Connecting building component catalogues with BIM models using semantic technologies: an application for precast concrete components

Existing BIM technologies do not provide links to product components that are needed to facilitate the participation of manufacturers in the design and building processes. A deeper integration between product component catalogues and BIM is necessary for this purpose. Through the Linked Data approach, information about building products can be obtained from multiple sources and linked to create semantic descriptions of components that can be retrieved from a BIM model via component catalogues. In this article, we present the case of an application of Semantic Web technologies to connect BIM models with a catalogue of structural precast concrete components, carried out within the research project BAUKOM. As a proof of concept we have implemented a service which accesses the information provided by the catalogue to assist the design team in the assembly and dimensioning of structural components during the project phase. •Different heterogeneous data sources related on building products can be integrated.•Product component specifications can be parameterized as data models.•Product linked data in a catalogue can be accessed through an SPARQL endpoint.•The development of BIM services able to access linked data on the Web is suggested.•A semantic BIM services has been developed to support structural modelling