Integrating building code analysis within the architectural design process into the building information model

Architects are obligated to develop building designs that conform to locally adopted Building Code. To visualize any building code related problems in their design, architects go through a manually tedious search process for relevant building code sections which have no consideration to the architectural design process. Consequently, to many architects, building codes seem complex and challenging to deal with. The code official, who reviews the design to verify its compliance, may hold the release of the building permit till all non-compliance concerns are resolved. This process may cause delay in construction and last minute changes to the building design. The required changes are sometimes costly and may compromise the design. This research has addressed the above-mentioned problems by developing a framework composed of three digital interrelated models; Building Code Model (BCM), Building Data Model (BDM) and Computer Aided Building Code Analysis of Design (CABCAD) Program. The objective of the framework is to automate the building code analysis of architectural design during its development process using the Building Information Model (BIM). The research has selected the International Building Code (IBC) to understand the characteristics of building codes and to develop the BCM. The research used Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) 2005 and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to examine the characteristics and requirements of the BDM that correspond with building code requirements and the architectural design process. The results of this research have demonstrated that it is feasible to automate the building code checking process considering the research recommendations regarding the basic requirements and characteristics of the BDM. Although, the current CAD programming tools are capable of supporting the digitizing process of building code procedures, the research indicated that ADT ODM can not adequately support automated building code checking procedures. The research has developed special CAD programs to extract architectural information from the ODM and identified the process of generating the required building code related information. A comprehensive analysis of the required objects, their properties and at what phase of design are created was added in the appendix for future research studies.