This article describes how the Door Clearance rule type works and how you can configure the rule. With the Door Clearance rule type, you can ensure that your design meets the accessibility requirements found in various national and international building codes or guidelines.

The article covers the following topics:

• Description of the Door Clearance Rule Type
• Door Clearance Rule Logic
• Door Clearance Rule Requirements
• Door Clearance Rule Results in Plugin

Description of the Door Clearance Rule Type

The Door Clearance rule type checks door operability to ensure that the door is fully functional and can be used as designed. The operability requirements depend on the door type. For example, swinging and sliding doors have different clearance requirements for operability.

In addition, the rule type checks door clearance, i.e., whether there is sufficient free space in front of, behind, and next to the selected doors.

This rule type can be applied to IfcDoor entities, and it can be used with components available in IFC Schema versions IFC2x3 and IFC4 (FC4 ADD2 TC1 & IFC2x3 TC1).

Door Clearance Rule Logic

You can select one or more targets for the windows to be checked, as well as the obstacle targets.

When you create a rule based on the Door Clearance rule type, you can select the rule to check door operability and/or door clearance. You can also select whether clearance is checked from the pull side, push side, or both.

Operability: The rule checks that the selected doors are operable and can open as required based on the door width, height, and opening direction. This ensures that none of the selected obstacles obstructs the operational space.

Clearance: The rule checks that none of the selected obstacles obstructs the defined clearance area around the door. The door is placed in the middle of the clearance area. The defined clearance area and the door height together define a so-called clearance box.

For the door operation, IfcDoorStyleOperationEnum definition is used. The positive Y-axis defines the pull side of the door.

Door Clearance Rule Requirements

In the rule requirements, you can define the target component(s) and the obstacle(s). You can select if the rule checks door operability and/or door clearance. For door clearance, you can set the measurements for the clearance box.

You can configure the following requirements for a Door Clearance rule:

• Doors to be checked: Define which door(s) you wish to check (e.g., all doors, fire doors, exit doors). You can only select targets that are IfcDoor entities.
  
• Obstacles: Define which target(s) around the door you wish to check (e.g., columns, beams, walls). You can also select to check against all IFC elements.
  
• Rule requirements:
  • Door operability: When selected, the rule will check that the selected doors are operable and can open as required based on the door width, height, and opening direction. None of the defined obstacles are allowed in the operation space. The operation space depends on the DoorOperationType.
    
  • Door clearance: When selected, the rule will check that none of the selected obstacles have been set inside the defined clearance box on the pull side and/or the push side. You can define the measurements (width and depth) of the clearance area. You can also select to fetch the width information automatically from the door component in the model. The IfcDoor entity defines the height of the door.
  • Pull side (front):
    
    
  • Push side (back):
    
    

Door Clearance Rule Results in Plugin

Operability:

• If any selected obstacles are found in the operation space, the rule reports an error in the design. The problem components are highlighted in the model.
• The default error message is: “Obstacles blocking the door operation”

Clearance:

• If any selected obstacles are found in the defined clearance box, the rule reports an error in the design. The problem components are highlighted in the model.
• The default error message is: “Not enough clearance for the door on both sides”