ITcon Vol. 30, pg. 319-334, http://www.itcon.org/2025/13

Implementation of a BIM Workflow for Building Permit Coordination in Urban Metro Projects

DOI:10.36680/j.itcon.2025.013
submitted:October 2024
revised:December 2025
published:March 2025
editor(s):Amor R
authors:Alon Urlainis, PhD
Department of Civil Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8125-1818
alonu@ariel.ac.il

Amichai Mitelman, PhD
Department of Civil Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0695-8853
amichaim@ariel.ac.il
summary:Urban metro projects require managing vast amounts of information within highly dynamic environments. Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows are increasingly integrated into traditional engineering tasks. This paper presents the implementation of a BIM workflow for a large underground metro project located in a densely populated area. The case study focuses on managing applications for new buildings that required assessing the potential interaction with the metro project plans. This case study required transitioning from a non-BIM environment and involved manually extracting data from numerous PDF documents, capturing key information such as parcellation ID, permitted building depth, ground level, building type, and statutory status. This data was used to create BIM objects for each lot, with extruded representations reflecting the permitted excavation depth. The BIM model proved to be beneficial for a number of key reasons. First, it facilitated better communication among stakeholders by visualizing permit impacts on the metro tunnels, crucial during the design stage. Second, once set up, the BIM model reduced drafting resources considerably. Third, it serves as an efficient tool for on-site supervision over conflicting building operations during the design phase, allowing for quick comparison between actual and permitted depths. Ultimately, the digitized model efficiently stores and manages data throughout the project life cycle, demonstrating the significant advantages of integrating BIM in large-scale infrastructure projects.
keywords:Metro, BIM, underground construction, tunneling-induced settlements, information management
full text: (PDF file, 1.025 MB)
citation:Urlainis A, Mitelman A (2025). Implementation of a BIM Workflow for Building Permit Coordination in Urban Metro Projects, ITcon Vol. 30, pg. 319-334, https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2025.013
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