Putting Automated Compliance Checking in Context

Automated Code Compliance (ACC) refers to the application of technological solutions to ensure that construction projects adhere to building codes, regulations, and standards. One goal of automating this process is to improve efficiency associated with the manual compliance checks, while maintaining accuracy of outcomes. ACC has been an active area of research since the 1960s, with many reviews published over the years, reflecting the ongoing interest. Hence, this chapter will provide an overview of the most recent developments, particularly focusing on the integration of ACC in the building permitting context. In current practice, existing tools most commonly serve designers for self-checking compliance. However, the prospect is to incorporate ACC into the design and into the permitting processes itself, which has already been partially implemented in countries like Estonia and Finland. The chapter highlights the importance of accuracy and trust in ACC results, discussing the role of human-in-the-loop workflows. It explores what it means to have human oversight in an automated compliance process, the benefits of such systems, and the challenges associated with automation. Finally, the chapter addresses the question of completeness and how automated the ACC process should be, with implications for the implementation of automation within the permitting workflow.