A Review on 3D Spatial Data Analytics for Building Information Models

Except for various properties, accurate and intuitive 3D representations of building elements and spaces are embedded in Building Information Models (BIMs). Thus, better understanding of spatial features of building elements and spaces is possible, which brings new opportunity in code compliance checking, indoor navigation, visualization, etc. With large amount of fine-grained 3D spatial data collected quickly and continuously, there is an urgent need for new methods to overcome problems like improper spatial expression, insufficient mining and utilization of information that exist in traditional methods. This research reviews state-of-the-art of related research and provides a summary of achievements and challenges in this area. Then, a framework consists of management, analysis, and application of 3D spatial data of BIM and a detailed discussion of each part are proposed, which would give the readers an overview of relevant methods, technologies, and tools. Moreover, potential research directions and open issues for future work are also discussed. The paper enables researchers to get a comprehensive understanding of 3D spatial data analytics of BIM as well as suggestions for future work, and thus makes a solid contribution in this area.