Model refinement with IDS in Revit
An IDS palette has been added to the BCF manager for Revit. This allows you to view the Information Delivery Specification of a project within Revit. In addition, the palette provides the ability to view the IDS specifications of selected Revit model elements. This feature facilitates model refinement in Revit based on an IDS even before any model validation checks are performed. As a result, a high level of model quality can be achieved when exported to IFC.
Within the BIMcollab ecosystem, the IDS standard has been integrated into all stages of your BIM workflow. Key uses of IDS in BIMcollab include:
- Helping project leaders to define information requirements for IFC models by creating new specifications in BIMcollab Nexus.
- Improve model refinement by providing access to all project specifications through the IDS palette available in the BCF managers. (Not available in BCF manager Archicad.)
- Support for automated model checking and the creation of issues detailing the results of specification compliance checks in BIMcollab Zoom.
Would you like to become a BIMcollab IDS master? Check out the IDS course in the BIMcollab Academy.
An Information Delivery Specification (IDS) is a buildingSMART open standard for specifying and validating information requirements in IFC models. It uses a list of specifications that define how objects, classifications, properties, and even values and units must be delivered and exchanged. IDS is based on the XML schema, ensuring all the specifications match the same structure and can be read by different tools. Read more about the official IDS documentation on the buildingSMART website.View the project specifications
- Connect to your BIMcollab Nexus project
- Click on the 'IDS Specification Palette' button
- If the project has multiple IDS rules, choose which one to display on the palette
To initiate a property validation check in the BIMcollab ecosystem, your project leader should create or import the necessary specifications to BIMcollab Nexus.
A specification might show the message "This specification contains an unsupported facet". This means that a requirement defined in BIMcollab Nexus is not yet supported by the IDS palette in the BCF manager.
Search requirements
The IDS palette has a search field to filter for relevant specifications (4). The whole text will be searched and if the entry is present in a specification, this specification will be displayed.
For example, enter 'wall' in the search field to find all specifications that use the term 'wall'. This can be a specification that contains ifcWall, Pset_WallCommon, or wall in the specification name.
Filter specifications based on selection (Revit only)
Another way to filter for relevant specifications is to select one or multiple element(s) in your 3D model and click the button 'Filter on element selection' (5).
Now, only the specification(s) that apply to the selected element(s) will be listed.
It is possible to filter specifications using both the 'search field' (4) and the 'Filter on element selection' (5).
Review and adjust your model
With the insight in the defined requirements, the Revit model element properties can be set to match IDS attributes, classifications and properties.
Export IFC with IDS properties
Now that the model is refined based on the IDS, it can be exported to an IFC. In the process of IFC export, make sure you include IFC common properties. Otherwise, the IFC would not contain this data. Additionally, if necessary, you can also incorporate base quantities into the IFC file to facilitate validation of such properties.
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