Corenet e-PlanCheck

CORENET e-PlanCheck: Automated Code Checking System

Corenet is an intelligent solutions for designing and evaluating buildings, a system which to automate the checking of building plans submitted online for code compliance.

Overview of the CORENET Project

CORENET stands for COnstruction and Real Estate NETwork. It is a major IT (Information Technology) to "propel the construction and real estate sector into the new millennium" by re-engineering the business processes with state-of-the-art IT to achieve a quantum leap in turnaround time, productivity and quality. It also aims to allow parties in the construction and real estate sector to communicate and exchange information seamlessly and efficiently.

Figure 1.CORENET's objective is to develop IT systems for fully integrating the four basic processes of a building lifecycle.

While the ultimate objective of CORENET is to create the IT infrastructure that will allow total integration across the four basic processes of a building life cycle—Design, Procure, Build, and Maintain (see Figure 1)—it started with the development of three modules for the Design Phase that have now reached maturity. These are briefly described below:

1. CORENET e-Submission

This is an Internet based system that enables professionals to submit project related plans and documents to regulatory authorities for various kinds of approvals, including planning approvals, building plan approvals, structural plan approvals, temporary occupation permits, fire safety certificates, and so on. The benefits of this system over manual submission are obvious: it is digital as opposed to paper-based, eliminating printing of plans and forms; it can be used round the clock rather than being restricted to office hours; instead of dealing with multiple officials at multiple counters, it provides a one-stop point for qualified persons to submit plans to multiple approving authorities from anywhere and to check submission status online; it integrates application forms and fee collection; and it simplifies the work for approving authorities by providing them with a one-stop billboard to post submission status online. Overall, it leads to faster processing and turnaround time, improving public service through better efficiency and productivity in managing and processing electronic submissions. It also has the added benefit of harmonizing rules and streamlining forms among the different agencies involved.

Figure 2.The CORENET e-submission login page.

2. CORENET e-PlanCheck

The objective of this system, was to provide a series of IT applications that could automatically check "electronic building plans" for compliance to regulatory requirements, using "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Feature-based Computer-Aided Design (FB-CAD) technologies".

3. CORENET e-Info

The intent of this system is to provide a central repository of building and construction related information that is accessible anytime, anywhere via the Internet. It replaces heterogeneous information from multiple sources in varying formats and different versions with a single source of integrated information that AEC professionals can refer to and find the needed information more quickly and efficiently, also eliminating the need for hard copy storage space and expensive content management systems.

Figure 3 .An example of some of the documents available through CORENET e-Info.

Conclusion
This system should be applied in Malaysia to improve our delivery system and to enhance the development of of our nation.