ABSTRACT
A generally agreed ontology is a prerequisite for effective information exchange and interoperability in any field of knowledge. The development of the semantic web with agent based information retrieval is a example, where interoperability is enabled through ontology development and standardisation. There are two major candidates for Core Ontologies for the construction and facilities management sector, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 12006-2 Framework for classification of information, and the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). ISO 12006-2 has been developed to harmonize different national and regional classification systems. A generally agreed ontology is a prerequisite for effective information exchange and interoperability in any field of knowledge. The scope of ISO12006-2 is the complete lifecycle of construction works but it is not specifically considering the needs of information communication technology-based interoperability. IFC addresses interoperability requirements and has a similar scope concerning both construction and facilities management.
