Leveraging IFC semantics and W3C decentralized identifiers for Digital Building Logbooks in construction and deep renovation

Kochovski, Petar (author), Fujs, Damjan (author), Vavpotič, Damjan (author), Chiachio Ruano, Juan (author), Miri, Pouriya (author), Stankovski, Vlado (author)

Deep renovation and construction projects generate heterogeneous datasets including BIM models, legacy CAD files, sensor logs, inspection records, and regulatory documentation. Current Digital Building Logbooks (DBLs) often remain fragmented across isolated systems, limiting interoperability, traceability, and trust. This paper presents BUILDCHAIN DBL, a decentralized digital logbook architecture that integrates semantic technologies and decentralized identity mechanisms. System’s architecture combines (i) an IFC-aligned ontology that semantically integrates heterogeneous building data into a machine-readable knowledge graph, (ii) a blockchain layer implementing W3C-compliant Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs) to ensure data provenance and tamper-evident auditability, and (iii) an application layer enabling credential management and lifecycle monitoring. The development methodology, system architecture, and workflow processes are described and validated through a real-world case study at the Hospital Real in Granada, Spain. Experimental results show that credential-based workflows execute within interactive latency thresholds ( 300 ms), demonstrating the feasibility of decentralized DBLs for construction and deep-renovation workflows.

• Language: English
• Keywords: decentralized building logbook, blockchain, decentralized identifiers verifiable credentials, knowledge base, construction and deep renovation workflows
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FRI - Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 16 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 189, art. 107065
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184031
• UDC: 004:69
• ISSN on article: 0926-5805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.autcon.2026.107065
• COBISS.SI-ID: 280119811
• Publication date in RUL: 24.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Automation in construction
• Shortened title: Autom. constr.
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0926-5805
• COBISS.SI-ID: 14103045

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: decentralizirani gradbeni dnevnik, veriga blokov, decentralizirani identifikatorji preverljive poverilnice, baza znanja, delovni tokovi gradnje in globoke prenove

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101092052
• Name: BUILDing knowledge book in the blockCHAIN distributed ledger. Trustworthy building life-cycle knowledge graph for sustainability and energy efficiency
• Acronym: BUILDCHAIN

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0426-2022
• Name: Digitalna preobrazba za pametno javno upravljanje