Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)

CurrentIFC

Also: IFC 4.3, IFC4, IFC2x3

An open, vendor-neutral data schema for describing buildings and infrastructure — their elements, properties and relationships — published by buildingSMART and standardised as ISO 16739-1.

Explanation

IFC defines entities (for example IfcWall, IfcBeam, IfcSpace), their attributes, property sets, classifications and relationships (spatial containment, aggregation, connectivity). The current version, IFC 4.3, was published as ISO 16739-1:2024 and extends the schema to infrastructure such as roads, railways, bridges, ports and waterways. IFC data is most commonly exchanged as STEP physical files (.ifc), with other serialisations available.

Because the schema is broad, specific exchanges are constrained by model view definitions and, increasingly, by IDS files that state exactly which entities and properties must be present. Quality of IFC exports depends heavily on how native models are authored and mapped.

Practical example

A bridge designer exports an IFC 4.3 model of girders, bearings and piers. The contractor imports it into its own coordination and quantity tools, and the owner's asset system reads the IfcBridge element structure and asset tags at handover.

Why it matters

IFC protects long-term access to information independent of any software vendor, supports public-sector open-standard requirements and enables multi-vendor workflows.

Common confusion

IFC is a schema, not a file "format" alone and not a software product. Comparing IFC with native formats: native files retain authoring intelligence for the original tool; IFC trades some of that for openness and longevity.

Historical context

The Industry Alliance for Interoperability (later renamed buildingSMART) was founded in 1994 and released the first IFC version in 1996. IFC first became an ISO standard in 2013 (ISO 16739). IFC 4.3 was published as ISO 16739-1:2024 in March 2024.

Standards and references

  1. ISO 16739-1:2024 — Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for data sharing in the construction and facility management industries — Part 1: Data schema. ISO, 2024.Original VDC Stack.io wording, based on the standard
    Supports: ISO 16739-1:2024 title, data schema scope, March 2024 publication · Status: Published 2024-03 (IFC 4.3).
  2. Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). buildingSMART International.Widely accepted professional interpretation
    Supports: IFC as standardised, vendor-neutral digital description of buildings and civil infrastructure
  3. IFC 4.3 formally approved and published as an ISO standard. buildingSMART International, 2024.Historical record
    Supports: IFC 4.3 extends to roads, railways, ports and waterways and bridges; first ISO approval in 2012
  4. buildingSMART. Wikipedia.Historical record
    Supports: IAI founded 1994, renamed buildingSMART 2005, first IFC 1996

VDC Stack.io writes its own explanations and does not reproduce copyrighted standards text. Consult the cited standard for normative wording.

Cite this entry

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VDC Stack.io. (2026). Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). In VDC Stack.io Knowledge Dictionary. Retrieved from https://vdcstack.io/dictionary/industry-foundation-classes/