195:
Initially named the
Industry Alliance for Interoperability, the Alliance opened membership to all interested parties in September, 1995 and changed its name in 1997 to the International Alliance for Interoperability. The new Alliance was reconstituted as a non-profit industry-led organization, with the goal of publishing the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) as a neutral AEC product model responding to the AEC building lifecycle. A further name change occurred in 2005, and the IFC specification is now developed and maintained by
25:
176:
Defense client organisations require use of IFC BIM in all projects as well as many municipalities, private clients, contractors and designers have integrated IFC BIM in their business.. The popularity of the IFC data schema in construction has continued to grow, primarily for the purpose of exchanging geometry.
381:), along with attributes for name, description, and revision control. Non-rooted entities do not have identity and instances only exist if referenced from a rooted instance directly or indirectly. IfcRoot is subdivided into three abstract concepts: object definitions, relationships, and property sets:
582:
In addition to project-specific information, an IfcProject may also reference external projects from which shared definitions may be imported such as product types. Each external project is encapsulated using IfcProjectLibrary along with IfcRelAssociatesLibrary and IfcLibraryInformation to identify
400:
IfcObjectDefinition is split into object occurrences and object types. IfcObject captures object occurrences such as a product installation having serial number and physical placement. IfcTypeObject captures type definitions (or templates) such as a product type having a particular model number and
347:
format which, while human-readable, suffers from common ASCII file issues, in that file-sizes are bloated, files must be read sequentially from start to finish, mid-file extraction is not possible, files are slow to parse, and definitions are non-hierarchical. In addition to ifcXML and ifcZIP, modern
569:
IfcResource is the base class for resources and is subdivided into materials, labor, equipment, subcontracts, crews, and more. Resources may have various costs and calendars of availability. Resources may be nested into sub-resources for granular allocation. Resources may be assigned to processes
578:
IfcProject encapsulates an overall project and indicates the project name, description, default units, currency, coordinate system, and other contextual information. A valid IFC file must always include exactly one IfcProject instance, from which all other objects relate directly or indirectly. A
194:
formed an industry consortium to advise the company on the development of a set of C++ classes that could support integrated application development. Twelve US companies joined the consortium. These companies included AT&T, HOK Architects, Honeywell, Carrier, Tishman and Butler
Manufacturing.
175:
government in 2010 made the use of IFC format(s) compulsory for publicly aided building projects. In 2017 the
Finnish state-owned facility management company Senate Properties started to demand use of IFC compatible software and BIM in all their projects. Also the Norwegian Government, Health and
471:
IfcProduct is the base class for all physical objects and is subdivided into spatial elements, physical elements, structural analysis items, and other concepts. Products may have associated materials, shape representations, and placement in space. Spatial elements include IfcSite, IfcBuilding,
454:
IfcPropertyDefinition captures dynamically extensible property sets. A property set contains one or more properties which may be a single value (e.g. string, number, unit measurement), a bounded value (having minimum and maximum), an enumeration, a list of values, a table of values, or a data
556:
IfcProcess is the base class for processes and is subdivided into tasks, events, and procedures. Processes may have durations and be scheduled to occur at specific time periods. Processes may be sequenced such that a successor task may start after a predecessor task finishes, following the
484:) have a concept of ports where elements may have specific connections for various services, and connected together using cables, pipes, or ducts to form a system. Various connectivity relationships are used for building elements such as walls having openings filled by doors or windows.
590:
where any IfcRoot-based entity has a unique identifier and may be marked as added, modified, deleted, or having no change. Such capability allows multiple IFC files to be merged deterministically, ensuring data integrity without human intervention.
547:
Quantities may be defined for take-off purposes such as Gross Area, Gross Volume, Gross Weight, Net Weight, etc. IFC defines various quantities specific to each element type and the method of calculation according to geometry and relationships.
373:
consisting of several hundred entities organized into an object-based inheritance hierarchy. Examples of entities include building elements such as IfcWall, geometry such as IfcExtrudedAreaSolid, and basic constructs such as IfcCartesianPoint.
296:("STEP-XML"), having file extension ".ifcXML". This format is suitable for interoperability with XML tools and exchanging partial building models. Due to the large size of typical building models, this format is less common in practice.
356:
v5, binary). In 2020, buildingSmart had two JSON projects underway: ifcJSON v4 (a direct mapping from EXPRESS-based IFC v4) and ifcJSON v5, plus a research project experimenting with turning IFC into a binary format.
285:("STEP-File"), where each line typically consists of a single object record, and having file extension ".ifc". This is the most widely used IFC format, having the advantage of compact size yet readable text.
401:
common shape. Occurrences and types are further subdivided into six fundamental concepts: actors ("who"), controls ("why"), groups ("what"), products ("where"), processes ("when"), and resources ("how").
436:
IfcRelAssigns captures assignment relationships where one object consumes the services of another object, such as a labor resource assigned to a task, or a task assigned to a building element.
504:
Representations may be defined for explicit 3D shape, and optionally as parametric constraints. Each representation is identified by IfcShapeRepresentation with a well-known name.
876:
429:
IfcRelationship captures relationships among objects. There are five fundamental relationship types: composition, assignment, connectivity, association, and definition.
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IfcRelDecomposes captures a whole-part relationship having exclusive containment such as subdividing a building into floors and rooms or a wall into studs and sheathing.
377:
At the most abstract level, IFC divides all entities into rooted and non-rooted entities. Rooted entities derive from IfcRoot and have a concept of identity (having a
925:
136:
It is a platform-neutral, open data schema specification that is not controlled by a single vendor or group of vendors. It is an object-based data schema with a
561:. Processes may be nested into sub-processes for summary roll-up. Processes may be assigned to products indicating the output produced by the work performed.
455:
structure. While IFC defines several hundred property sets for specific types, custom property sets may be defined by application vendors or end users.
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IfcBuildingStorey, and IfcSpace. Physical building elements include IfcWall, IfcBeam, IfcDoor, IfcWindow, IfcStair, etc. Distribution elements (
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IfcMaterial indicates a specific material, with optional properties (e.g. mechanical, thermal) and styles (e.g. colors, textures).
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IfcRelAssociates indicates external references for an object such as an external IFC library file where an object is defined.
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IfcRelConnects indicates connectivity between objects such as a floor slab connected to a beam or a pipe connected to a sink.
75:
520:(CSG), or swept profiles. It may be defined directly or derived by applying material definitions to other representations.
706:
529:'Profile' indicates a side profile for opening elements (e.g. door, window) for which material constituents are bounded.
57:
605:
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project may include multiple buildings, multiple participants, and/or multiple phases according to the particular use.
523:'Axis' indicates a path for linear elements (e.g. wall, beam, pipe) for which material profiles or layers are aligned.
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164:(BIM) based projects. The IFC model specification is open and available. It is registered by ISO and is an official
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IfcMaterialConstituentSet captures a set of constituents, each indicating a material used at a named shape aspect.
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526:'FootPrint' indicates a boundary for planar elements (e.g. slab, staircase) for which material layers are bounded.
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Materials may be defined for products as a whole, or as layers, profiles, or constituents for specified parts.
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IFC defines multiple file formats that may be used, supporting various encodings of the same underlying data.
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compressed format consisting of an embedded IFC-SPF file or IFC-XML file and having file extension ".ifcZIP".
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IfcResource represents usage of something with limited availability such as materials, labor, and equipment.
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IfcMaterialProfileSet captures a set of profiles, each indicating a material of a specified cross-section.
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IfcRelDefines indicates an instance-of relationship such as a pipe segment being of a particular type.
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IfcProduct represents occurrences in space such as physical building elements and spatial locations.
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IfcMaterialLayerSet captures a list of layers, each indicating a material of a specified thickness.
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332:
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532:'SurveyPoints' indicates a set of points for surface elements (e.g. site) for describing contours.
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864:
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data schema intended for description of architectural, building and construction industry data.
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IfcPropertySet represents a set of properties attached to an object occurrence or object type.
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IfcGroup represents collections of objects for particular purpose such as electrical circuits.
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IfcLocalPlacement indicates placement relative to an enclosing element hierarchy.
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IfcControl represents rules controlling time, cost, or scope such as work orders.
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IfcPropertySetTemplate captures definitions of properties and their data types.
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IfcProcess represents occurrences in time such as tasks, events, and procedures.
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IfcGridPlacement indicates placement relative to a grid with user-defined axes.
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IfcPropertyDefinition captures dynamically extensible properties about objects.
144:(formerly the International Alliance for Interoperability, IAI) to facilitate
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data formats include RDF/XML or Turtle (using the ifcOWL ontology), ifcJSON (
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808:"The Future of IFC: Enabling Partial BIM Model Exchange (June 8, 2020)"
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Placement may indicate position, vertical angle, and horizontal angle.
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137:
889:
865:
Sharing Your Model with IFC: An
Introduction for Vectorworks Architect
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1139:
707:"BIM, Construction and NBS: The End Of Babel - IFC promotional video"
24:
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IfcObjectDefinition captures tangible object occurrences and types
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160:(AEC) industry, and is a commonly used collaboration format in
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the particular revision of the imported project library.
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508:'Body' indicates a 3D shape which may be represented by
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The following IFC Specification versions are available
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IFC-RDF is a XML-based semantic data format that uses
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indicating tasks performed on behalf of a resource.
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IfcRelationship captures relationships among objects
633:
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328:, a modern format often used by web applications.
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310:) is a textual semantic data format that uses
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339:standard for STEP data representation in HDF.
171:Because of its focus on interoperability the
405:IfcActor represents people or organizations.
801:
799:
797:
926:
912:
833:"Start Page of IFC2x3 Final Documentation"
900:- Generate a spreadsheet from an IFC file
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
794:
449:
321:and is expressed in the ifcOWL ontology.
314:and is expressed in the ifcOWL ontology.
190:The IFC initiative began in 1994, when
1259:
395:
253:ifcXML1 for IFC2x and IFC2x Addendum 1
45:Please improve this article by adding
907:
202:
805:
281:IFC-SPF is a text format defined by
18:
885:
639:"Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)"
13:
606:Information Delivery Specification
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352:, broadly available) and ifcHDF5 (
14:
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658:"Digital client demands scheme",
1216:Centre for Digital Built Britain
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711:Constructioncode.blogspot.co.uk
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1277:Building information modeling
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731:"IFC Specifications Database"
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241:IFC2x2 Addendum 1 (July 2004)
238:ifcXML2 for IFC2x2 add1 (RC2)
162:Building information modeling
58:"Industry Foundation Classes"
47:secondary or tertiary sources
16:CAD data exchange file format
874:Bentley's IFC Position Paper
705:Stephen Hamil (2012-07-02).
683:. 2015-10-23. Archived from
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1236:Industry Foundation Classes
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518:Constructive Solid Geometry
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217:IFC4.1 (2018-86): withdrawn
214:IFC4.2 (2019-04): withdrawn
123:Industry Foundation Classes
10:
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898:IFC File Analyzer software
616:Green Building XML (gbXML)
350:JavaScript Object Notation
262:IFC 1.5.1 (September 1998)
183:
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1231:Geometric modeling kernel
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1148:
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371:entity-relationship model
308:Terse RDF Triple Language
1241:BIM Collaboration Format
611:BIM Collaboration Format
354:Hierarchical Data Format
244:ifcXML2 for IFC2x2 (RC1)
265:IFC 1.5 (November 1997)
1246:Raster image processor
756:Buildingsmart-tech.org
235:IFC2x3 (February 2006)
166:International Standard
34:relies excessively on
1221:Computer-aided design
965:Cadwork informatik AG
890:DDS IFC Certification
450:IfcPropertyDefinition
232:ifcXML2x3 (June 2007)
1267:Industrial computing
996:Open Design Alliance
559:Critical Path Method
335:and is based on the
259:IFC 2.0 (March 1999)
220:IFC4 Add2 TC1 (2017)
396:IfcObjectDefinition
268:IFC 1.0 (June 1996)
982:Data Design System
879:2016-03-04 at the
292:format defined by
211:IFC4.3 Add2 (2024)
203:IFC Specifications
168:ISO 16739-1:2018.
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586:Projects support
250:IFC 2x Addendum 1
229:IFC4 (March 2013)
131:CAD data exchange
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1130:Trimble SketchUp
1125:Tekla Structures
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1015:Free open-source
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223:IFC4 Add2 (2016)
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781:"IFC Formats"
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140:developed by
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32:This article
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1100:MicroStation
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845:. Retrieved
841:the original
837:Iai-tech.org
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815:. Retrieved
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785:. Retrieved
775:
764:. Retrieved
760:the original
755:
752:"Welcome to"
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685:the original
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361:Architecture
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337:ISO 10303-26
331:ifcHDF uses
306:IFC-Turtle (
294:ISO 10303-28
283:ISO 10303-21
276:
273:File Formats
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158:construction
150:architecture
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1135:Vectorworks
990:Vectorworks
893:IFC for DDS
681:Senaatti.fi
154:engineering
1261:Categories
1110:OpenStudio
1105:Navisworks
986:Graphisoft
978:Nemetschek
847:2017-03-19
787:2021-12-21
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716:2017-03-19
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