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ISO 16739-1 : 2024

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) for data sharing in the construction and facility management industries — Part 1: Data schema

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CurrentEssentialInternational StandardBIMDigital Construction · BIM and Digital Construction
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Summary

IFC is the open neutral file format for exchanging BIM data between Revit, ArchiCAD, Tekla, Bentley OpenBuildings, Allplan, and FM systems. ISO 16739-1:2024 standardises the latest IFC 4.3 ADD2 schema, which adds infrastructure entities (rail, road, bridge, tunnel, ports & waterways) on top of the existing building entities.

Specifies the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) data schema — the open international standard for sharing BIM data between different software applications. Aligns with IFC 4.3 ADD2 from buildingSMART.

Key Values
Current schemaIFC 4.3 ADD2 (2024)
Number of IFC entities~800 in IFC 4.3
Originating bodybuildingSMART International
Practical Notes
! Use IFC 4 (not IFC 2x3) for new projects — many older tools still default to 2x3, so set the export profile manually
! IFC 4.3 ADD2 is the version to use for infrastructure (rail, road, bridge, tunnel) — 4.0 cannot represent these
! Coordination View 2.0 export profile is the standard for design coordination
! Reference View export profile is best for handover and read-only consumption
! Always validate exported IFC files with the buildingSMART certification tool before sharing
Cross-Referenced Codes
ISO 19650-1:2018Organization and digitization of information ...
→
ISO 19650-4:2022Organization and digitization of information ...
→
ISO 12006-3:2022Building construction — Organization of infor...
→
ISO 29481-1:2016Building information models — Information del...
→
Related Resources
Handbook Topics
📖IFC for Civil Engineers
→
IFCBIMISO 16739data schemaopenBIMinteroperabilitybuildingSMARTIFC4IFC 4.3
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Quick Reference Values
Current schemaIFC 4.3 ADD2 (2024)
Number of IFC entities~800 in IFC 4.3
Originating bodybuildingSMART International
Most common file formatsSTEP (.ifc), XML (.ifcXML), ZIP (.ifcZIP)
Open specificationFree download from buildingSMART
Key Tables
No tables data
Key Clauses
Cl. 4 — IFC schema overview and entity hierarchy (rooted at IfcRoot)
Cl. 5 — Spatial structure: IfcProject → IfcSite → IfcBuilding → IfcBuildingStorey → IfcSpace
Cl. 6 — Building elements: IfcWall, IfcSlab, IfcBeam, IfcColumn, IfcDoor, IfcWindow, IfcRoof, IfcStair
Cl. 7 — Reinforcement: IfcReinforcingBar, IfcReinforcingMesh, IfcTendon
Cl. 8 — Infrastructure: IfcRoad, IfcRail, IfcBridge, IfcTunnel, IfcMarinePart (NEW in IFC 4.3)
Cl. 9 — MEP: IfcPipeSegment, IfcDuctSegment, IfcCableSegment, IfcFlowFitting, IfcFlowTerminal
Cl. 10 — Properties: IfcPropertySet, IfcPropertySingleValue
What is the difference between IFC and Revit's RVT format?+
RVT is Autodesk's proprietary native format — only Revit can read/write it without losing data. IFC is an open ISO standard format that any conforming software can read. Use RVT for working files inside Revit; use IFC for sharing models with other tools (ArchiCAD, Tekla, Bentley, Solibri, Navisworks).
Which IFC version should I use?+
For buildings only, IFC 4 (also called IFC 4.0) is widely supported. For infrastructure projects (roads, rail, bridges, tunnels), use IFC 4.3 ADD2 — earlier versions cannot represent these entities. Avoid IFC 2x3 unless legacy systems require it.