The Relationship Between Requirements Subjectivity and Semantics for Healthcare Design Support Systems

Subjectivity exists in requirements described in the healthcare regulatory framework. This is mainly due to the nature of regulatory requirements and the uniqueness of the design process. Past research identified that subjectivity in regulations is a key issue for automated code and rule checking. The aim of this paper is to discuss how requirements subjectivity could be addressed within building models through semantic enrichment, within the context of automated rule and code compliance checking. The paper presents preliminary findings of a research that follows the Design Science Research approach, framed within the UK healthcare design context. Findings suggest that part of the requirements subjectivity exists due to the implicit relationships between the elements of the healthcare built environment, which also include healthcare services. In order to enable automation, implicit relationships from the regulatory framework should be represented in building models – which could potentially be done through semantic enrichment. The paper discusses some complementarity between relationships identified in regulatory requirements and semantic enrichment operators. Moreover, findings indicate that incorporating semantic relationships in building models can be a promising way to deal with requirements subjectivity, rather than eliminating subjective expressions from regulations.