CC1705

SOFTWAREreview
Solibri Model Checker - doors and windows
Solibri Model Checker - Infroview issues
interrogation of the data under the rules
that have been set up provides an
unlimited amount of report possibilities,
with every contractor and project
member being enabled to define
exactly what is needed to be checked.
It should therefore be theoretically
possible to check those parts of the
model that are critical for asset
management, knowing that the quality
of the model geometry and data (once
issues are addressed) is assured.
RULESETS
Solibri does a lot of the work for you,
and this is where the real value of the
software lies. On first running Solibri
each user's role has to be defined -
admin, architect, owner, etc. Each user
type also has a number of roles they
need to perform. The architect, for
instance, needs to validate the model,
perform space and object checks and
inititate construction analysis.
Additional rulesets can be established
to refine the roles, perhaps to meet the
needs of individual countries that differ
in the standards applicable in each -
with Solibri used as the 'de facto'
application in Norway, the USA and
other countries, each with their own
particular Solibri rulesets.
Solibri uses a classification system
that allows the software to identify
components in a model. Standard
classification systems include things
like doors and windows, and can be
extended to probe the model further,
adding finer levels of detail and
performance characteristics.
SOLIBRI IN ACTION
Unless it is integrated within the core
application (ARCHICAD), all that one
needs to do to start using Solibri is to
import those elements of the model
that need to be checked - not the
complete model - and to start model
validation, whereupon it looks at the
structures, components, spaces and
data property sets, and draws out the
deficiencies, producing a list of
graded results.
A critical area here is the intersection
between domains - architectural,
structural and building services - where
intersection walls, structural members
and MEP may need particular attention.
Critical deficiencies would, for
example, show a room with no doors,
whilst deficiencies of a less critical
nature, but still notable, would take the
form of, say, a small room with a surfeit
of doors. The final report colour codes
problems, which can be visually
checked against the validation rulesets
and, if necessary, displayed in the
model. The information compiled has to
be communicated back to the design
team. Solibri does this by allowing the
checker to paste in comments,
measurements and text annotations -
sharing the location, pictures and any
other pertinent information and sending
it back to the project members
responsible for correcting the
information.
Reports can be provided in simple
PDF format or Excel spreadsheets or
via the growing usage of BCF (BIM
Collaboration Format), allowing the
authors and checkers to view exactly
the same location and issues and
accompanying notes. This advanced
BIM workflow allows originators to add
thier own comments, which are then
sent back into the Solibri Model
checker to be marked as resolved.
COMPLIANCE CHECKING
Architects typically spend half their
time compliance checking - either
local building codes or access/egress
problems (particularly for disabled
access) even down to details like stair
riser heights. Architects can’t check
every riser in a building, or whethera
wheelchair user has space to turn
around in a toilet. Solibri takes all of
the repetitious, mind-numbing work
out of the process, as long as rulesets
and classification systems are
correctly defined.
Besides providing complete quality
control and a validated model, I believe
that some of Solibri outputs could also
be geared toward asset management.
Would that come at the expense of
adding another huge file of
information, though?
www.solibri.com
May/June 2017 17