Yes, IFC file in STEP format is very useful.
It is simple, structured and provides numerous modelling concepts.
From my point of view IFC should be acompanied by concepts for more flexibility and concepts for more standardiziation.
Is this a contradiction?
No,
I see the need for
- more flexibility on project instance level (the business-cases, the projcet evolution)
- more standardization on project type level (the business-processes, the general use-cases)
ad 1.)
Starting with project ideas and project portfolio management an accumulation of typically imprecise statements from different stakeholders evolves over time: Ideas, wishes, dreams, requirements, confirmations, warrants, claims, …
Systematic collection, assessment, tracking and refinement of statements and corresponding deliverables are key success factors for projects. This is related to requirements engineering, verification and validation (e.g. V-model).
An IFC files describing a buidling proposal could be derived from general statements (e.g. based on ontologies) about the buildings general properties (size, budget, base area, general shape, …). Refinement of the proposal can be done by making additional statements.
The other way round general statements (e.g. based on ontologies) about elements could be derived from an IFC file (see “Ifc Web of Data ontology (ifcOWL)” mentioned above by @ana.roxin. This allows for semi-automated consistency checks between IFC file (implementation based on requirements) and the underlying requirements (general statements) based on logical rules.
ad 2.)
More standardization on project type level addresses the current drawback that different modelling concepts / representation paradigms are in use for the same use-case.
I am still aware of your objection in
highlighting
“More than one way to geometrically describe an object”, “Modifiers”, “Semantic or geometric focus”
Nevertheless I did not give up the hope that more unification based on standardized decision rules could be possible. I will soon address this with a separate discussion topic “the wall”.