Understanding .ifc file

IFC, short for Industry Foundation Classes, is a data schema and what we call as a '.ifc' file is a STEP file (and a database too). A STEP file is typically used for 3D product exchange and is a text file with plain text characters, with each line in the STEP file representing information about the 3D geometry, topology and other product details. Since this is a simple text file, you can literally open and read your entire BIM model in a notepad. Thats right, you don't need a special software to open and read your BIM model.

Though it is filled with technical details (which scares a lot of people, me included), after the initial fear and hesitation and when you start reading on, lot of things on how BIM is created becomes very clear to you very fast. Every data type, every entity and their properties and their relationships with other entities are present in this file. The entries in the .ifc file to be read together with the buildingsmart ifc documentation.

IFC offers a 100% transparency on how the data in your bim model is structured unlike proprietary bim software (which is a blackbox).

So go ahead and open that .ifc file in a notepad. You will understand BIM lot better.