Method for automated requirement checking in social housing projects

Abstract One of the possible strategies for improving the quality of construction projects is the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), which involves innovations in information technology and changes in critical processes. In the social housing sector in Brazil, the need to evaluate a large number of projects proposed for funding in a very short time frame is a major challenge. Automated design checking has been pointed out as one of the main opportunities for the use of BIM in the building industry. The evaluation of social housing projects by governmental bodies is often based mainly on the experience of construction professionals, which may result in lack of uniformity in the criteria adopted, and in a time consuming and costly process. The aim of this research study is to propose a method for automated checking of requirements for the design of social housing projects by using BIM. This method was tested in two housing projects funded by the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme, and compared to the manual process. This investigation also makes contributions related to the understanding of the nature of the requirements involved in this type of project, and discusses the process changes needed to introduce automated design checking.