Today, IFC is typically used to exchange information from one project participants to another for a smooth transaction of data in the model. In this blog, we’ll shed some light on Industry Foundation Class (IFC), which generally refers to a data model in the AEC industry. The IFC – Industry Foundation Classes format has been created to meet these gaps, it is an open file format that allows the interchange of an information model, without loss or distortion of data and/or information. Proprietary file formats are those that can only be read by the software it was created in and by other authorized software, whereas open file formats can be read and edited by anyone working on the project. When many AEC industry professionals (Architects, Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Plumbing Engineers, Structural Engineers, etc.) are working on one project and if they all use different native formats then how will the industry professionals collaborate while exchanging models? How do they choose which file format has all the information which doesn’t? How do they make models from one program communicate with models from another?

When working with a BIM authoring software platform such as Autodesk’s Revit, Navisworks, ArchiCAD, AllPlan, AECOsim, Tekla BIMSight, Bentley’s MicroStation, one of the major requirements is to ensure maximum freedom for sharing data relating to the design model and, above all, being able to work in an open system.

The IFC files may be exported and exchanged between software products using. The family describes the basic geometry of the element, the behavior/relationships of the geometry, and defines the element’s parameters.”Īt United-BIM, we can import an IFC file from Revit as well as export an IFC in Revit and create a Revit family. Subject Matter Expert, Autodesk in his blog titled “ Your guide to understanding Revit Families” states that Revit families are at the core of Revit, creating Revit Family is same as writing DNA code for an element and quoting further “Simply: the family contains the DNA of how to make an element in Revit, and when you author Revit families, you are writing the DNA code for an element.

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