GeoBIM Solution for Building E-Permitting Automation

Municipalities invest a lot of time and effort into the permitting process. Municipality permit engineers have to visually check the submitted design, extract the model's data, compare it with the allowable values, and finally approve or reject the project. It's a headache for the municipality and the applicant, whether he is a consultant, a contractor, or even an owner. Submission and following-up become pain areas. The traditional way was not effective and not environment-friendly as the communication and the reporting were all paper-based. The E-Permitting portals solved many problems in permitting for both the government and the engineering/owner sides. However, still, it has some vast cons like hard-to-manage construction inspections, manual code compliance checking, and the difficulty of retrieving the parcel history. To clarify the added value of the BIM-GIS Digital Twin, we need to define the main steps for permitting, whether automated or manual.

1. Model Submission: this step is the applicant's responsibility whether the model is in CAD or BIM format. This step also includes a lot of data entry and approvals submissions. This article will try to suggest a solution for both, even if we recommend BIM.
2. Building Data Extraction: this step is the responsibility of the permit engineer to fill in the documents and make the reports from different sources. The applicant provides some data, other organizations offer other data, and at least data should be provided by the municipality itself, like parcel data.
3. Code Compliance Checking: also the responsibility of the permit engineer. This step takes a lot of time and effort. The result has an enormous potential to be inaccurate because of human error.
4. Construction Inspections: following-up the project progress and how it's following the approved design is a part of the municipality task.

You may notice that there are many steps and data sources that may cause conflicts, rework, and be time-consuming.

BIM-GIS Digital Twin Solution:

As a quick look at the Digital Twin concept, it aims to build a digital version of a real-world entity. That needs a simulation model for the entity, and IoT sensors make it like a mirror for reality which provides real-time monitoring.

Digital Twin has many applications in many sectors, i.e., the medical industry and manufacturing. Tesla cars are a successful model for using it for helping their clients with no visits needed. To apply it in the AEC sector, we need the outdoor data modeled by GIS and the indoor data that BIM or CAD models. So What is in it for the E-Permitting?

1. Single Source of Truth: all the data is integrated into one model, including building data, parcel data, regulations, exceptions, plans, and special approvals. This grantee zero conflicts between the scattered data sources.
2. Zero-Data Entry: documents and reports data will be filled automatically. The building data from the CAD/BIM model. The parcel data and the zoning regulations from the GIS database.
3. Automated Code Compliance Checking: The permit engineer can now use his valuable time consumed in manual model checking in other sophisticated tasks. We can use programming languages to get a tool that does this task without human participation.
4. Real-Time inspections: having a digital copy of the construction site helps more effective assessments. The municipality inspectors can fill out the inspection forms or gather updated data using mobile devices. The collected data will be synced in the system immediately. So you have insights about the construction progress.
5. Easy Navigation: having a consolidated model including all project features makes it easy to utilize the navigation capabilities outdoors using GPS or indoors using IPS.
6. Design in GIS Context: building your design as a consultant organization is more effective if you have access to the GIS data provided by the municipality, which could decrease the model rejection possibility.
7. BIM Dimensions: if the submitted model were a BIM model, it would be easy to utilize the 3D visualization or the 4th dimension of the project simulation according to time and project phases or even relate the steps to its cost to enrich our digital twin with a 5D model. Suppose the submitted model was a CAD drawing. We can use a different workflow to make the CAD data richer. 2D CAD drawings can be easily converted to GIS format. Then we can add more data for every drawing feature as its GIS features. Also, we can add time and cost attributes to have a time /cost simulation and extrude to the Z-depth for better visualization. The CAD workflow might need human participation to add data.
8. Paperless communication: the GeoBIM digital twin maximizes communication between all stack holders. All the data and communication are done through one centralized hub, whether it's an inspection request, design update, or modification permit request,
9. Integrated Asset Management: having a centralized database through all the project stages leads to an accurate GeoBIM as-built model. The building operation and inspection processes are now real-time Geo-enabled with solid visuals.

Digital Twin and automation are a revolution in many trends, and using it in AEC projects will help smartly manage city assets. E-Permitting can save effort, time, and money, but adding GIS-BIM capabilities will be way more effective.