NRC is seeking to enable the advancement and adoption of digital construction capabilities in Canada, including digitalization of construction codes, digital permitting and digitally assisted compliance checking. while ensuring interoperability of digital construction tools and information flow between regulators, owners and practitioners, in alignment with existing and emerging standards such as openBIM and ISO 19650. Given advances and early adoption of these capabilities in certain countries / regulatory jurisdictions, NRC is seeking to collaborate and share learnings with experienced regulators, industry and construction technology developers in digitalization methodologies, implementation of tools and processes, and BIM adoption.
NRC requires a vendor to support a research and development initiative to conduct a proof-of-concept for the digitalization of Canadian construction codes into BIM compatible formats and content types (Industry Foundation Classes, BIM Collaboration Format, Information Delivery Specification, etc.), using a sample set of National Building Code provisions, and development of a BIM model of a representative Canadian residential building for validation purposes. Validation of the digitalized code provisions against the BIM model will be conducted through a simulation with the NRC and selected Canadian Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) (e.g. Province/Territory/Municipality) using digital permitting and compliance checking software.
The vendor will provision digital permitting and digital compliance checking software solutions that are capable of processing BIM files adhering to openBIM standards, including five licenses for NRC use for a six-month period during the proof-of-concept.
Following the simulation, the vendor will conduct a two-day workshop with NRC to review findings, and to discuss / develop a roadmap for BIM enablement in the Canadian construction sector (AHJs and industry).
Additionally, the vendor will organize a discussion with municipalities (outside of Canada) and industry experts who have adopted BIM based permitting and compliance checking, to share learnings on the implementation of digital construction practices and tools.
The vendor will produce a comprehensive technical report including a readiness assessment of digitalized Canadian construction codes, an adapted methodology for digitalization of codes based on Proof of Concept findings and identified complexities. The report will be accompanied by a formalized compliance ruleset based on the portion of Canadian codes content used during the proof-of-concept, and a BIM model of a representative Canadian building.
Following this proof-of-concept project in 2025, NRC plans to fully digitalize the National Model Construction Codes (National Building Code, National Fire Code, National Energy Code for Buildings, National Plumbing Code), and to support Provincial and Territorial building regulators with codes digitalization based on learnings. This full digitalization effort will be conducted in collaboration with Canadian codes experts (NRC, Provinces/Territories, industry), as well as Canadian and international digital construction experts, through follow-on projects between approximately 2025 and 2027.
