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Abstract
Application software is now able to design buildings in 3D but in the fragmented construction industry the exchange of information remains a problem. Lack of interoperability between applications causes errors and increases costs. Motivated by the need and the product modelling approach, interoperability has become the subject of worldwide research. Within the AEC industry the main initiative is coordinated by the International Alliance for Interoperability and is based on a standard product model called the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The first version of the IFC that claims to have reinforced concrete capabilities was published in 2003. However, these aspects of the IFC have not yet really been fully implemented in software and the work was largely conducted in Japan. The potential of this capability from a UK industry perspective is unknown. This thesis comprises an assessment of the potential of the reinforced concrete aspects of the IFC, particularly from a UK context, to allow interoperability in the reinforced concrete field. An innovative guide has been developed to provide a clear and detailed explanation of the capabilities of the IFC to support the design of reinforced concrete structures. This example-driven guide uses a combination of inheritance graph tables, innovative model instantiation and diagrams plus fragments of IFC files to illustrate the usage of the model. Following a study of the needs of the UK industry, a systematic assessment of the IFC has been conducted (focusing on the beams within a particular floor of a building frame). Additions and/or changes to the IFC are being proposed to better meet the industry requirements. Particular IFC entities and attributes for which the formal definitions are ambiguous have also been identified in this thesis.