Visual Language-Aided Construction Fire Safety Planning Approach in Building Information Modeling

Abstract

Fires pose an enormous threat to human safety and many spectacular fires in under-construction buildings were reported over the past few years. Many construction sites only rely on fire extinguishers, as under-construction buildings do not contain a permanent fire protection system. Traditional safety planning lacks a justified approach for the firefighting equipment installation planning in the construction job site. Even though many government agencies made safety regulations for firefighting equipment installations, it is still a challenge to translate and execute these rules at the job site. Currently, the construction industry is devoted to discovering all the possible applications of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology in the entire phases of the project life cycle. BIM technology enables the presentation of facilities in 3-D and offers rule-based modeling through visual programming tools. Therefore, this paper focuses on a visual language approach for rule translation and a multi-agent-based construction fire safety planning simulation in BIM. The proposed approach includes three core modules, namely: (a) Rule Extraction and Logic Development (RELD) Module, (b) Design for Construction Fire Safety (DCFS) Module, and (c) Con-fire Safety Plan Simulation (CSPS) Module. In addition, the DCFS module further includes three submodules, named as (1) Firefighting Equipment Installation (FEI) Module, (2) Bill of Quantities (BoQs) for firefighting Equipment (BFE) Module, and (3) Escape Route Plan (ERP) Module. The RELD module converts the OSHA fire safety rule into mathematical logic, and the DCFS module presents the development of the Con-fire Safety Planning approach by translating the rules from mathematical logic into computer-readable language. The three sub-modules of the DCFS module visualize the outputs of this research work. The CSPS module uses a multi-agent simulation to verify the safety rule compliance of the portable firefighting equipment installation plan the system in a BIM environment. A sample project case study has been implemented to validate the proof of concept. It is anticipated that the proposed approach has the potential to helps the designers through its effectiveness and convenience while it could be helpful in the field for practical use.

4D-BIM-Based Workspace Planning for Temporary Safety Facilities in Construction SMEs

“…The integration of an automation tool with pre-written scripts into the BIM environment of VPL assists in conducting digital information management effectively, especially safety visual information. The VPL uses a block-based program and is designed with predefined functions related to model components in a BIM environment [33,46,47]; therefore, this paper employs Autodesk Dynamo which enables both textual and visual programming, and allows users to simultaneously code and design 3D models [48]. This user-friendly data interface programming enables to establish bilateral integration between Revit and MS Excel.…”

Converging Technologies for Safety Planning and Inspection Information System of Portable Firefighting Equipment

“…Besides, new tools and techniques have been developed over the recent decade to meet with the required fire safety rule compliance. Several concepts and their enabling technologies have been investigated to attain enhanced fire safety management [17], [25]- [28], though automated rule-based fire safety planning for PFE placement is not yet achieved. Traditionally, essential inspection information related to firefighting equipment is primarily distributed among the stakeholders; however, this can occasionally lead to data loss [25].…”

“…The construction safety management includes safety planning and safety monitoring. Unexpectedly, safety planning is considered the contractor's liability and is thus ignored in the design phase [28]. However, extensive research studies have recently considered Building Information Modelling for safety integration in the design phase.…”

“…Generally, fire safety management is a significant issue in all sectors; however, it is especially important in construction owing to numerous reasons that frequently result in fire risks. First, workers are exposed to combustible substances at numerous job sites, and the presence of wind around under-construction buildings can quickly extend the fire [7]. Second, as under-construction sites do not possess a permanent fire protection system, PFE or occasionally water tanks are the only preventive options that can be adopted [8].…”

“…• As the current PFE installation plan rely on 2D-paper based manual observation. Also, the workers in small companies with average skills do not understand the proper and correct position for the PFEs in a job site [7]. This research developed a fire safety rule-based BIM modeling for PFE installation plan, intending to automate the process and ensure appropriate location in the job site.…”