Validate the IFC before you send it.
buildingSMART IDS specs, model-health audits, clash detection, naming and life-safety rules — all in a browser tab. Findings come back ranked, with 3D drill-in, and leave as BCF 2.1, HTML or XLSX so they land in whatever coordination tool the project already runs on.
Every model you issue is a claim about your competence. This is how you check the claim first.
- Standard: buildingSMART IDS
- Checks: IDS · health · clash · clearance · egress
- Reports: BCF 2.1 · HTML · XLSX
- Authoring: Build IDS specs without writing XML
Start here — IFC, RVT, NWD Checker
Run the project's IDS, get the report the project asked for. Drop the model and the .ids file. Every specification is applied element by element, and what comes back is a pass/fail per requirement with the failing elements listed by GlobalId — not a score, not a percentage. Export it as BCF and it opens in the coordinator's desktop tool with the issues already positioned.
- buildingSMART IDS, applied requirement by requirement
- Failures listed by GlobalId, clickable into the 3D view
- Report out as BCF 2.1, HTML or XLSX
What this set does
Health before compliance
Orphans, duplicate GlobalIds, missing storey assignments, a 12 km coordinate offset, broken external references. The things that break the next tool, found before it breaks.
Clash, without the seat
Run geometric clash and clearance checks online and export the result as BCF, so the coordination room gets the same artefact it always gets.
Write your own rules
IDS Maker builds buildingSMART-compliant specs visually — pick classes, restrict properties, set patterns. The XML comes out the other end; you never open it.
Tools in this category
- IFC, RVT, NWD Checker — Check your IFC model against a buildingSMART IDS specification and get a compliance report.
- Validate IFC, RVT, NWD Element Names — Check every element's Name follows a token pattern (e.g. {class}-{storey}-{index}) or a regex.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Health Check — Audit your IFC model for common issues: orphans, missing data, duplicates, large coordinates.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Repair Center — One-stop tool that bundles GUID repair, coordinate fix, orphan purge, and broken-xref cleanup.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Clash Detection — Find where IFC building elements intersect or are too close to each other.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Walkable Clearance Check — Detect walkable surfaces from geometry (no IFC class trust), then flag any element encroaching into the headroom zone above them.
- Swept Path Vehicle Tracking for IFC, RVT, NWD — Draw a route over an IFC model and see the swept path of a truck, bus, fire appliance or articulated lorry, with axle-by-axle steering, trailers and a clearance check.
- Compare IFC, RVT, NWD Files — Compare two IFC, Revit or Navisworks models by GlobalId and see what was added, deleted, moved, or unchanged in a visual viewer.
- Compare Revit Versions — Compare two saves of a Revit .rvt model online and see what was added, deleted, moved or changed, element by element, in a 3D viewer.
- Create and View IFC, RVT, NWD Issues — Create, edit, and assign BCF issues against an IFC model.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Geometry Health Check — Scan every element's geometry for integrity problems — degenerate solids, failed Boolean operations, and empty or missing shape representations.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Schema & Identity Check — Verify the IFC schema version and element identity — flags duplicate GlobalIds, missing identifiers, and unexpected schema versions.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Spatial Structure Check — Audit the spatial hierarchy — project → site → building → storey containment — and flag any element not assigned to a storey.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Coordinate Check — Check placement and georeferencing — large coordinates far from the origin, missing site placement, and absent georeferencing data.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Data Completeness Check — Audit metadata completeness — missing element names, property sets, owner history, and classifications.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Performance Check — Analyse what's driving file size and viewer performance — triangle counts, geometry complexity, and the heaviest elements in the model.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Level Consistency Check — Audit building storeys: flags storeys missing an elevation, multiple storeys sharing the same elevation (duplicate or mis-merged levels), and storeys with no building elements.
- IFC, RVT, NWD Unit Consistency Check — Audit the project's IfcUnitAssignment: verifies unambiguous length, area, volume, and plane-angle units and flags missing or conflicting unit declarations.
- IFC Load-Bearing Continuity Check — Flags load-bearing columns and walls above the lowest storey that have no structural element beneath their footprint — a broken vertical load path.
- IFC, RVT Fire Compartmentation Check — Audits the designed fire envelope: flags non-fire-rated doors and windows filling openings in fire-rated walls (the 'fire door in a fire wall' rule) and unprotected penetrations with no fill.
- IFC, RVT Space Program Conformance — Compares the model's IfcSpaces against a room brief you define inline: flags missing required rooms (count shortfall) and spaces below their required floor area.
- IFC, RVT Accessibility Check — Pathfinder-driven accessible-route audit.
- IFC, RVT Fire Escape & Egress Check — Pathfinder-driven fire-egress audit.
- IFC, RVT Floor Area Takeoff — Reads each IfcSpace's floor area from its quantity sets (NetFloorArea preferred), reports per-space areas with a project total, and flags spaces missing an area quantity.
How it works
- Upload. The IFC, plus an .ids file or a spec you saved earlier.
- Run the check. IDS, Health Check, clash, naming — whichever the deliverable is judged on.
- Send the findings. BCF into the coordination tool, XLSX to the QA spreadsheet, HTML to whoever asked for a PDF.
When you'd use it
The handover gate
The BEP names an IDS and a delivery date. You want to know you pass before the delivery date, not from the client's rejection email after it.
The inherited federation
Three consultants, three exports, one merged file, and no idea which of the three broke the storey structure.
The reply that has to be specific
Sending back 'your model is wrong' starts an argument. Sending back a BCF with 43 positioned issues starts a fix.
Where it stops
- This complements a desktop validator, it doesn't replace one — the deep proprietary rule sets that ship with those tools aren't reproduced here.
- Clash detection is geometric. It doesn't know your project's tolerance conventions unless you tell it.
- An IDS pass means the model satisfies the spec you ran. It doesn't mean the spec was the right one.
FAQ
Which validation standards are supported?
buildingSMART IDS (Information Delivery Specifications) is the primary standard. The Health Check covers schema-level checks; Clash Detection handles geometric coordination. BCF 2.1 issues round-trip into any BCF-compatible coordination tool.
Can I author my own IDS rules?
Yes. The IDS Maker lets you build specs visually — pick classes, restrict properties, set value patterns — then export buildingSMART-compliant XML. No need to hand-edit the schema.
What format is the validation report in?
Choose HTML (shareable), BCF 2.1 (round-trips into desktop tools), or XLSX (sortable, filter-friendly for QA teams).
Does this replace a desktop validator?
For IDS validation and basic clash, yes — and you keep the same BCF outputs. For the deep proprietary rule sets that ship with some desktop validators, no. BIMCamel complements rather than replaces a desktop validator.
Do these tools take Revit and Navisworks files?
Most of them do. A Revit (.rvt) or Navisworks (.nwd) file is converted to IFC when you open it, then the tool runs on that IFC; your original file is not changed. Revit and Navisworks: IFC, RVT, NWD Checker; Validate IFC, RVT, NWD Element Names; IFC, RVT, NWD Health Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Repair Center; IFC, RVT, NWD Clash Detection; IFC, RVT, NWD Walkable Clearance Check; Swept Path Vehicle Tracking for IFC, RVT, NWD; Compare IFC, RVT, NWD Files; Assert Element Count; Abort on Validation Failure; Create and View IFC, RVT, NWD Issues; Find IFC Elements by Attributes; IFC, RVT, NWD Geometry Health Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Schema & Identity Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Spatial Structure Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Coordinate Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Data Completeness Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Performance Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Level Consistency Check; IFC, RVT, NWD Unit Consistency Check. Revit only: IFC, RVT Fire Compartmentation Check; IFC, RVT Space Program Conformance; IFC, RVT Accessibility Check; IFC, RVT Fire Escape & Egress Check; IFC, RVT Floor Area Takeoff. IFC files only for now, because they need IFC data the conversion doesn't carry yet: IFC Load-Bearing Continuity Check.