IFC, RVT, NWD to COBie

Extract the five core COBie sheets from IFC — Facility, Floor, Space, Type and Component — as a spreadsheet for facility management handover.

Besides IFC, this tool takes Revit (.rvt) and Navisworks (.nwd) files, with no Revit or Navisworks licence. Drop one in and it is converted to IFC first, then the tool runs on that IFC; your original file is not changed.

Convert an IFC model to a COBie spreadsheet online — upload the model, run, and download a multi-sheet .xlsx that pulls the facility, floor, space, type, and component data out of the IFC for facility-management handover. No desktop FM tool, no plugin, free in the browser.

COBie (Construction Operations Building information exchange) is the spreadsheet handover format many public-sector and government contracts require at practical completion: an asset register the FM team can open in Excel without any BIM software. This export reads what the coordinated model already carries and lays it out sheet by sheet, so you can see the handover data — and see what's missing — in a single pass.

When to reach for it: When you need the core COBie data — Facility, Floor, Space, Type and Component — out of an IFC for facility management handover. Note this is a five-sheet extract, not a validator-ready COBie submission: the mandatory Contact sheet and the remaining required sheets are not generated, so a full handover still needs a COBie tool to complete and check the workbook.

What you get: An Excel spreadsheet in COBie format with facility management data extracted from the IFC model.

Example: Extract facility management data for building handover.

What the export produces

One Excel .xlsx workbook with five worksheets, each with a frozen header row. When the job finishes it reports how many rows it wrote across how many sheets:

Facility — Name, ProjectName, SiteName, Description (one row per IfcBuilding).
Floor — Name, Elevation, ElementCount (one row per IfcBuildingStorey).
Space — Name, FloorName, Description, GlobalId (one row per IfcSpace).
Type — Name, Category, Description, GlobalId (one row per type definition).
Component — Name, TypeName, Space, Floor, Category, GlobalId (one row per element).

Where COBie fits in handover

At the end of a project the client's FM team needs an asset register — what's in the building, where it is, and what type it is — in a format they can actually open. Government and public-sector contracts frequently name COBie explicitly in the delivery requirements. Rather than compile that register by hand, this export gives you a starting COBie workbook drawn straight from the coordinated IFC, with the spatial breakdown (facility → floor → space) and the components tied back to their type, space, and floor.

The Floor sheet even counts the elements contained on each storey, and every sheet freezes its header row and auto-fits its columns, so the workbook opens ready to read and filter rather than needing a formatting pass first. Because it's a plain .xlsx, the FM team works with it in the spreadsheet software they already have — no BIM viewer, no authoring licence.

Honest scope: what it does and doesn't do

This is a read-only extraction — your IFC is analysed, never modified — and it covers the core, model-derived COBie sheets: Facility, Floor, Space, Type, and Component, from IFC2x3 and IFC4 files. It is not a full 20-plus-worksheet COBie template with Contact, System, Zone, Job, Resource, Spare, and Document tabs; those sheets carry operational data that isn't in the geometry model, so you extend the workbook with them downstream.

The export is also only as complete as the model. If spaces have no Category or components have no serial numbers, those cells come through empty — which is exactly why it doubles as a gap check. To verify the handover data before you export, run the IFC Checker with the bundled "COBie handover" IDS starter spec first; it flags the spaces and components missing their COBie identity fields.

COBie, Excel, and the wider data toolkit

If you want every property set and quantity rather than the COBie asset sheets, IFC to Excel dumps the full model data into a workbook. Extract IFC Data lets you pick specific columns and output formats for a targeted report or takeoff, and the IFC Checker (with IDS) validates the model against a data spec. All of them run in the browser off the same upload and chain into a saved pipeline, so a handover pack can regenerate itself on every model revision.

Using it on Revit and Navisworks files

When you open a .rvt or a .nwd file here, BIMCamel converts it to IFC on the server and brings you back to this tool with the converted model loaded. Element ids, levels and properties come across under their Revit and Navisworks names, so pick properties as they appear in your model. Your .rvt or .nwd itself is never edited: a tool that changes the model gives you an IFC back.

On Navisworks files: The Type sheet and each component's type come out empty, because converted Navisworks models carry no element types; the Facility, Floor and Component sheets are filled.

Revit files can be up to 25 MB without an account, 100 MB with a free one and 200 MB on a paid plan. Navisworks files can be up to 25 MB without an account, 100 MB with a free one and 200 MB on a paid plan, and they open in the browser viewer at the same sizes. Revit projects saved in Revit 2021 to 2027 are supported.

How to export IFC to COBie online

Upload your model (IFC, RVT or NWD)
Click Run to extract COBie data
Download the Excel spreadsheet

Under the hood

BIMCamel parses IFC files in the browser using the open-source web-ifc engine and renders models with @thatopen/components + three.js. Heavy operations (clean / optimise / validate / convert) run on disposable server-side workers using the same web-ifc stack plus our own .NET pipeline; results stream back to your browser as soon as they're ready. Uploads sit on our servers only as long as your tier's retention window allows and are never used to train AI.

Frequently asked questions

What does the COBie export contain?

A single Excel .xlsx workbook with five worksheets — Facility, Floor, Space, Type, and Component — pulled from the IFC. Each has a frozen header row and the identity columns for that sheet (names, GlobalIds, the space/floor/type each component belongs to).

Is the IFC to COBie converter free?

Yes. It runs free in your browser — guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, and a free account raises that to 10 runs a day with 100 MB uploads. No trial clock, no watermark.

Does exporting to COBie change my IFC file?

No. It's a read-only extraction — the model is analysed and the spreadsheet is generated, but the IFC itself is never modified.

Is this a full COBie template?

It covers the core, model-derived COBie sheets — Facility, Floor, Space, Type, and Component. It is not a full 20-plus-sheet COBie template with Contact, System, Zone, Job, Resource, Spare, and Document tabs, because that operational data isn't in the geometry model. Extend the workbook with those sheets downstream.

What if my model is missing COBie data?

Empty fields come through as blanks, so the export doubles as a gap check. To catch the gaps before exporting, run the IFC Checker with the bundled "COBie handover" IDS starter spec — it flags spaces and components missing their COBie identity fields.

How is this different from IFC to Excel?

IFC to COBie produces the five COBie asset-register sheets for FM handover. IFC to Excel dumps every property set and quantity in the model, organised by element. Use COBie when a contract asks for it; use IFC to Excel when you want the full data.

Which IFC versions are supported?

IFC2x3 and IFC4 — the two schema versions exported by essentially every AEC authoring application. IFC4x3, the infrastructure schema, works too: it opens in the viewer, and validation, health reports, property-set editing and georeferencing all run on it. Tools that need geometry processing, such as clash detection and 3D export, aren't verified on IFC4x3 yet.

What's the maximum IFC file size?

Up to 25 MB as a guest, 100 MB with a free account, 500 MB on Pro, and 1 GB on Team. The caps are on upload size only — every tool itself is available on every tier.

What happens to my file after processing?

Your file is uploaded over HTTPS and processed on our servers. Guest uploads are stream-only — the working files are deleted as soon as your download finishes. Free accounts keep results for 7 days; Pro and Team keep saved models until you delete them. Files are never shared with third parties or used to train AI.

Can I use a Revit or Navisworks file with IFC, RVT, NWD to COBie?

Yes. Open a .rvt or .nwd file and it is converted to IFC first; the tool then runs on that IFC and your original file is not changed. On Navisworks files: The Type sheet and each component's type come out empty, because converted Navisworks models carry no element types; the Facility, Floor and Component sheets are filled.