Digital construction permit: A round trip between GIS and IFC

Abstract

Building design and surrounding environment are influencing each other. Environment is usually described by a Geographic Information System (GIS), while buildings are often designed with Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. Despite some differences on technology and standards, GIS and BIM deal with geometrical data and attributes. Possible links between GIS and BIM using the City Geographic Markup Language (CityGML) and the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) as standard exchange formats have been studied [1–4]. The present work establishes an exchange between IFC and GIS features. As an open format, IFC files can be handled by AEC-related software. It is therefore of interest, if IFC can be used for a roundtrip between GIS and BIM. A three-step translation protocol has been developed and tested: (1) Data from GIS had to be transformed into an IFC reference environment model. (2) A test building has been designed. Imported environmental elements have been edited as well. (3) The exported IFC file was then imported into GIS data sets in order to update existing data. The process employed the FME software to convert GIS to IFC and back. Data management tasks have been delegated to a database complying with the IFC format (BIMserver). The accurate import and export of data has been monitored over the entire data exchange process. This study uses the development of a digital construction permit submission procedure for the canton of Geneva in Switzerland.