About Revit and IFC

Revit provides IFC import and fully certified export based on buildingSMART® IFC data exchange standards.

For import (to open or link an IFC file), Revit supports IFC files based on the following International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) data exchange standards: IFC4, IFC2x3, IFC2x2, and IFC2x.

For export, Revit supports the following standards: IFC4, IFC2x3, and IFC2x2. For IFC4 export support, the IFC Export Alternate UI is also required.

The Revit IFC exporter is actively updated to contain new functionality and bug releases on a regular basis. In addition, the Revit Export Alternate UI provides extra flexibility in choosing export options. Both tools are available from Autodesk Exchange Apps for Autodesk Revit; they need to be downloaded and installed manually. These tools seamlessly replace the existing Revit functionality; use the standard menu item to access.

When you export a Revit building information model to IFC format, the information can be used directly by other building specialists, such as structural and building services engineers.

For example, building information models developed with Revit are saved to the RVT file format. You can export the building model using the IFC format to an IFC-certified application that does not use the RVT file format. The drawing can be opened and worked on in the non-native application. Similarly, in Revit you can import an IFC file, create a RVT file, and work on the building model in Revit.

IFC uses architecturally meaningful containers to describe real-world building objects. Those containers include parameters that have meaningful values. Many standard Revit elements have corresponding IFC containers. These do not require any specific user action to export them. (For example, Revit walls export as IFCwalls.) Other Revit families (such as escalators) require that you map them to IFC containers before exporting. See Load and Modify an IFC Mapping File.

Tip: Advanced users may want to modify the IFC export code. For information, see the IFC Export page of the Revit API Developer's Guide, and visit http://sourceforge.net/p/ifcexporter/wiki/Home.