IFC validation software that runs in the browser
BIMCamel's validation section checks an IFC model the way a reviewer would: a health scan across seven sections, buildingSMART IDS rules, clash and clearance tests, egress and accessibility audits, and naming rules — every one of them landing in the same findings shape, so a result from one check behaves like a result from any other. Nothing to install, and the checks run for guests.
It is not a desktop model-checking suite, and it does not try to be. The target is the architect or coordinator who needs to know whether a file is fit to issue — before it goes out, without a licence server, and without learning a rule language first.
Run a validation on the sample building →
Ten checks, one findings shape
The value is not the number of checks — it is that they all produce the same kind of result. A clash, a failed IDS requirement, a headroom violation and a bad element name all arrive as findings you can sort, filter, select in 3D, push to a coordination room, or export together. Tools that bolt separate reports onto separate engines make you re-learn the output each time.
- Health Check — one scan, seven sections: Schema, Spatial, Coordinates, Geometry, Data, Performance, Federation, with a 0–100 scorecard and trend.
- IDS Compliance — buildingSMART IDS rules against any IFC, with bundled templates for ISO 19650, COBie and fire-rating BEPs.
- Clash Detection — hard, clearance and duplicate clashes, auto-clustered by class pair × storey and scored by discipline and cluster size.
- Walkable Clearance — headroom measured on real walkable geometry, with ADA / IBC / UK presets and a severity heatmap in the viewer.
- Accessibility Check — a pathfinder navmesh giving every space a step-free, code-width route to a tagged accessible entrance.
- Fire Escape & Egress — shortest-path audit for travel distance, dead ends, common path and the two-exit rule, against IBC / NFPA 101 / UK Approved Document B.
- Name Validation — token or regex rules with a visual builder, Uniclass and OmniClass presets, and a bulk-rename change preview.
- Compare Revisions — property, classification, placement and geometry diff between two versions.
- IFC Repair Center — a one-click pass over GUIDs, coordinates, orphans and broken xrefs, with a dry run that previews the change first.
- Issues (BCF) — any finding into a coordination room, exported back as .bcf or .bcfzip in 2.1 or 3.0.
Checking is a loop, not a report
Most checkers end at a PDF. The reason findings share one shape here is that the next step is built in: send them to a coordination room where they become assignable topics, deep-link a fixable one into the Repair Center with the right action pre-selected, then re-run scoped to only what changed rather than re-triaging the whole model.
That last part is what makes a second pass cheap. Compare two revisions, and IDS and clash can be scoped to the changed elements only — so the review after a fix costs a fraction of the first one.
What it will not do
The checks run on IFC2x3 and IFC4. IFC4x3 files open in the viewer, but the checks do not run on them yet. There is no Revit or ArchiCAD plug-in in this section — the input is an exported IFC. And it is a single-model-at-a-time reviewer's tool rather than a server-side gate for an entire CDE: there are no scheduled runs and no webhook that fails someone's upload.
Frequently asked questions
Is there free IFC validation software?
Yes — every check here runs free, and guests can run them without an account. The limits are on volume rather than capability: guests get 3 runs a day with 25 MB uploads, a free account raises that to 10 runs a day with 100 MB. No check is paywalled, and results are not watermarked on any tier.
What is the difference between this and the Validate tab?
This page describes what the validation section does; /validate is the section itself — a cockpit that opens with a model loaded and runs the checks in place. If you have a file to check, go straight there.
Can it check a federated model from several disciplines?
Yes. Upload the discipline files as a federation and the checks run across the combined model — which is the point for clash and clearance, where the interesting failures are between disciplines rather than inside one.
Does it support buildingSMART IDS?
Yes — IDS specifications run against any IFC, and bundled templates for ISO 19650, COBie and fire-rating BEPs mean you can start without authoring a specification first. An IDS can declare which IFC versions it applies to.
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 keeps them 90 days and Team 180 days. Files are never shared with third parties or used to train AI.