IFC (Industry Foundation Class)
Interoperability is not a new problem, and addressing the issue of interoperability has been considered for many years. An independent international system of data structure has been developed called IFC. Under the auspices of BuildingSmart Content (or objects) within BIM’s can be configured as native IFC files (like the one illustrated to the right) which can be read by all compatible software products and, in theory, data transferred between these products in a pure uncorrupt form allowing the re use of this data. If content is produced in IFC, a product manufacturer (for example) need produce and maintain only one file type, rather than one each for each of the BIM authoring packages and this data can be further utilized (without re-keying) with any IFC compliant software and IT system.
Issues with IFC and BIM authoring tools.
As with all developing technologies there are some compatibility issues. All the principal vendors support IFC and an export option to convert their native files into IFC format for importing into other software packages. In practice, this results in a low quality product as the resultant IFC file has invariably lost data and functionality, thus defeating the object of sharing the information.
The best way to produce IFC files is to produce them in native IFC and merge with any necessary graphic produced in the authoring tool of choice. This pure IFC file can then be imported into any of the ‘big four’, and beyond, without any loss of data.
