Digitalizing workplace safety regulations for rule-based validation of escape routes and movement areas in BIM

Ensuring compliance with safety regulations is essential in building design and construction. This paper presents a methodology for automating workplace safety compliance through rule-based validation of escape routes and movement areas in as-designed Building Information Modeling (BIM) models. The study digitizes workplace safety regulations and transforms them into machine-readable rule sets to improve the efficiency of compliance checks. Although the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) schema does not explicitly define escape routes, they can be derived by constructing a navigable graph from spatial and door elements, enabling algorithmic identification of evacuation paths. The rule sets are applied to real-world BIM models to demonstrate practical applicability. Results show potential for reducing planning errors, improving regulatory compliance, and enhancing safety during construction and renovation. The methodology advances the digitalization of regulatory processes by providing an automated and scalable approach for verifying workplace safety requirements within BIM environments. It supports safer planning outcomes overall. • Formalizes workplace safety regulations as executable, BIM-based compliance rules. • Translates regulatory requirements into structured, machine-readable rule logic. • Enables automated validation of escape routes and movement areas in IFC models. • Demonstrates rule-based safety compliance using real-world BIM case studies. • Derives escape routes algorithmically from BIM geometry and connectivity.