysis or simulation. Different examples are presented, that validate the described method through the developed framework. The entire approach is independent of any proprietary software. All standard compliant and freely available IFC viewers are able to read the produced IFC files unambiguously. For the reading and interpretation of IFC files, the open java toolbox by APSTEX is used.