BIM and Linked Data Integration for Automated Compliance Checking: A Literature Review
Abstract
The construction industry is multidisciplinary. It requires strong collaboration and seamless data exchange between all engaged stakeholders across various project phases, including design, construction, and operation. Within these phases, quality and compliance control is essential. It ensures that the project meets requirements and helps identify errors or missing information. However, traditional model control processes, which rely on manual methods conducted by people, are often error-prone and time-consuming. To address these challenges, adopting automated workflows for compliance checking have become crucial to improve overall efficiency and minimize errors in construction projects. Aligned with this objective, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has emerged as an effective methodology for data exchange and collaboration. Despite its advantages, the information contained in BIM models can be challenging to manage and is often overlooked for updates, especially in large-scale projects. Integrating BIM with Semantic Web technologies significantly enhances its potential by enabling more efficient automated compliance checking processes. The primary objective of this research is to underline the potential of integrating Semantic Web technologies with BIM methodologies for automated compliance checking. It aims to provide an overview of the affordances, potentials, and limitations of these technologies within the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations (AECO) domain, offering professionals a comprehensive technological foundation on how Semantic Web technologies can be applied in combination with BIM methodologies. Within this scope, the paper particularly examines the use of Linked Data approaches of the Semantic Web, for automated compliance checking within the construction industry, by conducting a systematic literature review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The findings highlight four key approaches, namely Web Ontology Language (OWL), Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL), SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL), and Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL). Notably, SHACL emerges as the most extensively adopted and suitable approach for automated rule verification workflows within the broader Linked Data paradigm, as well as being the latest recommendation by the World Wide Web Committee (W3C). However, the existing literature also underscores persistent challenges, including the frequent development of custom ontologies, limited reuse of validation rules, and the absence of standardized constraint libraries. Overall, the research findings demonstrated that integrating Building Information Modeling with Linked Data technologies establishes a robust foundation for extendible and automated compliance verification, contributing to the rapid digital transformation within the AECO domain.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Information Technologies in Architecture and Design, Architecture (Other)
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
September 30, 2026
Submission Date
January 11, 2026
Acceptance Date
July 10, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 7 Number: 2
