About Revit and IFC

Revit provides fully certified IFC import and 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 buildingSMART International (bSI) data exchange standards: IFC2x3, IFC2x2, and IFC2x. For import (link only), Revit also supports IFC files based on the bSI IFC4 standard.

For export, Revit supports the following standards: IFC4, IFC2x3, and IFC2x2.

The Revit IFC Exporter is actively updated to contain new functionality and bug releases on a regular basis. Updates are available from the Autodesk App Store; they need to be downloaded and installed manually.

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 topic of the Revit API Developer's Guide, and visit http://sourceforge.net/p/ifcexporter/wiki/Home. Additionally, online classes on IFC are available from Autodesk University.