# Usage of property "ConstructionMethod" in Pset ConcreteElementGeneral

**URL:** <https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395>\
**Category:** IFC\
**Tags:** ifc4-errata\
**Created:** [May 13, 2019, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395 "2019-05-13T08:20:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Marcus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Marcus](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/u/Marcus)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395/1 "2019-05-13T08:20:55Z")

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Dear Forum,

in the documentation are two options for the ConstructionMethod described.  
“In-Situ” and “Precast”  
What about a mix of both. In Germany it is common to create precasted elements for slabs and walls with additional concrete layers.

Is this construction method described in an other propertie or maybe not considered?  
How do you handle this situation?

Thank you for helpfull informations on this topic.  
Marcus

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**Author:** ![Moult](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.buildingsmart.org/moult/32/196_2.png) [@Moult](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/u/Moult)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395/2 "2019-05-21T23:38:33Z")

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Interesting, the documentation says only two values are allowed even though it is an `IfcLabel`. Therefore you could theoretically put in whatever you want.

Perhaps this attribute could change to an enumeration, along with a greater consideration of an `.OTHER.` value or `.COMPOSITE.`?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marcus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Marcus](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/u/Marcus)\
**Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 7:08am UTC](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395/3 "2019-05-24T07:08:20Z")

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Thank you Moult for your answer.  
You’ re right, the description is not explicit and i would appreciate the extension to a wider selection of values.

Besides that i’m interested in how other users handle this information right now.  
We have our own defined properties to differentiate between prefabricated elements, in-place concrete elements and the mixture of both…

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**Author:** ![ReD\_CoDE](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forums.buildingsmart.org/red_code/32/226_2.png) [@ReD\_CoDE](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/u/ReD_CoDE)\
**Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 12:00pm UTC](https://forums.buildingsmart.org/t/usage-of-property-constructionmethod-in-pset-concreteelementgeneral/1395/4 "2019-06-25T12:00:58Z")

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I investigated IFC4 ADD2 carefully, and I think there are a lot of `Enumerations` that doesn’t contain enough data/information, and just provide minimum data/information which even ISO 19650 suggests

And there are a lot of `UserDefineds` too which some `Entities` have and some don’t have

`ConstructionMethod` has a lot of usages which one of the main one is in the construction phase and mainly `Precast`

In practice, IFC with `UserDefined` gives the freedom to add all custom data/information needed which is good but until keeps the balance

I think IFC tries to preserve **“Convergence = Standardization”** and **“Divergence = Non-Standardization”** which is good in this way but needs some improvements