# Building Information Model and Safety Requirements for Spatial Program Validation

Aymen Ben Chaabane, Mahenina Remiel Feno, Gilles Halin, Tommy

Messaoudi, Feriel Moalla

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Aymen Ben Chaabane, Mahenina Remiel Feno, Gilles Halin, Tommy Messaoudi, Feriel Moalla. Building Information Model and Safety Requirements for Spatial Program Validation. 19th IFIP International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Jul 2022, Grenoble, France. pp.484-494, 10.1007/978-3-031-25182-5_47. hal-05420905

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# Building Information Model and Safety Requirements for Spatial Program Validation

Aymen Ben Chaabane¹, Mahenina Remiel Feno²✉, Gilles Halin³, Tommy Messaoudi¹, and Feriel Moalla²

1. National School of Architecture of Nancy (ENSA), 2 rue Bastien Lepage, Nancy, France

2. National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases (INRS), 1 rue du Morvan, 54519 Vandœuvre-Lès-Nancy, France
remiel.feno@inrs.fr

3. University of Lorraine, UMR MAP n°3045 CNRS-Culture, MAP-CRAI Team, 2 rue Bastien Lepage, Nancy, France

**Abstract.** The extensive use of digital mock-up and Building Information Models software packages is now within the reach of most practitioners in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction domain. The increasing use of BIM in construction projects may change the way risk prevention is approached. Potential risks can be identified in advance and the associated prevention measures can therefore be applied well before the work situations are set up. It is known that many safety risks are created in the early design stage of projects. Among the most effective means of handling a hazard is to eliminate it at source or provide protective means to mitigate the risks. A research project on workplace design for safety have investigated the missing link between design and safety in the context of a BIM based project. This paper discusses the contributions and limitations of BIM models and tools to consider and manage safety requirements from the architectural program to the design definition. An extension proposal of IfcSpace model is used to enrich space definition with the activities that will take place and the related topological requirements such as closeness, accessibility or minimum required area. A pre-formatted Excel ® document is used to fill in these requirements. The import of this document into the Autodesk Revit ® design tool allows to fill in the attributes associated with each space in a project structure. Several dynamo procedures have been developed to allow the designer to verify compliance with these requirements based on aisle width, door sizes, room area or minimum travel distance. These procedures have been applied to the design of a nursing home for elderly people. The main problem reported in these building is work equipment accessibility such as person lifter or handling system. We show that this approach can be helpful in sharing and validating safety related requirements in a BIM project.

**Keywords:** BIM · Spatial organization · Safety requirements

## 1 Introduction

Beyond the technical and economic aspects, the architectural design of a workplace must meet the needs of a functional organization. This consists in making the spatial
organization and dimensions consistent with the activities that will take place. Spatial organization have a strong impact on working conditions and therefore the health and safety of future users [1].

A building design project is a complex process that involves a large amount of data from different domains: architecture, engineering, construction. Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools and processes makes it possible to design a building in a collaborative way by federating different actors around a single digital model [2]. BIM technology promotes a digital work process applied to a single digital model intended primarily for the building sector. It is a method of collaboration and information exchange between different actors throughout the life cycle of a building [3].

Previously reserved for complex projects, the use of digital mock-ups and BIM processes is now within the reach of most practitioners, thanks to the development of the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) which is the standard data exchange format that facilitate the communication between different BIM software [4]. The IFC model contains a structure (a building) organized into components (walls, windows, doors, stairs...) each with its own characteristics (geometry, properties, links with another component...) and properties (materials, dimensions...).

The increasing use of BIM in construction projects [5] may change the way risk prevention is approached. Potential risks can be identified earlier. The associated prevention methods and risk analysis can be applied before constructions and use [6]. The implementation of this safe design principle can be facilitated by Knowledge Based Engineering techniques [7] that helps to identify, capture, structure, formalize safety requirements, and finally implement the associated knowledge to future projects. Research works on safety integration in engineering design have been conducted in the manufacturing domain thanks to the development of PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) systems [16]. Architecture domain presents new challenges to develop computer-aided tool for safe design within BIM platforms. The process of using BIM tools and IFC standard does not support occupational safety requirements of future workers in the building [8, 9]. How to integrate the requirements of occupational risk prevention into a BIM project?

In this context, the objective of this work is to confront the use of digital tools associated with BIM in architectural design with safety requirements for occupational risk prevention during the building use phase. More specifically, a design methodology is proposed to specify and validate safety related requirements that may affect the spatial organization. In this paper, we will focus on functional requirements such as access and circulation and technical requirements related to the physical environment such as lighting or acoustics.

The next section presents a synthesis of the works related to the requirements models representation for spatial organization. Section 2 presents a design methodology, which consists of three steps: requirements specification in a spatial program, the insertion of requirements in a design tool and the verification of these requirements. Section 3 presents an application of the design methodology to a nursing home for elderly people.
## 1.1 Spatial Program Validation

Since the late 1980s, several models of space representation have been created. In this section, we will cite some examples of conceptual models that have addressed the notion of architectural space and its requirements.

The first building model was mentioned around 1980 by Bjork [10]. This model described the representation of spaces but without considering the information about spatial requirements. Two Swedish researchers who were interested in architectural space and its geometric and quantitative requirements for the architectural design phase proposed the second model. These two researchers were the first to think about spatial requirements and properties related to the user's activity [11].

The third model [12] specifies two classes of spatial requirements (space-based requirements and user activities). This model mainly deals with the data of quantitative and not qualitative spatial requirements in the architectural programming phase.

More recent models consider spatial requirements, in both programming and design phases, such as IFC (IFC 2x4 RC3 (2011) and IFC4-Add2 (2016)). Currently, the IFC model is the most comprehensive as it encompasses the main components of a building for its entire life cycle. On the other hand, this model deals with spatial requirements of the quantitative order and not qualitative (the only qualitative spatial requirements present in IFCs are of the Boolean or label type).

In this paper we use a space model developed in a previous work that takes into consideration qualitative spatial requirements [11]. This model can be integrated with the existing IFC model to complement and make it more comprehensive for the programming and design phase.

## 1.2 Safety Issues Related to Workplace Design

Safety related requirements mainly concern the risks related to the operating phase of the building. The French National research institute in safety (INRS) provide a workplace design guidelines [13] that categorize safety requirements (Fig. 1).

* The physical environment requirements refer to the conditions necessary for an optimal comfort including light, ventilation, thermal and acoustics.

* The workplace safety requirements are essentials to ensure good accessibility and circulation inside and outside the buildings. These requirements are directly linked to the topological layout of spaces and workstations.

* The fire and explosion risk involve distance clearances, the smoke extraction facilities, the storage of flammable materials, means of protection against fire.

* The risks related to the structure of buildings consists to the maintenance and operation of structures such as the cleaning of roofs and facades.

* The technical installations requirements deal with the sanitary facilities, storage and electrical installations.

In the next sections, we will focus on work equipment accessibility to several spaces and relationship between workspace for spatial organization definition.
<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 1. Safety related requirement categories</figcaption></figure>

## 1.3 BIM IfcSpace Model for Safety Requirements Definition

As mentioned above, the IFC model does not consider the qualitative spatial requirements, nor the requirements of risk prevention that we have identified. For this reason, we have chosen to use a IfcSpace model [14] to represent safety related requirements.

The model is based on the existing IFC model (Fig. 2). As Risk prevention requirements are indeed both qualitative and quantitative, new requirement entity `<RequirementType>` is added to consider both types of requirements (qualitative and quantitative) via the enumerated type `<QuantitativeOrQualitativeEnum>`.

The new model is established according to the already predefined `<RequirementType>` category, which is structured into subclasses as shown in the figure below.

<figure><img src="image_4.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 2. Model of Space and activity type requirements</figcaption></figure>
## 2 Design Process

To evaluate the applicability of the previously proposed space model, we followed a three steps design methodology that help to specify and validate the safety related requirements in BIM project context [11]:

1. Identify requirements according to the type of activity. Then, translate these requirements into a tabular database.

2. Import space list and related requirements in Revit architectural design software using “dynamo” scripts specific to each type of requirement.

3. Define a spatial organization with each space then verify if a specific requirement has been respected any time during the design process using the Dynamo scripts (Fig. 3).

<figure><img src="image_5.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 3. Design process</figcaption></figure>

### 2.1 Spatial Requirements Definition

The projects owner and the future users' representatives perform this task during the architectural programming phase. In collaboration, they develop the project program in a predefined tabular database, which includes on the one hand the spatial program, and on the other hand, the different categories of risk prevention requirements.

The first sheet of the table contains the functional “Program” that lists the different spaces (Type) and rooms (Sub-Type) (Table 1). The other sheets corresponds to a category of requirements. The sheets are composed of columns that represent the subsets of this category. Each subset corresponds to a rule of spatial requirements.
The project manager runs a predefined procedure to insert the different space and attributes of the program requirements into Revit software.

The project manager performs this task during the design phase by running dynamo procedures. The definition procedure ensures the setting up of the requirements. Three scripts allow the insertion of information from the Excel table to the Revit tool:

* A script to insert the list of spaces into Revit. The procedure executes the import of the Excel file and then the creation of a new list of rooms on Revit.

* A script to add space parameters to each space. The procedure extracts the data from the spatial requirements, then adds it as a room parameters.

* A script to add values to the new room parameters. The procedure extracts the values from the requirements table, and then adds it for each room parameter.

As long as the database is shared and regularly updated, the project manager has access to all the program requirements directly in his CAD software. Safety related requirements are available as spatial object attribute.

## 2.2 Design Validation Procedures

The designer uses several scripts to verify compliance with safety related requirements throughout the design process. The project manager uses only the Revit design software to verify the adequacy of the project to the rules associated to each script.

These scripts are developed according to the types of requirements and the nature of the project. In this work, we have developed verification scripts related to aisle width, door size, room area, existing window for natural light.

## 3 Case Study

To demonstrate the applicability of this design methodology, this section presents a building project of Nursing home for elderly people [15]. We start from a functional program and then illustrate the steps for inserting requirements; the steps for importing requirements into a design tool and the verification of these requirements. The objective of this experimentation is to verify the perfect execution of the developed scripts during the study as well as their relevance with safety related requirement.

### Workplace Safety Requirements

* Wheelchair accessibility: it is recommended to have minimum dimensions for the bathrooms to allow easy circulation of the person with reduced mobility as well as the accompanying worker for cleaning purpose.

* Accessibility to rooms: this requirement affects all rooms, to ensure the accessibility of people and equipment such as person lifter, handling systems, beds.

* Circulation: take into consideration the rules of horizontal and vertical circulation inside the building with the following criteria:
- Proximity: need of a direct relation between spaces.

- Space requirement: minimum required areas for each space depending on regular occupancy.

## Physical Environment Requirements:

* Natural light: identify the spaces that requires natural lighting.

* Artificial light: identify the spaces that requires artificial lighting.

* Light level: this is the minimum recommended light level required for each space.

### 3.1 Spatial Program

The predefined tabular database is filled with the above requirements. Each sheet of the database is dedicated to a requirement category. All spaces of the program are translated into `<IfcSpace>` object and the attribute values corresponding to each requirement.

<figure><img src="image_6.png" /><figcaption>Table 1. Spatial program with accessibility requirements</figcaption></figure>
## 3.2 Design Validation Procedure

These risk prevention requirement from the space model are translated into a graphical program so that every designer on the project is able to execute them at any time. The following rules have been translated in the validation program:

* The dimensions of the sanitary facilities in the rooms allow access for a wheelchair accompanied by a healthcare worker. Length *a* and width *b* of the spaces are verified as follows: "a > 2.4 m AND b > 2.7 m" OR "a > 2.7 m AND b > 2.4 m". The procedure selects two diagonally opposite points, calculate the width and length of the room through the two selected points, and then compares them to the predefined value.

* Verification of room accessibility: to ensure accessibility to equipment within the various rooms, the width of the entrance doors must be adapted to the size of the equipment and the nature of the activity planned in the room. To verify this condition, the procedure extract door sizes for all rooms, then compares them to the minimum widths recommended for each activity category.

* Verification of horizontal circulation: to allow a wheelchair and a bed to pass easily, it is recommended that the width of corridors be at least 2.20 m [15]. The procedure calculates the width of the room, and then compares it to the minimum width value.

* Verification of the proximity of rooms: two rooms are considered to be in proximity if the distance between the two access points does not exceed a certain value, the project manager according to the needs defines this value. The procedure verifies if the distance between the two doors is within the recommended minimum distance.

* Verification of the surface areas of the rooms: the surface areas of the rooms designed must not be less than the specified value spatial program. The procedure extracts the surfaces of the rooms modeled on Revit and compare them to the required surfaces in the program data.

* Verification of natural lighting: there must be at least one window or patio door that belongs to an exterior wall. The procedure selects all the windows of the rooms and check if the type of the host walls are of "exterior".

During the design phase, the project manager performs these scripts as the project progresses to ensure that safety requirements are met throughout the design process. At the end of the execution of each script, a "Pop Up" information message appears according to the results obtained, informing the user whether the rules have been respected or not.

The figure below shows an example of the execution of the script for checking the accessibility of parts showing the rooms that respect the accessibility requirement in green and the rooms that do not respect the requirement in red (Fig. 4).
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 4. Spatial design validation before and after the procedure execution (Color figure online)</figcaption></figure>

## 4 Discussions

The proposed design method facilitates the definition and the validation of spatial program requirements. When the spatial program document is updated, the available data on the designer's workstation can be updated as well using the procedures.

The case study focused on a nursing home for elderly people building. Several type of requirements such as regulations or expert recommendations could be tested. The purpose was to demonstrate the feasibility of the design methodology in this context.

Some practical limitations about the use of the software package need to be clarified to improve the implementation of such design method. The experimentation was conducted under a single platform as a “Closed BIM”. Reusing the developed procedures on another platform will require to translate the associated rules. The design method could be experimented in the future with several stakeholders on a larger scale in a so-called “Open BIM” context. IFC, being the reference standard, must fully meet the need for interoperability. There are two approaches in the literature: those aiming at extending the IFC (adding elements or attributes) and those aiming at semantic enrichment of the IFC (making it possible to specify and/or formalize the semantics of existing elements) [17].

## 5 Conclusions

This work focused on the use of BIM tools to take into account safety-related requirements involved in the spatial organization of a building during architectural design process. Using dynamo graphical programming tool associated with Autodesk Revit, we experimented the feasibility of integrating these requirements in a spatial layout design methodology. Among several ways to manage requirements related to IFC model object, an IfcSpace extension model is used to express these requirements.
The design method consists of expressing the future activities need and associated requirements in the IfcSpace model and verifying the compliance of a spatial layout with validation procedures. Through this approach, we succeeded in translating several rules related to occupational risk prevention.

As a conclusion, the use of BIM tools and processes for occupational risk prevention is gaining attention among academics. This work contributed to give a development path towards a better consideration and control of safety requirements in the design phase of a workplace building.

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