> I always wonder how GIS databases deal with that (since often they have the notion that buildings of this size "never" move). Stuff moves all the time, so it

> I always wonder how GIS databases deal with that (since often they have the notion that buildings of this size "never" move). Stuff moves all the time, so it really depends on how accurate you need to be. For example, if you're a surveyor you need to make some pretty significant adjustments after major earthquakes. Here is the deformation model that applied after the Christchurch, New Zealand earthquakes: https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/1685-nzgd2000-deformation-model-version-2013-08-01-reverse-patch-coordinate-shifts-filled-contours/ https://data.linz.govt.nz/layer/1685-nzgd2000-deformation-mo... More info: http://www.linz.govt.nz/land/surveying/canterbury-earthquakes/south-island-coordinate-update http://www.linz.govt.nz/land/surveying/canterbury-earthquake... In this case you'd just shift the polygon and be done with it. The hairy question is do you retain the logical relationship of the building to it's physical outline. Modelling the real world is hard.