Ensuring Infrastructure Model Quality with Solibri

In the modern era of BIM, infrastructure projects—from highways and railways to bridges and tunnels—are increasingly complex. Ensuring that these models are accurate, complete, and compliant is critical to reducing rework, avoiding costly clashes, and enabling smarter decision-making. Solibri Office offers a robust platform for performing quality assurance and control (QA/QC) on infrastructure models, helping engineers and BIM managers maintain high standards throughout the project lifecycle.

🔍 Why QA/QC is Critical for Infrastructure Models

Infrastructure projects differ from buildings: they involve multiple disciplines, linear alignments, underground utilities, and long-term asset management considerations. Key reasons for rigorous QA/QC include:

Model Coordination – Identify clashes between utilities, structures, and road/rail alignments.
Regulatory Compliance – Validate models against ISO 19650 standards, local design codes, and safety regulations.
Information Integrity – Ensure attributes like dimensions, materials, and IDs are complete for downstream use in cost estimation, 4D/5D planning, and asset management.

Construction Readiness – Detect errors early to prevent rework and delays.

🛠️ How Solibri Supports Infrastructure QA/QC

Solibri is not just for buildings. For infrastructure, it can perform:

Clash Detection & Spatial Coordination

Detect collisions between:

Roads and underground utilities
Bridges and pedestrian or rail clearances
Earthworks and existing services

Rule Types: Clash Detection Rule, Clearance Rule

Rule-Based Checks for Design Compliance

Custom or template rules can validate:

Road lane widths, curve radii, and crossfall gradients
Pipe gradients, cover depths, and spacing for utilities
Bridge deck crossfall and clearance envelopes

Rule Types: Property Rules, Distance & Angle Measurement Rules, Slope Rules

Information Completeness & Standards Compliance

Ensure IFC entities (e.g., IfcRoad, IfcBridge, IfcPipeSegment) are used correctly
Confirm all required attributes are filled (material, classification, ID)
Check naming conventions against ISO 19650

Rule Types: Component Classification Rules, Property Rules

Quantities & Cost Verification

Validate earthwork cut/fill volumes

Confirm pavement, track, and utility material quantities

Compare model quantities against BOQs for accurate 5D BIM integration

Rule Types: Information Takeoff (ITO) + Quantity Rules

📊 Infrastructure-Specific Rule Sets

Rule sets can be grouped by discipline:

Roads & Highways: Lane width, curve radii, pavement thickness, crossfall gradients
Rail & Transit: Track gauge, clearance envelope, platform gaps, overhead line positioning
Utilities & Services: Minimum cover depth, pipe slopes, service corridor clashes, manhole spacing
Bridges & Structures: Clearance, deck slope, element connectivity, envelope intrusion
Tunnels: Vehicle/train envelope, emergency egress, fire safety clearance
Safety & Accessibility: Guardrails, signage, lighting, ramp slopes, emergency access

This structure allows Solibri to function as a discipline-aware QA/QC platform for infrastructure.

🚀 The Forward-Thinking Benefits

Implementing Solibri QA/QC for infrastructure projects provides:

Early Clash Detection – Save time and cost by resolving conflicts in the digital model, not in the field.
Better Decision-Making – Generate accurate dashboards and reports for management and stakeholders.
Digital Twin Readiness – High-quality models enable long-term asset management, inspections, and maintenance planning.
Enhanced Collaboration – Federate multi-disciplinary models and share QA/QC results via CDE platforms like Autodesk Construction Cloud or Catenda Hub.

✨ Conclusion

Infrastructure BIM is only as good as the quality of its models. Using Solibri to perform structured QA/QC ensures that infrastructure models are clash-free, compliant, and complete, helping teams make better-informed decisions, reduce risk, and drive efficiency throughout design, construction, and asset management.

With Solibri, engineers and BIM managers can elevate infrastructure BIM quality from a reactive process to a proactive, forward-thinking workflow.

📥 Next Step: Get Our Free Solibri Infrastructure QA/QC Rule Set Checklist

We’ve created a downloadable checklist that ensures your infrastructure BIM models are clash-free, compliant, and information-rich for design, construction, and asset management.

Use it to standardize your workflows and accelerate onboarding of new team members.

🎁 Free Download — Get your copy below:

Download the Checklist