Journal of Information Technology in Construction
Journal of Information Technology in Construction
ITcon Vol. 18, pg. 20-39, http://www.itcon.org/2013/2
A comparative study to determine a suitable representational data model for UK building regulations
| submitted: | 2012 | |
| published: | February 2013 | |
| editor(s): | Amor R | |
| authors: | Lewis J McGibbney, PhD Researcher School of Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK lewis.mcgibbney@gcu.ac.uk Bimal Kumar, Professor School of Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, UK b.kumar@gcu.ac.uk | |
| summary: | The notion of advancing levels of adequate regulatory compliance within the domain of construction and engineering is by no means a new phenomenon. An extensive degree of effort has over a number of decades previously focused on semi/fully automating design checking against regulatory building codes. After experiencing somewhat of a dip in popularity within academia, this research topic is once again of great interest due to the on-going adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the construction domain among other drivers like frequent updates to building regulatory documents particularly in relation to sustainability related issues like energy efficiency of buildings. This interest will only increase as we witness further widespread adoption of this new BIM paradigm across until now untouched disciplines. Unfortunately design checking within the remit of BIM still faces major problems with respect to national and local regulations as no sustainably sensible or scalable method has yet been implemented to ensure compliance rules are consistent with current legislation within these contexts. This work questions a suitable representational data format for UK construction and engineering regulations focusing on machine processable formats built entirely on open data standards which can then set the basis for addressing the aforementioned issues. We compare two existing legislation data models, namely the Crown Legislation Markup Language (CLML) and Akoma Ntoso, whilst in the process grading each on its suitability for most accurately accommodating and expressing the domain and profession specific nature of typical building regulations. The study conclusions indicate that the design, management and current availability of the CLML has resulted in a scenario where barriers exist to widespread adoption, this includes building out community in support of the language. Akoma Ntoso on the other hand has focused on building community around the proposed standard. This increases the likelihood of phased organisational transition towards the standard for achieving improved representational data modelling. | |
| keywords: | Open Data Standards, Building Regulations, Open Government, Data Model, Akoma Ntoso | |
| full text: | (PDF file, 0.709 MB) | |
| citation: | McGibbney Lewis J, Kumar Bimal (2013). A comparative study to determine a suitable representational data model for UK building regulations, ITcon Vol. 18, pg. 20-39, https://www.itcon.org/2013/2 |