In the field of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), there is an increasing use of standards for the digitalised representation of the physical and functional characteristics of buildings. Despite of this, the normative texts that affect this sector are still expressed mainly in natural language. Consequently, to verify that the design of a building does comply with a particular norm or contruction code continues to be basically a manual process, subject to human interpretation errors. Furthermore, it requires the extensive consultation of a large amount of documents and data related to the construction project.

The smartNorms project aims at innovating by means of ICT in the verification process of norm and code compliance in the AEC sector, in order to make a step forward in the interoperability capabilities between the different agencies involved during the construction design process, and thus significantly improve the project management tasks in this particular industrial sector. We shall develop a prototype of an ICT tool to evaluate the computer support for the norm compliance verification task in an operational AEC enviroment, combining techniques of building modelling and information management with artificial intelligence techniques. A small step forward in automating this verification process can lead to a significant reduction in time, cost and risk of error, as well as promoting the adoption of ICT technologies that will lead to a high quality and efficient Electronic Administration with respect to its norm verification task.