Planning labor evacuation for construction sites using BIM and agent-based simulation

This paper presents a framework that aids contractors and safety managers in planning labor evacuation for construction sites using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and computer simulation by modeling the appropriate construction method alternatives. The proposed framework estimates the execution time, total cost, and evacuation time for construction projects, taking safety into consideration. Agent-based simulation is utilized to model the behavior of laborers in evacuation situations. A MassMotion simulation platform is utilized to implement agent-based simulation and to imitate labor behavior during emergency evacuation under various conditions. Ranking and Selection (R&S) statistical procedures are used to determine the best simulated model configuration among the considered four alternatives. Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) is applied to help in selecting the suitable construction method alternative. The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method is used to identify the best construction method alternative taking into consideration three main criteria which are: construction total cost, execution time, and evacuation time of the labor. The proposed framework is examined within the context of a case study that considers evacuation of labor during the construction of a building in an Egyptian social housing national project.