BIM-based Quality Assurance and As-Built-Documentation using NDT methods

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is increasingly used as a consistent digital process for the planning and construction of railroad and other infrastructure. At the end of construction, an as-planned building model is created that comprehensively describes the planned state of the structure. However, deviations from the plan during the construction can lead to changes that are not included in this model. This contribution develops and demonstrates a comprehensive concept for integrating quality assurance (QA) measures into the BIM process. The goal is to update and enrich as-planned models accurately and systematically during and immediately after construction to form as-build models, which are the base for all further use in the life cycle of the structure. To capture and trace deviations between planning and the actual execution, non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques such as laser scanning and rebound hammer tests can be used as QA measures to collect geometric and semantic information of the buildings. All QA data is structured in information containers (Information Container for Data Drop, ICDD) and linked with the digital models. The practical implementation of the developed methods is demonstrated through an exemplary application to a bridge structure. Differences to the conventional approach are highlighted, and recommendations for the technological, data handling, organizational, and procedural implementation of these methods are formulated.