Wominjeka
It is my pleasure to introduce Map It Out from the lands of the Wurundjeri peoples while sitting underneath the great manna gums of the Dandenong Ranges. In this edition I am proud to share some of the innovation being delivered by Land Use Victoria, where we’re harnessing the power of collaboration to deliver innovative, real-world solutions.
As the Lead for Digital Twin Victoria’s eComply project, I have been helping to introduce world-leading technology that brings Building Information Modelling (BIM), digital cadastre and planning information, together with digital twin analytics, to test building compliance.
To make digital compliance assessment possible, we collaborated with Australian prop-tech start-up Archistar, who specialise in generative and computational design technology within the architecture and BIM industries.
Together with the Victorian Planning Authority we have developed a digital version of the Small Lot Housing Code that is assessed using computational design methodologies. The methodologies include developing 3D planning envelopes based on digital cadastral boundaries, detecting and measuring features within the proposed design, and evaluating the impact of the design on the neighbouring lots.
In August, the first tool built on the eComply specification was launched. Known as Archistar Comply, the tool pre-checks home designs against the Small Lot Housing Code, processing 90 complex checks in around 90 seconds.
The assessment tool features an interactive 3D environment allowing users to visualise the designs and the assessment results including areas of non-compliance, fast-tracking designers and builders understanding of requirements, allowing them to rapidly iterative designs towards being fully compliant.
The eComply technology and methodologies have been trialled by the Victorian building industry over the last year. Feedback suggests that self-service compliance tools will benefit each development by reducing building approval timeframes by up to 4 weeks, creating downstream savings and efficiencies for building surveyors, builders and ultimately homeowners.
This is a world-leading example of rules-as-code using geospatial technology, with government partnering across the private sector to deliver outcomes for Victoria.
One of the project’s underpinning technologies, BIM, is reaching a critical mass across the Victorian architecture, engineering and construction sectors. The Australian Institute of Architects’ 2021 survey suggested 90% of Architects surveyed are now using BIM. Aided by drafting guidelines and standards for different usage scenarios, the technology can be adapted to suit many operational purposes and help to join up digital processes for the sector.
We see this as the first of many eComply solutions that will drive the uptake in BIM within the residential housing sector and beyond. The methodologies developed through the eComply project will become an open specification, encouraging further BIM-enabled compliance tools and rules-as-code solutions to be developed.
The eComply project is one of many initiatives across Land Use Victoria that are creating end-to-end digital workflows including the digitisation of subdivisions using ePlan, Digital Cadastral Management, and Digital Twin Victoria to plan and manage our physical environment using digital geospatial information. You can read more about those projects below.
Best regards
Luke Bassett
Automated Approvals Lead
Digital Twin Victoria
Department of Transport and Planning
