Code Checking Automation in Building Design: New Trends for Cognition

The notion of code checking automation in building design has been associated with different meanings and perspectives throughout the last twenty years of research, although the subject has remained always a challenge for AI experts mainly because of the very elaborate reasoning it demands. Basically, this activity puts together a certain kind of building description and a certain kind of code representation, seeking conclusions about the conformity of the former in relation to the latter. This paper discusses a new perspective on the subject, following the recent evolution in building modeling embodied by the IFC standard and presenting the certification of a building plan as a goal, as it results from the previously developed concept of a Normative Product Model .