International Review of Civil Engineering (I.RE.C.E.), Vol. 13, N.

5
ISSN 2036 - 9913 September 2022

A Framework Architecture Proposal Focused on Industry

Foundation Classes in the Context of BIM Methodology:
Towards an Open Source Platform

Moacir de Oliveira Junior, Raimundo C. Ghizoni Teive

Abstract – The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodology has expanded in recent
years. This increase is due to the establishment of an open standard of interoperability, called
“OPEN BIM”, by large, multinational software companies in the Architecture, Engineering and
Construction industry. Open BIM uses the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard as the
primary tool for information exchange. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) has been conducted
on BIM and IFC, in which a gap in the development of studies on open source applications that
use IFC as their main data structure has been identified. Thus, a framework architecture for
general purpose BIM systems has been proposed, based on the IFC standard developed by
buildinSMART. It has been sought to identify the key features and the functionalities of the main
commercial software programs that currently exist on the market, based on the SLR and the
current state of the art. In addition, the functional and non-functional requirements, which
underpinned a component diagram (UML) of a framework architecture that represents the
computer systems to be implemented in the BIM platform, and that are strongly linked to IFC,
towards an open source platform, have been defined. A prototype of an open source software
“Windows x Unity”, which, after discussing with 114 professionals of engineering and
architecture areas, has been considered a promising tool, has been developed. Copyright © 2022
Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved.

Keywords: IFC, BIM, Framework, Open Source

Nomenclature Engineering and Construction industry (AEC), which

enables both the virtual construction of the enterprise and
ADE Application Domain Extension the management of information related to it. If used
AEC Architecture, Engineering and Construction correctly, BIM can facilitate the construction and the
API Application Programming Interface collaboration of project and work teams [1], increasing
ASCII American Standard Code for Information the chance of improvements in quality, cost and duration
Interchange [2]. BIM is a disruptive innovation in the AEC sector.
BIM Building Information Modeling “Disruptive innovation” is any innovation that
CAD Computer-Aided Design naturally occupies space or even replaces existing
COBie Construction-Operations Building information technologies that have hitherto dominated their markets.
exchange BIM is a methodology that uses three-dimensional virtual
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers models, with information that can be used in any of the
IFC Industry Foundation Classes steps of the building lifecycle. BIM is a process based on
IFD International Framework for Dictionaries intelligent 3D models that offer architecture, engineering
ISO International Standards Organization and construction professionals the knowledge and tools
MEP Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing to plan, design, build and manage buildings and
MVD Model View Definition infrastructures [3]. BIM helps to overcome inconsistency
SLR Systematic Literature Review in building performance and any deficiencies that appear
SPF STEP physical file during its use [4]. There is a fundamental tripod of
UML Unified Modeling Language support for the implementation of BIM based on people,
WEB World Wide Web technology and processes [2]. With BIM, the importance
of the technology sector in the AEC industry has been
I. Introduction further evidenced. Since every BIM project development
requires professionals from different disciplines
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the (interdisciplinarity) and the use of varied software and
most promising developments in the Architecture, different technology companies (interoperability),

Copyright © 2022 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved https://doi.org/10.15866/irece.v13i5.20762

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

Industry Foundation Classes - IFC 1.0 - was created in TABLE I

PUBLICATIONS ABOUT IFC PER YEAR [7]
1997. It is an open file format that includes graphic and
Year Journal Conference proceedings Other publications Total
non-graphic information, such as dimensioning, 1997 0 2 0 2
operation management and energy efficiency [5]. IFC has 1998 1 4 1 6
allowed different professionals, using different software, 1999 2 7 0 9
to collaborate with each other. 2000 2 10 0 12
2001 2 1 2 5
This technological advance is considered the main 2002 4 15 1 20
reason for the expansion and the dissemination of BIM. 2003 10 12 1 23
IFC is widely studied and disseminated in large 2004 9 4 0 13
engineering software companies. 2005 5 20 2 27
2006 6 16 0 22
However, little research has been done on the subject 2007 16 13 2 31
at an academic level. Several gaps in relation to IFC are Total 57 104 9 170
seen in the technical literature, especially on the
development of frameworks that will enable a better use TABLE II
understanding of this language. Polter and Scherer, in PUBLICATIONS ABOUT IFC-BIM I N THE DATABASE REPOSITORY
their article, had not found any similar solutions as of Year IEEE ACM Science Direct Scopus Total
[2008] 4 0 4 7 15
2017 [6] and this systematic review of the literature [2009] 0 0 3 10 13
highlights that little has changed today. This article [2010] 1 1 1 14 17
proposes a framework architecture for general-purpose [2011] 2 0 6 29 37
BIM systems, based on the IFC standard developed by [2012] 0 1 4 32 37
[2013] 2 2 8 40 52
buildinSMART. This paper aims to answer the following [2014] 1 0 9 33 43
research question: how would be a framework-level [2015] 1 2 17 62 82
architecture that represents an IFC-BIM language-based [2016] 1 2 18 69 90
application within the standards required by [2017] 3 1 23 75 102
[2018] 3 1 27 113 144
BuildingSMART?, based on the hypothesis that [2019] 6 1 26 99 132
Scientific research in the area of IFC-BIM depends on [2020] 4 1 23 112 140
privately-owned software. [2021] 2 1 30 91 124
This paper is organized as follows. Section II [02/2022] 0 0 10 13 23
Total 30 13 209 799 1051
describes state of the art related to Industry Foundation
Classes (IFC) and Building Information Modeling
(BIM), based on a Systematic Literature Review. The
importance of the IFC to BIM interoperability is
discussed in Section III. Besides, the main features of the
IFC file are presented in this section. Section IV presents
the framework proposed to solve the BIM
interoperability problem, considering an open source
solution. Some preliminary results of this application are
discussed in Section V, while the final remarks and
recommendations for future work are presented in Fig. 1. Growth of research on IFC-BIM in the databases searched
Section VI.
II.2. Systematic Literature Review
II. State of the Art A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) about IFC and
II.1. Number of IFC Publications BIM has been developed, in order to select relevant
works that focus on the data structure of the IFC
Table I shows the number of relevant publications standard, the development of BIM applications, or IFC-
about IFC, from 1997 to 2007. This table indicates that BIM frameworks.
the total number of publications about IFC in this period Based on findings, the four research questions
was 170. presented in Table III have been formulated.
A new search was carried out on IFC and BIM
publications in four databases, searching on articles
published from 2008 to February 2022. The results of II.2.1. Search Protocol
this search are shown in Table II. Details of the search Table III presents the research questions that the SLR
protocols used can be seen in Table IV (only Keywords 1 sought answer. ID - Q1 represents the main question, and
- IFC; and BIM) and Table V. the other IDs represent the secondary questions. The
Table II shows that from 2008 to February 2020, 1051 questions cover specific issues related to BIM such as: (i)
scientific publications have been cited in the respective area of application; (ii) typologies; (iii) frameworks; (iv)
database, not counting possible duplications. This gives applications, (v) theoretical or practical approach; and
an idea of the growth in research publications during this (vi) general features.
period, as shown in Fig. 1.

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

TABLE III TABLE IV

RESEARCH QUESTIONS KEYWORDS, THEIR MEANINGS, AND THEIR LOCATION
ID Research question IN THE SEARCH PROTOCOL
Q1 Which framework architecture methodologies or typologies based Keywords Meanings Search Location
on the IFC-BIM standard are currently being researched? Industry Foundation Classes,
Q2 What is the main area of application of the selected surveys? TI or standard developed by
Titles; or
AEC? 1- IFC; and BIM buildinSMART to contribute to
Keywords;
Q3 Is the approach to these surveys theoretical or applied in practice? interoperability between BIM
Q4 What are the characteristics of these surveys? (e.g.: solving software.
conduits, pillars, beams, walls etc.? If applied to the AEC sector: 2 -Framework,
Proposal or development of
which applications are used? If applied to the IT sector: what Algorithms; Data Titles; Keywords;
BIM computational solutions,
programming language and graphic library are used?) Structures; or or Abstract;
their uses or tools.
Object-oriented;
A search protocol has been defined, considering
TABLE V
keywords and search string for each database, as shown DATABASE AND SEARCH STRINGS
in Tables IV and V. In each database, structured strings Database Search String
used as a filter to select the most relevant works on the ( ( "Document Title": ifc OR "Author Keywords": ifc )
theme have been created, as presented in Table V. IEEE AND "All Metadata":bim AND ( framework OR object-
oriented OR algorithms OR data structures ) )
( (TITLE: ifc OR KEYWORD: ifc ) AND bim AND
II.2.2. Inclusion or Exclusion Criteria ACM (framework OR object-oriented OR algorithms OR "data
structures" ) )
In addition to defining the protocol, it has been Title, abstract, keywords: ( IFC AND BIM )
Science
Find articles with these terms: ( framework OR “object-
necessary to define the inclusion and the exclusion Direct
oriented" OR algorithms OR "data structures" )
criteria, in order to screen manually the papers to be ( ( KEY ( ifc ) OR TITLE ( ifc ) ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (
included. Scopus bim ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( framework OR object-
The inclusion and the exclusion criteria are presented oriented OR algorithms OR "data Structures" ) )
below:
TABLE VI
A. Inclusion: (i) works that present consistent and ARTICLES RETRIEVED I N THE LITERATURE REVIEW
adequate information about BIM and IFC with an IT- Slightly Strongly Similar
Database Excluded Total
related approach; (ii) works published between 2015 related related selected
and February 2022; (iii) filters should be contained in IEEE 5 4 1 0 10
ACM 3 2 21 0 7
the titles, abstracts and keywords; (iv) texts that allow
Science
the full article to be downloaded; 134 24 6 2 166
Direct
B. Exclusion: (i) repeated titles; (ii) articles that do not Scopus 77 25 10 4 1162
present the topic of interest to this research (based on Total 219 55 19 6 299
11 duplicate article found in the database IEEE Xplore Digital Library.
the titles); (iii) articles where the context is not 21 duplicate article in ACM Digital Library, 2 duplicate articles in IEEE
relevant for this research (based on an analysis of the Xplore Digital Library, 57 duplicate articles in Science Direct and 51
abstracts); (iv) content that does not present articles that do not offer access to the whole text, leaving 116 articles.
information of interest to the research. Of the 51 articles without access to the full text, only four have
presented information in the title, abstract or keywords that would
classify them as slightly related to the presented theme; all the others
II.2.3. Search Results have been excluded as not relevant.

The searches in the databases have resulted in 357
papers; 58 have appeared repeatedly in more than one
database, resulting in 299 articles. Then, the following
topics have been read of each paper: title, summary,
introduction, and conclusion.
This filter has resulted in the selection of only six
articles. Table VI presents the articles found and the one
selected by repository.
An article has been considered “slightly related” when
there has been some information, whether in a paragraph,
table or figure, that could be used in this article, “strongly
related” when a chapter or the entire text could serve as a
query for part of this article, and “similar” when the
proposal of the article had similar objectives, albeit with
the use of different approaches.
The “similar” articles have been the ones selected. The
“similar” articles, shown in Table VI, have been read in
full, and then the characteristics of the works have been
extracted, seeking to answer the research questions.
The “similar” articles are summarized and presented
in Table VII with the following information: (i) authors,
(ii) title, (iii) database in which it has been cited, (iv)
number of citations, (v) year of publication.
II.3. Bibliographic Review Results
Six papers that have closely matched the theme of the
presented work have been found in the SLR. These
papers are commented on in detail in the following
subsections.
II.3.1. Towards an Adaptive Civil Engineering
Computation Framework
The objective of this work has been to create a
framework methodology to support companies in the
AEC sector in the automation of complex workflows and
project management, through a data structure based on

Copyright © 2022 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved International Review of Civil Engineering, Vol. 13, N. 5

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

the IFC standard and supported on a hybrid platform (on- TABLE VII
SELECTED ARTICLES IN THE LITERATURE REVIEW
premises and cloud), called BIMgrid. BIMgrid has
Authors Title of the article Database Citations Year
originally evolved from the Computational Service of the Towards an adaptive civil
SE-Lab platform, which has been developed as an Michael Polter, Science
engineering computation 1 2017
Raimar Scherer Direct
integrated web platform for structural probabilistic framework
nonlinear projects and analyses. The architecture has Supporting building owners
Joao Patacas,
and facility managers in the
been based on components with well-defined interfaces, Nashwan
vali dation and visualization
following the principle of Separation of Concerns (SoC) Dawood, David
of asset information models Scopus 14 2016
Greenwood,
that incorporates the idea of a large, extendable and (aim) through open
Mohamad
highly adaptable platform that can be customized for a standards and open
Kassem
Technologies
variety of domains and areas of application [19]. The Kim, Inhan and Development of K-BIM e-
core of BIMgrid has been developed in Java, SOAP and Choi, Jungsik Submission prototypical
REST, and it has undergone continual improvement. As and Teo, Evelyn system for the openBIM- Scopus 6 2020
of the date of publication of the article, there has been no Ai Lin and Sun, based building permit
Hongwei framework
known similar solution for all the functional areas of A BIM and machine
BIMgrid. However, it has not been possible to test this Su, Tengxiang
learning integration
and Li, Haijiang Scopus 3 2021
tool because the source code has not been available [19]. and An, Yi
framework for automated
property valuation
Biljecki, Filip
II.3.2. Supporting Building Owners and Facility and Lim, Joie
and Crawford,
Managers in the Validation and Visualization of
James and
Asset Information Models (AIM) Through Open Moraru, Diana
Standards and Open Technologies and Tauscher,
Helga and Extending CityGML for Science
This research proposes a framework to help facility 17 2021
Konde, Amol IFC-sourced 3D city models Direct
owners and managers define the requirements for asset and Adouane,
management tasks in a structured way, validating project Kamel and
Lawrence, Simon
and asset data against established requirements and and Janssen,
viewing asset data, stored in different locations, in an Patrick and
integrated and interactive way, in order to support Stouffs, Rudi
specific management functions [6]. This framework has Wang, Jia and Multi-scale Information
Gao, Xinao and Retrieval for BIM using
been built for specific uses of the BIM-7D dimension, Zhou, Xiaoping Hierarchical Structure Scopus 1 2021
which deals with BIM operation management. The and Xie, Modelling and Natural
author tries to achieve his goals with a minimum of Qingsheng Language Processing
computational interference. An interesting fact is that the
proposed model does not directly use information from The research has presented the prototype of the
the IFC file, since it is converted into COBie framework in detail. However, the implementation
(Construction Operations Building information process and its source code have not been found.
exchange) through plugins installed in the BIMserver
API. In order to work within the Unity game engine, it
has been necessary to define collision scripts between the II.3.4. BIM and Machine Learning Integration
geometric information extracted from the model in an Framework for Automated Property Valuation
.FBX file of the Autodesk 3D Studio Max software, and This work has proposed a BIM and Machine Learning
non-geometric information from the COBie file [6]. integration framework for automated property valuation,
and has been developed while observing the following
stages: definition of a fundamental structure for the
II.3.3. Development of K-BIM e-Submission
interpretation of information from the IFC standard,
Prototypical System for the openBIM-Based
information extraction from IFC models; and automatic
Building Permit Framework
valuation of information based on Machine Learning and
This research has carried out a comprehensive analysis genetic algorithm (GA-GBR) [21].
and it has developed a prototype system framework for The objective of the research has been to contribute to
an electronic submission process based on the IFC-BIM the exchange of information and analysis of project
standard. Four main modules have been developed: code properties in the AEC industry, and to support the
checking, submission, pre-checking, and automated rule- automated valuation of the properties of models in the
making [20]. IFC standard [21].
This project has been funded by the Korean The research has presented the prototype of the
government in order to improve an existing system called framework with details and its results. However, the
K-BIM, and the goal of the paper has been based on the implementation process and its source code have also not
perspective of wider adoption of e-Submission type been found.
systems of building projects based on BIM [20].

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

II.3.5. Extending CityGML read .prj files, or Solibri® cannot handle .nwd files. In
for IFC-Sourced 3D City Models order to resolve this type of problem, information (both
geometric and non-geometric) are transferred using a
This work has proposed an ADE (Application Domain
common extension, called IFC (Industry Foundation
Extension) to support the retention of relevant IFC
Classes) [11]. Fig. 2 shows the different file extensions in
information and automatically convert it to CityGML.
relation to their complexity. IFC is an object-based file
The BIM-GIS interoperability data structure has been
format developed by BuildingSMART International. Its
conceptually presented through a UML class diagram
main objective is to facilitate collaboration between work
[22]. Several BIM-GIS interoperability researches have
teams, which justifies its largescale use in BIM. IFC is a
been found throughout the SLR. This research has been
great alternative to file extension standardization and it is
selected for being strongly linked to the IFC, detailing
considered mandatory by many Professionals in the AEC
the framework proposal and the implementation process
sector. The IFC file contains all the geometric elements
and for being open-source with all the source code
and information contained in the original models, so the
available at the following link:
transition of data between programs becomes consistent
https://github.com/opengeospatial/CityGML-3.0CM
[11]. Through a multivendor software initiative,
buildingSMART’s IFC standards have been used to
II.3.6. Multi-Scale Information Retrieval for BIM Using standardize workflows based on open standards, and the
Hierarchical Structure Modelling and Natural OPEN BIM seal has been created. This is shown in Fig.
Language Processing 3. BuildingSMART also provides support for BIM
advancement and standards implementation through a
This study proposes a multi-scale information retrieval variety of services, including technical sites, developer
scheme for BIM using the IFC standard and Natural documentation and support groups.
Language Processing (NLP). Its development has been
divided into three stages: a BIM Hierarchy Tree model is
interpreted to analyze the hierarchical structure III.1. Data Structure
relationships between BIM data according to the IFC
IFC is a robust standard that is continually developing.
specification; NLP and International Framework for
However, there are many aspects still to be investigated
Dictionaries (IFD) technologies are used to analyze and
and developed. It cannot be affirmed that the current
unify queries; a new information retrieval scheme is
structure may not undergo further changes, even though
developed to find the information at various scales
with every update, an attempt is made to retain the
associated with queries [23]. The study has presented the
structures already published. Table VIII shows the
prototype of the framework with details and its results.
documentation on IFC. All the IFC standard
However, the implementation process and its source code
documentation is available at the following website:
have not been found.
https://technical.buildingsmart.org/standards/ifc/ifc-
schema-specifications/
III. Industry Foundation Classes
Many challenges and developments in BIM
collaboration are discussed and cloud-based system and
centralized server-based approaches are promising [10].
Cloud-based systems contribute to an effective and
efficient exchange of information across all the
disciplines throughout the construction lifecycle [8].
Meanwhile, interoperable software reduces the
amount of time required to exchange information, and
also minimizes the risk of data transfer errors, which are
common in the manual method of information exchange
[9]. Therefore, open source frameworks and tools that
use open standards for data exchange, such as IFC can be
used and reused by a wide range of professionals in the
AEC industry [10]. There are hundreds of different
flows, with different software to model the construction
information. In fact, each professional has his or her own
preference. A fundamental aspect of BIM, its Fig. 2. File extensions x Information Exchange [2]
interoperability, is put to the test when several
professionals are working with files of different formats
and need to exchange information quickly and
accurately. In practice, interoperability problems appear
when Revit® cannot read .pnl files, or Archicad® cannot
Fig. 3. OPEN BIM seal certified by buildinSMART [12]

Copyright © 2022 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved International Review of Civil Engineering, Vol. 13, N. 5

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

TABLE VIII
HISTORY OF PUBLICATIONS ON IFC [13]
ISO
Version Name Published Status
publication
4.3.dev IFC4.3.DEV - - Development
4.3.RC4 IFC4.3.Infra - 2021-07 Candidate
4.2.0.0 IFC4.2 - 2019-04 Withdrawn
4.1.0.0 IFC4.1 - 2018-06 Official
IFC4 ADD2
4.0.2.1 6739-1:2018 2017-10 Official
TC1
4.0.2.0 IFC4 ADD2 - 2016-07 Retired
4.0.1.0 IFC4 ADD1 - 2015-06 Retired
4.0.0.0 IFC4 6739:2013 2013-02 Retired
2.3.0.1 IFC23 TC1 6739:2005 2007-07 Official
2.3.0.0 IFC23 - 2005-12 Retired
2.2.1.0 IFC22 ADD1 - 2004-07 Retired
2.2.0.0 IFC22 - 2003-05 Retired
2.1.1.0 IFC2 ADD1 - 2001-10 Retired
2.1.0.0 IFC2 - 2000-10 Retired
2.0.0.0 IFC2.0 - 1999-10 Retired
1.1.1.0 IFC1.5 ADD1 - 1998-08 Retired
1.1.0.0 IFC1.5 - 1998-01 Retired
1.0.0.0 IFC1.0 - 1996-12 Retired

There is also a space for developers to store files and

contributions at https://github.com/buildingSMART. Fig. 4. Layer-based IFC architecture [13]
The trend of the IFC standard is to support
infrastructure elements. Its latest version – IFC4.2 – has
included the following classes in the IFC: IfcBridge,
IfcRoad, and IfcRail standard. BIM tools for surveying
and inventorying infrastructure are changing perspectives
in managing existing road infrastructure [14]. IFC’s basic
and conceptual architecture is divided into layers, as
shown in Fig. 4:
1. Resource layer: the lower layer includes all the
individual schemas that contain resource definitions
[13];
2. Core layer: this layer contains the most general entity
definitions, upload a globally unique ID, and
optionally owner and history information [13];
3. Interoperability layer: this layer includes schemas that
contain entity definitions that are specific to a general Fig. 5. Diagram of the hierarchical structure of IFC 4.2 classes [15]
product, used in a ”typed” way for cross-domain
exchange and information sharing [13];
4. Domain layer: this layer includes schemas that
contain entity definitions that are product
specializations, processes, or resources specific to a
given discipline [13].
The update guide to version 4.2 features the complete
IFC structure and it is partially shown in Fig. 5.
Contributions to the development of the IFC structure
are very important because they establish a BIM
infrastructure capable of supporting the complete life Fig. 6. IFC 4.2. IfcRoot class diagram [13]
cycle of a project [16]. Each entity defined in the class
diagram will have other entities and attributes, with
specific constraints and parameters. Fig. 6 shows part of
the IfcRoot class, its attributes, and direct relationships.
IFC uses the STEP physical file (SPF) defined by ISO
10303-21:2002 - Clear Text Encoding of the Exchange
Structure. This is a text format with readable American
Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
characters [17]. Fig. 7 shows the structure of the IFC file
after saving in a physical text file (SPF).
Fig. 7. Part of the contents of the SPF file

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

IV. Framework The application that has demonstrated to be more

promising to the scientific community in this research
In order to elaborate the framework design, the main has been the BlenderBIM. This application is an ADD-
BIM software programs have been researched and their ON to the Blender software, and it is an open source tool
uses and main features have been verified. Thus, a set of to create tridimensional models. In a preliminary
Functional Requirements and Non-Functional analysis, this software allows importing, manipulating,
Requirements has been defined. After that, the and exporting information from IFC files. It has been
framework design has been created. possible to observe that, in the analysis of the existing
BIM software programs, in general terms, this software
IV.1. Software Analysis can be grouped into two types: (i) BIM modeling, and (ii)
uses of BIM. The main results have been also verified
The main BIM computational tools existing in the through the systematic literature review.
market have been evaluated in the literature review stage
concerning their features. At this moment, tools similar
to this proposal have been sought. Then, two software IV.2. Preliminary Functional Requirements
have been found: Unity Reflect and Unreal Twinmotion. Based on the bibliographic review and the main
Both tools are developed by companies that are the features of the BIM software, the following functional
owner of game engines, and they have a specific and requirements have been created:
utilization: 3D immersion in real-time for taking  FR 01 - the internal data structure should be strongly
advantage of the available resources in its respective linked to IFC;
game engines. However, none of these software interacts  FR 02 - object-oriented approach;
with the IFC. On the other hand, these tools depend on
 FR 03 - divided into cores and modules to allow
plug-in installed in proprietary software, like Autodesk
parallel development;
Revit software.
 FR 04 - have units restriction and geolocation core;
Fig. 8 depicts, for instance, the framework of the
Unity Reflect software installed on the Autodesk Revit  FR 05 - own a parameterization core;
software. Other software programs evaluated are listed in  FR 06 - allow data manipulation through external
Table IX. programming and macros;
 FR 07 - be cross-platform (desirable);
 FR 08 - allow more than one user to contribute to a
project;
 FR 09 - have a local file structure in sync with a
cloud project;
 FR 10 - customizable workspaces-based interface;
 FR 11 - have a main menu and customizable toolbars
adaptable to the usage context;
 FR 12 - have a tree-based design structure palette;
 FR 13 - have a property palette of selected objects;
 FR 14 - have a canvas for rendering based on the
Fig. 8. Framework Unity Reflect [18] Unity library.
TABLE IX
MAIN BIM SOFTWARE PROGRAMS IV.3. Preliminary Non-Functional Requirements
Uses Software Company Main Features
Revit Autodesk Architectural and parametric Based on the bibliographic review and the main
Architectural ArchiCAD Graphisoft modeling, IFC export, features of the BIM software, the following non-
design VectorWorks Nemetscheck quantification, worksharing, functional requirements have been created:
MicroStation Bentley external programing.
EBERICK AltoQi Structural modeling, IFC  NFR 01 - restrict cloud information traffic to decrease
Structural Tekla Trimble import or export, bottlenecks;
analysis TQS TQS quantification, dimensioning,  NFR 02 - maintain the integrity of the units;
CYPECAD CYPE analysis and detailing of
Revit Autodesk MEP1 parametric modeling,
 NFR 03 - allow information manipulation and
ArchiCAD Graphisoft IFC export, quantification, geolocation by model;
MEP1
design
CYPECAD CYPE worksharing, external  NFR 04 - interface should allow independent and
programing, unlinked windows for use of more than one monitor;
DDS-CAD Nemetscheck
dimensioning and detailing.
Navisworks Autodesk (BIM Uses)  NFR 05 - restrict users to manipulate models;
Compatibility, Synchro Synchro 3D view, clash detective, 4D  NFR 06 - work with independent files by discipline.
checking and SOLIBRI Nemetscheck planning, 4D simulation,
collaboration Tekla Trimble quantification, worksharing,
BIMcollab KUBUS model checking. IV.4. Framework Design
1 MEP: Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing
The framework has been designed with a high level of

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

abstraction, presenting the parts of an IFC-based BIM

System and its possible relationships. Core IFC proposes
that the class hierarchy should strongly comply with
buildSMART standards, but with the possibility of
adaptations.
Core Files will be responsible for SPF, and additional
structures not behaved in IFC should be saved in other
extensions, within a folder hierarchy, and linked through
cross-references by the IFC GlobalId attribute.
Core Interface has been proposed. It adapts to the
context of use and user preferences. Core Uses BIM
should include the necessary tools for modeling,
manipulation, and/or analyses of model information. The
Core External Program has been designed to allow for
various contributions, plug-ins and add-ons, and this is
an interesting feature available in some tools on the
market. Core Graphics will take advantage of the features
of the Unity graphics library for 2D and 3D visual
interaction. Finally, Main Core is responsible for
communication and management of other Cores. Fig. 9
shows the designed framework, its components, and their
relationships:
a. Core Main: Core responsible for connecting, treating Fig. 9. Framework proposal
and performing communication between the other
cores; The "xbim toolkit" library set has been used, since it
b. Core IFC: Core responsible for maintaining the IFC has been the most robust set of open source BIM-IFC
data structure and complementary structures; libraries. It is a set of open source software libraries that
c. Core Interface: Core responsible for the connection create, view, and manipulate IFC (.ifc, .ifcXML and
and communication between User and software .ifcZIP) and COBie (Construction-Operations Building
platform; information exchange) files. It has two main cores,
d. Core Graphics: Core base equipped with a structure XbimEssentials and XbimGeometry, as well as a series
of graphic information data, models and 2D/3D of applications to demonstrate the possibilities and the
drawings of the UNIT library; features of the library. The xbim toolkit libraries can be
e. Core External Program: Core for the creation and found at https://github.com/xBimTeam. The discussion
interpretation of external programs through macros results have been guided by the answers to a
and/or Dlls; questionnaire based on the following approaches: (i)
f. Core Uses BIM: Core responsible for making use of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, (ii) Real-life
the geometric and non-geometric information of Core simulators, (iii) Use of game resources to teach
IFC for the respective BIM disciplines, as well as engineering and architecture. The questionnaire has been
user control in terms of hierarchy and level of access; created in the Google Forms tool, and it has been made
g. Core Files: Core responsible for managing the IFC available in engineering and architecture discussion
SPF file, as well as the complementary physical files, groups between 01/24/2022 at 12:00 and 01/28/2022 at
their versions and updates. 8:00. Three duplicate submissions have been found and
The framework shown in Fig. 9 demonstrates how duly removed with the condition to keep always the last
robust a BIM application is and how much human and sent reply.
intellectual effort is needed to be able to make some use
of BIM. This explains why large engineering software V.1. Results
companies have the expertise of BIM tools.
As the first result of this research, the implemented
moxBIMForm.exe application is presented. It consists of
V. Results and Discussions two principal components: (i) the TreeView marked with
As a result of this research, it has been proposed to the number 1, responsible for showing the tree of entities
start the studies of an open source application, available of the .ifc files read, and (ii) the PropertyGrid marked
on GitHub (https://github.com/moaciroj/moxBIM.git) with the number 2, responsible for presenting the non-
towards the "Use of BIM" in Unity that allows full geometric information (such as: name, type, color,
control of the information of the IFC file. For material, dimensions, etc.) of the entity selected in the
implementation, Microsoft Visual Studio 2019, version TreeView (which in the case of Fig. 10 is of a beam).
16.9.4, Microsoft .NET Framework, version 4.8.04084 The moxBIMForm.exe application screen is illustrated
and Unity 2020.2.7f1 have been used. in Fig. 10.

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 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive
Fig. 10. MoxBIMForm.exe system screen
Fig. 11. MoxBIMUnity.exe system screen
The geometric data is visualized in the Unity system
moxBIMUnity.exe, which, as shown in Fig. 11, displays
all the 3D entities of the .ifc files added to the
moxBIMForm.exe system. To conclude, it should be
noted that the entire implementation, including Windows
Form / Unity, and interoperability are available for
collaboration on the GitHub online platform:
https://github.com/moaciroj/moxBIM.git.
A video demonstrating the results of the proposed tool
has been created to aid in the discussion of the results. It
can be accessed at https://youtu.be/gD0-ZqkCLuI.
V.2. Discussions
A questionnaire has been created in the Google Form
tool and it was available in engineering, and architecture
discussion groups from 01/24/2022 up to 01/28/2022.
The first question has been strategically elaborate to
serve as a filter, that is, only users who had some basic
knowledge about BIM could continue answering the
questionnaire. The respondents who did not know the
BIM platform were considered unacceptable and
forwarded directly to the final submission of the form,
without going through the other questions. There have
been 160 responses, of which 114 (71.3%) have reported
to have some basic knowledge about the BIM platform.
The questionnaire has tackled the following contents:
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, real life simulators,
engineering, and architecture teaching by using game
tools. In the received responses, a pattern that has tended
towards a positive evaluation regarding the perspectives
in the respective approaches questioned has been found.
Copyright © 2022 Praise Worthy Prize S.r.l. - All rights reserved
334
VI. Final Remarks
Information technology has always been present in the
Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)
industry. It is even more indispensable with BIM, which
should be included in the curricular matrices of
architecture and engineering courses around the world.
Most research on BIM uses computational tools
owned by large multinational software developers for
engineering and architecture. The IFC standard is robust
and complex and has evolved over time. However, it is
possible to conclude that there are no guarantees that the
currently established standard will remain unchanged.
Software Engineering through its modeling and design
standards can greatly contribute to the development of
BIM research. Object Orientation, partitioning and/or
modulation of software also contribute by reducing the
robustness of BIM applications into several minor
problems, facilitating new implementations and
contributions.
The Unity engine has been chosen because it has been
decided to design the framework focusing on the Uses of
BIM instead of 3D model building. In this case, besides
the three-dimensional resources, it will be possible to
take advantage of the numerous possibilities of the game
industry. Nevertheless, Unity can be changed by other
engines or graphical libraries if relevant feature
limitations about BIM are identified. Graphical libraries
(for instance Unity Library) will enable uses of BIM that
exceed AEC industry expectations. The gaming
environment has provided visualization of geometric
objects and display of non-geometric information and
allowed the user to interactively navigate the model and
manipulate the necessary information on each object [19]
as presented in the Functional Requisite (FR 14).
It is important that the application allows manipulation
of information through visual programming, macros and
external applications. BIM software will always work
collaboratively, so it will be necessary for the application
to work strongly linked to the WEB, sharing files and
information on user permissions, interdisciplinarity and
collaborative work, as presented in the Functional
Requisite (FR 09) and Non-functional Requisite (NFR
01). In the case of cloud files, the technology applied in
data transfer should offer as little information traffic as
possible. Small and medium-sized engineering
companies do not generally use the full capacity of the
available IT infrastructure. Worker processes are still
predominantly dispersed among mono-user tools without
a shared database. On the other hand, integrated custom
cloud solutions provide more flexibility, engineers’
mastery of these techniques, their high cost, and data
security are still obstacles [6].
It has been found out that IFC is not prepared for
parameterizations. Therefore, specific data structures will
be required for parametric modeling. However, other
uses of BIM depend exclusively on the IFC established
by the Model View Definition (MVD).
The SLR developed in this work demonstrates that
there is a gap in the scientific research community related
International Review of Civil Engineering, Vol. 13, N. 5
 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive
to the development of computer systems in BIM and
IFC. Therefore, this proposal is intended to promote
efforts towards open source OpenBIM computational
tools. The use of the xbim toolkit library has ultimately
limited development in terms of cross-platform
implementation because, even after much research, it has
not been possible to instantiate completely the
XbimEssentials and XbimGeometry libraries solely on
the Unity game engine development platform. This fact
has motivated the development of an alternative proposal
on the Windows platform, where, through the “xbim
toolkit” library, full control of non-geometric information
in Windows Forms and geometric information in Unity
has been achieved with good perspectives. By taking
advantage of the key features and individual features of
each platform, the proposed tool has proved to be a
promising solution. The only limitation found has been
the interoperability of information between subsystems,
which, although it has achieved its goal in the case in
question, by making use of a structured physical file
“.mox”, it did not seem to be the most effective solution.
A significant finding extracted from the discussion of
the results has been that 95.6% of respondents with basic
knowledge about the BIM platform, believe medially,
moderately or strongly that the results obtained in this
study, within the framework of the BIM platform, are
promising and that if good adherence and excellent
engagement of the participants are added, it is possible to
conclude that the results of this research are
demonstrably relevant.
VI.1. Recommendations for Future Work
 Develop one or more modular cores of the proposed
application;
 Establish a modular data structure that allows
communication between instances of classes,
inheritance and polyformism between the main core
and modular cores;
 Complement the scope of UML diagrams and
prototype application screens;
 Establish a specific method for synchronism of cloud
IFC files.
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International Review of Civil Engineering, Vol. 13, N. 5
 M. de Oliveira Junior, R. C. Ghizoni Teive

Authors’ information
Vale do Itajaí University, Brazil.

Moacir de Oliveira Junior was born in Santa

Catarina, Brazil on April 9, 1978. Graduated in
Civil Engineering at Blumenau Regional
University Foundation in 2000; Bachelor's
degree in Computer Science at Vale do Itajaí
University in 2007, specialization in Fire
Prevention Engineering from the Fritz Muller
Foundation in 2011 and Distance Education,
Teaching and Tutoring in 2018 at Avantis University Center. He is
studying MBA specialization in BIM Platform from INBEC and Master
Program of Applied Computer at Vale do Itajaí University. He works as
a professor at Vale do Itajaí University, and at Avantis University
Center. He is the CEO responsible for projects, software development
for engineering, support and training by VIPTEC CAD & BIM
Solutions.

Raimundo C. Ghizoni Teive (Corresponding

Author) was born in Santa Catarina, Brazil, on
June 20, 1963 He graduated at UFSC in
Electrical Engineering in 1985. He earned his
M.S. and PhD. degrees both at UFSC, in 1991
and 1997, respectively. He is lecturer in the
Master Program of Applied Computer at Vale
Itajaí University. His research interested areas
include application of Artificial Intelligence techniques into
engineering problems. He has been involved in several research
projects related to application of artificial intelligence techniques and
multi-criteria decision-making methods. He has over one hundred
published papers. He is a Elsevier and IEEE reviewer.

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