Entrant details
Role or Job Title on the Project
Workshop BIM project
Employer
Employer Role
Academic or Research Institution
Are you or your employer a member of buildingSMART?
Yes - Sponsor Member (Standard, Multinational or Strategic)
Submission details
Submitting Party Company Name
MASTER BIM - BIM CONCEPTION INTEGREE ET CYCLE DE VIE DES BATIMENTS ET DES INFRASTRUCTURES
Submitting Party Company Location
Paris, France
Submitting Party Role on Project
STUDENT RESEARCH
Full Project Name
Smart BCF Solution "to a generalized BIM"
Project Location (Country)
France
Project Objectives
Nowadays, the main objective of BIM "getting all actors of construction working together on their project using the digital Model" is not yet reach in France, for 2 reasons:
- Modeling Softwares are too expensive and complex
- many actors of a construction project haven't necessary modeling skills but need to pump informations in the digital Model.
The objective of our solution is to facilitate the accessibility to the digital model. All actors could update their project by informing automatically their IFC digital model with a simple input using a BCF comment. Once the responsable actor reply "ok", the update is done.
openBIM Achievements
Using the open BIM standards, we successfully achieve our project with all objectives of offering a real BIM method on a project construction:
- access to all of actors to work on the digital model and inform his properties, without softwares and without modeling skills.
- Simply input using only BCF comments
- Control and validate creation and modification of objects properties only with a BCF comment
- traceability of the creation and modification of project informations using only a BCF workflow.
- possibility to link the created properties to a data dictionnary, like bsdd.
openBIM used
IFC 2x3, IFC4, bSDD, BCF
Software used
For our solution we only need a simple viewer like "Evebim". We need to work on a IFC Model and create BCF comments to demand and accept creating or modifying properties values.
To develop our tool wich creates and modify automatically IFC properties from BCF comments, we used "Python".
Strategic Alignment
Using open BIM tools, we help the small contractors to simply work with a BIM process without need large investment for softwares and trainings. Also, with our solution, owners can participate efficiently to their BIM projects by simply and automatically updating the model with informations they need.
Our complete solution is composed by 5 parts. However, we can only use the central part wich is the modifying IFC Model tool and link it to an existing common data environment or viewer. By this way the user can use this tool whitout changing his framework.
Highlights
- Our project is not a rival solution to existing platforms, its complete them by offering the possibilty to product informations not only view it, validating the modifications before execute it, and tracking the informations flow.
- Our project interested contractors and owners
- Our project don't need large investment.
- Our solution is easily deployable
Project Address
In our workshop project, we developped a solution wich is able to used by all BIM actors and for all types of projects in France.
Project Type
(Other)
Size of Project
Low cost project - Student research
Detailed description of the project
We designed a really complete solution . Our solution is based on 5 bricks:
- a Common Data Environment wich centralize exchanges and share models, files and data relating to the project. It is structured in such a way as to respect the ISO 19650 standard with separation between the statuses “WORK IN PROGRESS”, “SHARED”, “PUBLISHED” and “ARCHIVED”.
- a Database in wich all informations extracted from bcf comments and IFC models are regulary saved. This database guarantees the HISTORIZATION and TRACEABILITY of exchanges and modifications of the project.
- a Tool for modifying and informing the IFC model. It is the central block of our solution. It is a tool that was coded on Python. In the description part of the BCF, the user enters a COMMAND specifying the parameter and its value. After a validation circuit, the model is updated.
We created this tool then we tested it for many use cases (program, design, construction..) and present it to different actors. Our tools is functional and operational.
- a Property creation assistant wich appears in the form of an interface. This assistant has 2 fonctions:
- GUARANTEE THE RELIABILITY OF PROPERTY CREATION
On the one hand, this interface allows the user to check the PRESENCE of a property in the Data Dictionary BEFORE CREATION.
On the other hand, this interface allows the user to have access to the DEFINITION of the property BEFORE CREATION.
In this way, property definition errors have been avoided and thus, it allows to guarantee the reliability of the structuring of the data. For example: two parameters can have very similar names but can have different definitions. With this assistant, this is avoided.
- MAKE IT EASIER TO FOLLOW THE SYNTAX OF THE COMMAND
The tool that modifies the IFC can work correctly only if a precise syntax is followed. In other words, the command that must be typed in the description of the BCF must absolutely follow a precise writing convention, otherwise the code will not work. This wizard has been designed to make writing the order easier. It is therefore sufficient to simply COPY it AND THEN Paste it in the description part of the BCF.
- a Tool for modifying and informing the native model
The 3th bricks is the central brick of our solution. However, the actors of the project would end up with IFC models with data and native models without data. Our solution would therefore be incomplete if we did not offer a way to update the natives models.
All MODELING SOFTWARE has a visual programming tool :
Dynamo for Revit
Grasshopper for Archicad
Visual Scripting for AllPlan
Marionnette for Vectorworks
We have therefore set up a METHODOLOGY to adopt in order to inform the model from our database. This intelligence methodology works whatever the modeling software.
We have applied it and then tested it. We created a routine allowing the information of native models. For the purpose of testing, we have chosen Dynamo but we could have taken any of the other design software.
Detailed description of openBIM on the project
The project focuses on giving all the actors in the project the ability to enhance the 3D model with relative data, freeing them from software dependecies and costs.
Using the viewer, and a simple interface designed for the project, an actor can indicate presence of data and its value in a BCF file (by respecting a certain syntax) . The tool, triggered by this syntax, trace this data and wait for the validation of the 3D model owner. The validation comes in a comment in the BCF. When validated, the tool extract data and its value from BCF and enhance the 3D model with it, allowing a quick, painless update of the model.
Benefits from using openBIM
Our solution aims to give every actor the opportunity to participate to the BIM process. This can't be acheived without openBIM. The simple, yet well structured format of the IFC file and the BCF (the two standards of OpenBIM) are key to the traceability and validation process we put in place. Also, the stability of IFC format compared to closeBIM Format prevent too frequent updates on the tool.
"We were able to innovate using openBIM."
1- Use of openBIM standards: IFC and BCF to develop our tool
2- OpenBIM makes it possible to include all stakeholders in BIM processes regardless of the size of the company
"We were able to identify where we need openBIM to develop further."
We would like to connect our solution to an appropriate data dictionnary (like bsdd) to make sure that all stakeholders have the same langage while modifying the parameters of the IFC model.
BIM Uses were defined on the project
I agree to be contacted about the project BIM uses outside of this awards program.
Stakeholders
Master BIM ENPC-ESTP, Paris, France, High school, BEDRAN Zeina
