Features of Regulation Document Translation into a Machine-Readable Format within the Verification of Building Information Models

Abstract

The transition to a design based on information modeling has paved the way for automated verification of project documentation. The most complicated type of design documentation check is the assessment of compliance with the requirements of regulatory documents since its automation requires the translation of statements written in natural language into a machine-readable format. At the same time, building codes and regulations should be suitable for translation into machine-readable form. However, a large number of provisions presented in regulatory documents cannot be subjected to automated verification due to their specific features. This study aimed to analyze the suitability of the regulatory provisions to be translated into a machine-readable format, identify limiting factors, and establish recommendations to avoid these factors. This study was conducted based on the example of the code of rules for “Residential Apartment Buildings” (SP 54.13330.2016) applied in the Russian Federation. During the research, a previously developed algorithm that generates rules for checking building information models and is based on the RuleML language was applied to the provisions of the standard above to identify statements that can and cannot be translated. As a result, 356 statements were received, which were divided into five groups: requirements suitable for translation into a machine-readable format, requirements containing links to other documents (regulatory and not only), requirements of uncertain interpretation, requirements that cannot be verified based on an information model, and informative requirements. For the first group of statements, there were examples given for both the statements and the rules derived from them. For the other four groups, examples of statements were supplied with factors preventing the translation of requirements into a machine-readable format and solutions on how to avoid these factors. An analysis of the distribution of statements (related to the above-mentioned groups) by sections of the standard showed that a significant part of the requirements is suitable for translation into a machine-readable format. The possible obstacles to translation can be overcome by attracting experts and using programming tools. The paper also makes recommendations on how to arrange new standard structures.