Check and Validation of Building Information Models in Detailed Design Phase: A Check Flow to Pave the Way for BIM Based Renovation and Construction Processes

Model checking of building information models is gaining interest for academic and industrial fields. However, several limitations can be identified in the practical application of model checking processes. One of the main limitations is the unavailability of detailed guidelines describing how these checks should be developed. The research presented in this paper focuses on the development of a check flow that can be applied to any type of building project answering to three main questions, namely what to check, when to perform the check, and who should perform the check. During the research a complete guide for checking activity has been developed identifying the subjects responsible for each specific check during the process. The proposed check list has been tested using a practical case study where the checks have been applied to a real model using commercially available checking tools. The results of the process have determined the need to streamline the proposed flow through a risk management analysis that allowed the definition of two other flows, optimized for achieving prefixed purposes. The research has been developed focusing on a specific phase of the construction process that is the detailed design authorization. Nevertheless, the results can be extended at different phases providing a good support both to clients and public administrations during the validation and authorization phase, and to the designers during the development of the project as an iterative checking process. The results presented in this work can pave the way for the integration of structured and standardized checking processes improving the overall quality of the construction process. This work has been developed and intersected with the activities of the H2020 BIM4EEB project considering the need to pave the way for the creation of quality models to facilitate the development of BIM based renovation processes.