The search for new approaches to building design through the use of expert systems invariably stumbles on the need to adopt appropriate representational schemes for the design criteria. Our particular interest lies in the criteria often found embedded in codes of practice, against which the success of a design can be measured. These criteria place a complex set of requirements on the design and the way in which the design process proceeds. In particular, we will use that part of the Building Code of Australia (BCA) concerned with Access and Egress and more specifically part D1, the provision for Escape as an example.

Our concern is the development of a knowledge representation scheme which is close to the actual code document but still permits formal analysis and inference strategies to be developed and also provides a formal link to the geometric elements of the building specification. This offers the potential of developing an integrated knowledge-based computer-aided architectural design (KBCAAD) approach.

The system in which these schemes are being implemented is PC-based and will attempt a complete integration of geometric design with the formal specification of a code of practice. The focus of this paper is to outline the knowledge representation scheme which provides the necessary foundations for this work. This paper will provide a description of the knowledge representation methods with some preliminary examples of its application to the Provision for Escape requirements from the Building Code of Australia.

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