Most IFC quality control gaps aren't in the checking tool. They're in how requirements were defined upstream, and in mismatches between what the Exchange Information Requirements (EIRs) say and what the IFC export actually delivers. This two-day course at VDI Wissensforum works through that — from writing verifiable requirements in IDS and mvdXML through to running model checks and managing findings with BCF.
The target audience is BIM managers, coordinators, and project specialists who handle IFC quality on real projects.
Image Credit: VDI Wissensforum
What the course covers
- How EIRs translate into machine-readable IFC requirements
- IDS and mvdXML: writing inspection rules that checking tools can actually run
- IFC versions — IFC 2x3, IFC 4, IFC 4.3: what changes between exports and why it matters for checking
- Model checking tools: what they test, what they don't, and how to read results
- BCF for issue management: linking findings to model objects and closing them out
- Hands-on exercises — laptop required
What two days looks like
The first part of the course is about requirements. An EIR that can't be unambiguously understood and verified automatically isn't doing its job — it just pushes the quality problem downstream. The course covers how to write good requirements, first schema-agnostic, but also in IDS and mvdXML: what properties to check, how to handle different IFC versions, and where the differences between IFC2x3 and IFC4 exports matter for automated checking.
IFC version behavior is one of those things that looks like a minor detail until a checking tool fails silently. IFC2x3, IFC4, and IFC4.3 can export the same data differently, following a different model view definition (MVD). Knowing which export to expect — and why — is part of setting up a check that actually works.
The second day covers model checking tools and BCF. Checking tools test specific things and skip others. The course works through how to read results correctly, what to do when findings don't mean what they look like, and how to route issues through BCF to the right team and close them out.
Instructor
Štefan Jaud is our founder and managing director. The seminar topic is the work we do: writing EIR and IDM documents, building IDS and mvdXML rules, doing model checking on real projects. The course is built from that practice, not from standards text.