Abstract: Industry Foundation Classes (IFC2x) Platform Specification

The IFC2x Platform Specification provides an information model, written in EXPRESS (ISO 10303-11:1994), for sharing data in the construction and facilities management industries. Content is currently exchanged between IFC compliant software applications using the Clear text encoding of the exchange structure, the STEP Part 21 physical file (ISO 10303-21:1994), or by database access using the Standard Data Access Interface, the SDAI (ISO 10303-22:1998).

The intended scope of the IFC specification is the project life-cycle of construction facilities, including all phases as identified by generic process protocols for the construction and facilities management industries, such as: Demonstrating the need, Conception of need, Outline feasibility, Substantive feasibility study and outline financial authority, Outline conceptual design, Full conceptual design, Coordinated design, procurement and full financial authority, Production information, Construction, Operation and maintenance [Generic Process Protocol].

The IFC specification aims at supporting the different disciplines that participate in the project life-cycle, such as architecture, building services (HVAC - heating, ventilation, air conditioning, cooling, electrical), building automation, structural analysis and engineering, quantity take-off and cost estimation, construction planning and scheduling, project handover and facilities management.

The IFC specification is developed in a release cycle, the IFC2x platform specification represents a particular release of the IFC specification. It supports the coordination between the major design disciplines and the handover to facilities management. Future releases of the IFC specification will cover more life-cycle phases and construction disciplines.

The specification of the IFC specification is clustered by schemas (logical packages) of subsets of the information model and it is published as HTML based online documentation. The implementation of the IFC specification is based on the combination of all schemas (the longform), and it is provided by the mandatory EXPRESS schema. The IAI publishes additional informational documents that are not part of ISO/PAS 16739, such as the IFC model development guide, the IFC model implementation guide, the IFC property set guide, see www.iai-international.org for further information.

Parts of the IFC2x platform specification, mainly the shape representation, have been adopted from other international standards, namely from ISO 10303-42:1994 and ISO 10303-43:1994.