The OpenBIM Standard IFC for The Building Safety File

Abstract

Nowadays, the digital revolution has become one of the main characters in the AEC world, where the application of BIM methods and technologies brought several benefits to project development, in terms of timing and cost savings. The study presented focuses on defining the interactions necessary for the development of Construction Site Information Modelling (CoSIM). Specifically, the interest has moved to the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), the openBIM standard promoted by BuildingSMART, to investigate its compatibility with the “project containing relevant safety and health information to be taken into account during any subsequent works.” (i.e. building safety file) defined by the European Normative 92/57/CEE in which the characteristics of the project are reported with relevant information about the Safety and Health devices that must be considered during any subsequent maintenance work. Starting from the regulatory analysis, we investigated within the standard openBIM if it was possible to identify shareable tools to improve the operation of the HSE manager during the design phase and the development of the dossier. By breaking down and outlining the “traditional dossier files” into computerizable sections, a critical investigation was carried out to identify the ergo-technical parameters related to the translation of these into the corresponding IFC entities and properties. Then, the research was tested concerning the case study of the Basilica of San Giacomo in Como (Italy) to create tools for the automated compilation of the work’s dossier, by exporting useful data from BIM information models.