IFC Drawings Explained: What They Are and Why They Matter

IFC stands for Industry Foundation Classes. It is the open file format that lets building information models move between software platforms — Revit to Tekla, ArchiCAD to Navisworks, SketchUp to Solibri, and so on. Without IFC, every software vendor would need to build a translator for every other vendor's file format. With IFC, all of those translations route through a single open standard.

What does IFC stand for?

IFC = Industry Foundation Classes. It is a file format and data schema developed and maintained by buildingSMART International, an open-standards organization in the AEC industry. The IFC schema defines how building elements, spaces, properties, and relationships should be represented in a software-neutral format.

In practice, you will see IFC files with the .ifc extension. They contain the geometry, attributes, and relationships of a BIM model in a format that any IFC-compatible software can read.

What are IFC drawings?

Strictly speaking, "IFC drawings" is a slightly imprecise term — IFC is a model format, not a drawing format. But in industry practice, "IFC drawings" usually means one of two things:

• A 2D set of plans, elevations, and sections that has been exported from a BIM model in IFC format. The drawings themselves are 2D, but they were produced from an IFC-compliant model and the IFC source is delivered alongside.
• A coordination deliverable that includes both 2D drawings and the underlying IFC model — common in IFC-based BIM coordination workflows where the IFC file is the authoritative source and the drawings are derived from it.

In the U.K. and European market, the term "IFC drawings" is used more broadly to refer to drawings produced as part of an IFC-compliant BIM workflow. In the U.S., IFC is more commonly delivered alongside Revit RVT files as a coordination deliverable rather than as a primary documentation format.

What is an IFC set?

An IFC set is a collection of IFC files and supporting documentation delivered as a coordinated package. A typical IFC set includes:

• IFC files for each discipline — architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing — exported from each discipline's native authoring tool
• A federated IFC model that combines all disciplines into a single coordinated reference
• A BIM execution plan describing IFC export settings, level of detail, and coordinate system conventions
• Drawings derived from the IFC models
• Property set documentation describing what attributes are attached to which elements

The IFC set is the deliverable in IFC-based coordination workflows — common on large UK and European projects, increasingly common on U.S. infrastructure and government work.

IFC in construction — the practical role

IFC plays four practical roles on a construction project:

1. Cross-software model exchange — when the architectural team uses Revit, the structural team uses Tekla, and the MEP contractor uses AutoCAD MEP, IFC is the common format that lets all three models federate together for coordination.
2. Coordination deliverable — even within a single-software project, IFC is often the format used for clash detection and federated model review in tools like Solibri, Navisworks, and BIMcollab.
3. Long-term archive — building owners increasingly require IFC delivery at project closeout because IFC is software-vendor-neutral and stable over decades. Native Revit or Tekla files may not be readable in 30 years; IFC will be.
4. Government and public sector compliance — many UK, European, Scandinavian, and Singaporean public projects mandate IFC delivery. U.S. federal projects increasingly require it as well.

IFC versions and meanings

IFC has been through several versions, with backward and forward compatibility constraints:

• IFC 2x3 — the most widely supported version across legacy software. Still the default in many older tools. Limited in some geometric and parametric capabilities.
• IFC 4 — current major version, with significantly improved geometry, parametric support, and Model View Definitions (MVDs). Required for many UK and European public projects.
• IFC 4.3 — adds infrastructure-specific extensions (bridges, roads, railways, ports). Important for civil and infrastructure work.
• IFC 5 — in development, with deeper integration of parametric and computational design.

For most U.S. building projects in 2026, IFC 4 is the right export target. For coordination with older tools or with subcontractors on legacy versions, IFC 2x3 may be required as a fallback.

IFC plans vs IFC drawings vs IFC sets

These terms get used loosely. To clarify:

• IFC plans — usually means 2D plans (floor plans, ceiling plans, structural plans) derived from an IFC model. The plans themselves are 2D output formats; the IFC is the source.
• IFC drawings — broader term covering plans, elevations, sections, and details derived from IFC models. Used interchangeably with "IFC plans" in many contexts.
• IFC set — the package of IFC files plus supporting documentation. The full deliverable.
• IFC drawing (singular) — a single 2D drawing derived from an IFC model.

IFC and Revit

Most U.S. firms produce IFC by exporting from Revit. The IFC export from Revit can be configured with property mapping, coordinate system conventions, and Model View Definition (MVD) settings to match what the receiving tool needs. Done well, the round trip — Revit to IFC to Navisworks for clash detection, IFC back to Revit for model integration — works cleanly. Done poorly, IFC export drops geometry, mangles property data, or shifts coordinates.

Configuring IFC export properly is a learnable skill, not a software bug. Most BIM coordination problems we see attributed to "IFC issues" trace back to inconsistent IFC export settings between the participating disciplines, not to limitations of the format itself.

When IFC matters and when it does not

IFC matters when: multiple disciplines are using different software, when government or owner requirements mandate IFC delivery, when long-term archival is a project requirement, or when coordination tools require IFC input.

IFC does not matter when: a project is single-discipline and single-software, when no coordination across native formats is required, and when the deliverable is purely 2D documentation with no model handoff. Many smaller residential and commercial projects fall in this latter category. IFC is not free — exporting and managing it has real overhead — and forcing IFC into a workflow that does not need it adds cost without benefit.

Where we work with IFC

We use IFC across our Tekla, Revit, and MEP coordination work. Tekla models export to IFC for handoff to architectural and MEP coordination. Revit MEP coordination uses IFC for cross-discipline review. Our Tekla structural modeling and Revit MEP drafting service pages cover the relevant workflows — both produce IFC alongside native file deliverables when downstream coordination is in scope.