This article describes which IFC standards Solibri supports, and to what extent.
The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a data model developed by buildingSMART for describing building and construction industry data. It's widely used in Building Information Modeling (BIM) to facilitate interoperability between different software applications. You can read more about the specifications of each IFC standard in the IFC Specifications Database on the buildingSMART website.
Solibri supports the following IFC versions:
The IFC 2x3 standard is widely supported across the industry and remains a standard for many BIM projects. Solibri offers full support for models that follow the IFC 2x3 standard. You can import, export, and interact with these models, ensuring interoperability with other BIM tools. This includes advanced features for model checking, quality assurance, visualization, information & quantity takeoff, collaboration, and reporting.
Support for the IFC 4 standard was introduced in v9.6.9, and support for IFC4 has been further developed in later releases of Solibri.
In v24.5.0, Solibri has built the initial support for IFC 4.3 standard, meaning that it's possible to import and work on models that follow this standard in Solibri. IFC 4.3 standard supports infrastructure models, so now also the surroundings of the building can be taken into account in the quality checking process. Initial support means that the basic capability of working on IFC 4.3 has been implemented in Solibri, but details that don’t work yet might come up when Solibri is more and more used for varied IFC 4.3 models. We encourage you to test how Solibri works for your IFC 4.3 models and to report about potential issues so that we know to fix them and move towards more solid IFC 4.3 support.
Here are some further details about this initial IFC 4.3 support:
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Extended Element Classifications: Unlike its predecessors, IFC 4.3 includes new classifications for elements common in infrastructure, such as rails, sleepers, earth layers, dams, and asphalt surfaces, thus broadening its applicability from vertical (buildings) to horizontal (infrastructure) structures.
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Geometric and Semantic Enhancements: The standard now includes detailed geometrical and semantic descriptions of infrastructure elements, especially focusing on linear infrastructure like roads, bridges, and railways. It incorporates complex geometrical data such as the layout of tracks and their gradients, enhancing the precision and utility of the data.
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Linear Positioning System: linear positioning allows for the relational positioning of objects along a trajectory (curve), such as signals along a track, supporting more detailed and complex infrastructure projects
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Creation of new Solibri disciplines: As part of IFC4.3, we have not only added new element classifications but also new disciplines, to which we have assigned the classifications accordingly. New disciplines:
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Bridge
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Geotechnical
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Ports & Waterways
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Railway
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Road
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