An automated building information modelling-based compliance checking system for Malaysian building by-laws fire regulations

Abstract

The implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry has significantly amplified the responsibility of designers in creating reliable and accurate BIM models. Fundamentally, the BIM models must comply with the fire safety regulations to provide minimum protection for building occupants and property. Since fire safety regulations are known to be complex and rigid, the manual compliance checking process could lead to inaccuracies, especially in a BIM-based environment. Hence, this study developed an automated BIM-based fire regulations compliance checking system for Malaysian’s AEC industry. In order to establish the rules and BIM properties necessary for fire regulations compliance checking process, 256 clauses from Parts VII and VIII of Selangor Uniform Building (Amendment) (No. 2) By-Laws 2012 were selected to create a BIM model using Revit® based on two-dimensional drawings of a completed 17-storey institutional building. Three investigations were conducted to structure the representation of the rules and BIM properties. First, the fire safety clauses were formalised through a classification technique, semantic mark-up requirement, applicability, selection, exception (RASE) methodology, and interviewing two fire engineers and a representative from the Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia (JBPM). Secondly, the BIM properties consisting of 54 families and their respective parameters in Revit® were identified for the compliance checking process. Lastly, pseudocodes and architecture of the automated system were developed to establish the relationship between the formalised clauses and BIM properties. Dynamo® scripts were used to develop a prototype of an automated fire regulations compliance checking system which could automatically check for fire doors and staircases in Revit®. The representative from JBPM, three fire engineers and architect validated the proposed architecture while the prototype was validated by three architects, two structural engineers, one mechanical engineer, and two civil engineers. This study contributed to a semi-automated rule translation process which combined existing approaches in this field of study. The classification technique and semantic mark-up RASE methodology were refined in this research by developing flowcharts to provide specific guidelines in formalising the clauses. The semi-automated rule translation process encouraged the participation of relevant fire safety experts and provided more accessibility for designers compared to existing studies. This study also offered more practicality for designers to employ the system by utilising native BIM model data representation. High mean scores ranging from 4.00 to 4.96 were obtained for the validation process, which affirmed the feasibility of an automated BIM-based fire regulations compliance checking system to assist designers in the Malaysian AEC industry.