Engaging the International Heritage Community to Validate End-User Requirements for Historic Building Information Modelling

Featured Application: The system requirements validated by this article can be used by individuals and organisations as a guide to implement their own HBIM systems. The system requirements also provide justification for HBIM systems developed by others, enabling their validation.

Abstract: Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) is the application of BIM, an information management and modelling process, to cultural heritage (CH) assets. HBIM will provide tangible benefits to the heritage community by providing an enduring record of assets, facilitating more informed decision-making, and enabling more efficient resource management. However, the HBIM application is characterised by disparate methodologies and an inconclusive understanding of what the HBIM system should be achieving. The article aimed to validate thirty-three system requirements for HBIM previously proposed by the authors and evaluate their relative criticality for both the UK and international heritage community. It presents the results of an extensive survey undertaken with the international heritage community. The thirty-three system requirements were found to be valid for both the UK and international heritage community. However, some variation in the relative criticality of the requirements according to region was identified, the most notable of which was the perceived criticality of system requirements related to visualisation. Nine requirements were updated, and an additional requirement was added to reflect feedback received from participants. One requirement was altered by the authors to encompass a greater scope. Future work will investigate opportunities for requirement realisation and produce a theoretical framework for HBIM adoption.