What information can be managed with the IDS standard?

The IDS defines how information is exchanged in an openBIM process. Let’s see what information is managed with this standard

In recent years buildingSMART has developed a new standard that aims to define the requirements of the information to be exchanged in a BIM order, in a format that can be interpreted by the computer.

What information in particular is handled with the IDS standard? Let’s find out in this article.

I remind you that you can use an IDS BIM application to take full advantage of this powerful standard and work much faster.

The IDS standard in the openBIM workflow

What information can be handled with the IDS standard

In a BIM order, the information added to the 3D model are defined by the client who, at the initial stage of the project and according to his needs, has the responsibility of establishing the type, timing and methods of exchange of the data: the so-called Exchange Information Requirement (EIR).

The IDS standard is precisely the document that contains all these information exchange requirements.

It’s defined by buildingSMART International as a fundamental component in the management of the BIM process that can be used as contract basis for the correct delivery of the required information.

The IDS standard is nothing more than a computer-readable file, necessary both in the modeling phase and in the validation phase of IFC models and with the aim of making the entire exchange workflow much simpler, efficient and reliable.

Basically, it is the standard that defines the type of information and the way exchangeing it in an openBIM process. It guarantees that the information are correct but does not verify the correctness of the entire BIM model. However, any subsequent verification of the model will certainly benefit from the IDS process as it makes possible to determine in advance the existence and validity of certain information.

Here is what information can be controlled by the IDS standard:

IFC attributes (“Name”, “Description”);
IFCtype;
properties (“Pset”);
quantity;
classifications;
composition;
materials.

With dedicated software tools it is also possible to carry out checks on the IFC file, in order to verify whether the requirements set out in the IDS have been met.

Verifications can be carried out according to the following rules:

existence (does the property exist?);
equality (does a specific attribute have a certain value?);
limits (is the value between two limit values?);
enumerations (does the value exist in a defined list of items?);
measure (the value of a given attribute or property has been defined as IfcLengthMeasure).

To learn more about the IDS standard, also read “IDS: what is it and what is it for” and “The difference between the IDS standard and IFC or MVD“.

How to manage the information exchange

To manage the information exchange between the actors of a BIM contract (customer, designer, contractor, supplier, validator, etc.) an IDS BIM tool is required to:

create the IDS document with all the information specifications (editor);
edit in a guided procedure the specifications requested by the client (modeler);
validate the datasets delivered in standard IDS format (validator).

usBIM.IDS is an online application integrated with the usBIM system to validate the Exchange Information Requirements (EIRs) of an IFC file, using the IDS (Information Delivery Specification) standard of buildingSMART international.

How does it work?

You can create the document that define all the information delivery specifications and easily transform it into a standard IDS file to be used in the modeling and validation phases of IFC models.

Once the editing phase is complete, the IDS file is delivered by the client to the modeler.

The usBIM.IDS modeler identifies the information structure defined by the order specifications in the IDS document and automatically associates it with the IFC model. In this way, you get a single IFC file containing, in addition to the geometric data, all the information required by the client.

Finally, we move on to the data validation phase:

import the IFC file to be validated or, if necessary, create the federation of multiple IFC files;
select the IDS file;
verify all the requirements specified in the IDS file and validate the IFC file.

Invalid IFC elements of the project are reported and you can monitor all reports on dedicated dashboards with additional information and statistics.