On March 13, 2007, Bentley Architecture successfully passed certification for the coordination view of IFC2x3.
Developed by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a global industry standard for sharing design, construction, and facility management data in a vendor-neutral format across IFC-supporting building information modeling (BIM) applications.
BIM is a powerful methodology for the creation of information-rich models that capture all aspects of a facility’s lifecycle. However, spread across disparate applications, much of the information (the key benefit of BIM) is lost.
By capturing both geometry and properties of intelligent building objects and their relationships, the IFC data model facilitates interoperability between design applications such as Bentley Architecture, and analysis applications and compliance checking software, among others. As a result, architects and engineers, contractors, building owners and operators, and regulatory agencies can access, modify, and coordinate design and construction information in a single shared model and data repository.
The combination of BIM and IFC not only overcomes the inefficiencies of a distributed and fragmented industry, but also enables fundamental process improvements with tremendous benefits for all stakeholders in the building industry—such as faster project delivery, less waste, greater productivity—the essence of the buildingSMART branding of the IAI.
For Bentley, the IFC data model is important technology to improve collaboration and interoperability. We are fully committed to its on-going development, as it is aligned with our mission to provide BIM solutions that let the building industry Build as One.
Implemented on the common technology platform for Bentley’s building applications, the IFC2x3 translator is not only available in Bentley Architecture, but also in Structural Modeler, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems, and Bentley Building Electrical Systems.
In addition to IFC, Bentley provides other technologies to share information and interoperate with other CAD, BIM, and analysis applications, such as:
- Full DGN/DWG compatibility
- 3D PDF and Google Earth support
- Import/export tools for the main general purpose industry standards, such as STEP, STL, IGES, DXF, SKP (SketchUp)
- Import/export tools for many dedicated industry standards, like CIS/2 and SDNF
- Seamless integration with Bentley’s STAAD.Pro and RAM International structural analysis products
- Direct integration with structural analysis applications, such as Oasys GSA
In May 2008, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the buildingSMART Alliance (bSa), and a variety of sponsors issued a Request for Technology to develop and test exchange requirements between building information modeling (BIM) and analysis applications. Learn more.
For further information, see Bentley's Commitment to Open Standards and Interoperability.