Representing work spaces generically in construction method models

Construction activities require a set of work spaces to be executed safely and productively. The locations and volumes of these spaces change in three dimensions and across time, according to project-specific design and schedule information. Previous research on construction space management requires users to specify the spatio-temporal data necessary to represent each project-specific space needed for construction. Since a construction schedule consists of hundreds of activities requiring multiple types of spaces, this approach is practically infeasible. There is a need for a generic (project-independent) representation of work spaces, from which the project-specific instances of spaces can be derived automatically based on project-specific design and construction schedule information. This paper formalizes such a generic space description as a computer-interpretable ontology. This ontology is general, reusable, and comprehensive. A prototype system developed uses this ontology to capture the spatial requirements associated with construction methods and to automate the generation of project-specific spaces represented in three dimensions and across time.