Semantic Web-based Construction Cost Information Management

With the rapid development of economy,the number and large dimension of construction project are increased.How to avoid the relevant problems,like low efficiency and poor management,which causes by human factors,dynamic environment,etc.,have become a current research hotspot.As one of the critical tasks in the AEC/FM(Architecture,Engineering,Construction and Facilities Management)industry,construction cost estimation is very concerned issue for participants.In the construction project,effective cost estimation management can increase the effectiveness and accuracy of construction cost.However,exchange and sharing of the current cost management is not realized due to subjectivity,environment complexity,heterogeneous information,regional differences,technology missing,etc.,which will cause isolation and gap of the related information.For manage of the cost information effectively,establish cost management system according with Chinese practice,enhance information exchange,this paper proposes Semantic Web-based construction cost information management framework,including cost estimation ontology model,context ontology model and semantic conversion representation,based on cost management specification,construction information classification system standards,related theoretical knowledge,etc.In this way,the proposed approach supports management of the related cost information from the perspective of the practice construction,and facilitates the management of cost information and related information.The main research work is set out as follows:(1)From the reality of analyzing the relevant problems of construction cost management in China,and introducing the current construction information classification system,this paper proposes ontology-based cost estimation model based on Semantic Web.The proposed model takes the "Code of Valuation with Bill Quantity of Construction Works(Chinese standard number GB50500-2013)" as the main reference specification to build concept model ontology.And combing the construction practice,author proposes the work item ontology and construction condition ontology.Through definition of the related concepts and semantic relationships,the semantic rules and reasoning mechanism are proposed,and the proposed ontology model can be reasoned and validated.(2)From the vantage of dynamic,complexity and multi-source of construction incdustry,in order to improve the ability of decision making of related engineers,this paper proposes the context model based on ontology by introducing context technology.Tlhere are two aspects to this:user context and construction context.Firstly,according to the present situation in environment of construction and user,this section introduces context into construction cost management in order to construct the construction context ontology and user context ontology.Secondly,due to dynamic of environment and universality of information source,the state context ontology is proposed.Simultaneously,in order to switch from discrete data to order information,the situation context ontology model is proposed,and this model can be seen as the first-level external interpretation of context and be suited to interpret based definition rules.Finally,based on the proposed model,the model extension and rule definition can be illustrated and validated by a case.(3)According the characteristic of IFC standard,syntax analysis,etc.,the information exchange standard and information transformation mechanism are proposed aiming to link information exchange and sharing between ontology model and BIM.Firstly,the needed related technology of IFC conversion is introduced,and the corresponding mapping system framework of IFC-to-OWL is proposed.Secondly,through analysis of syntax and semantic,the IFC-to-OWL conversion rule is introduced,including schema,interface specification,data types,entity types,etc.Then,the corresponding rule can be defined with the help of the analysis of expression,function,rule,and the related studies.Finally,the transformed ontology will be edited and reasoned.(4)We provide step-by-step studies showing the development process of calculation method about quantities,cost estimation software,and related research of cost estimation information model,and the construction cost information management framework based on Semantic Web is proposed by the aid of requirement analysis and function analysis.Firstly,the proposed framework prototype is illustrated based on the definition of general construction idea,composition and cross-relation.Then through the problem analysis of cost estimation software,feature of the proposed management framework will be given.(5)According to analysis of proposed model,conversation pattern,management framework,the proposed ontology will be demonstrated through assessment analysis.The ontology evaluation criteria are proposed based on analysis of related ontology evaluation researches.Then,the ontology evaluation methods,evaluation system,and questionnaire are given by introducing automatic consistency check,Competency Question,expert interviews.Finally,combined the proposed ontology analysis,expert interview and automatic consistency check,the overall evaluation of the proposed model is given by conducting an investigation.Combined with China's national conditions and construction practices,a construction cost information management framework is proposed to solve the problems of human subjectivity,environment dynamic,information exchange and complexity based on Semantic Web,context,and information integration.By the proposed model,the related cost information can be effectively managed,and the effective cost management style is given in the complex construction environment.