Introduction
Imagine this scenario: the architecture firm works in ArchiCAD, the structural engineering company uses Revit, the MEP systems installer uses proprietary software, and the main contractor needs to open everything on a different coordination platform. Four teams, four software programs, one project.
For years, this situation was a constant source of friction, data loss, and rework. Every time a file was transferred from one software to another, something was lost in the process: geometries became corrupted, data disappeared, and elements arrived without their original associated information.
OpenBIM and the IFC format were created to solve precisely that problem. Not by replacing the software that each discipline prefers to use, but by creating a common language that everyone can speak.
What is OpenBIM?
OpenBIM is an initiative and a working philosophy that promotes the use of open and neutral standards for information exchange in construction projects. Its central premise is simple yet powerful: project information should not be locked within a specific software.
The initiative is driven by buildingSMART International , the non-profit organization that develops and maintains open standards for the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) sector globally. buildingSMART has active chapters in more than 30 countries and its influence on shaping national BIM policies is significant worldwide.
OpenBIM is not software or a platform. It is a set of standards, methodologies, and practices that, when adopted, allow different software programs to exchange information completely, accurately, and without loss. The technical core of this interoperability is the IFC format.
What is the IFC format?
IFC stands for Industry Foundation Classes. It is the open standard file format for exchanging BIM models between different applications, and it is the technical core upon which the entire OpenBIM philosophy is built.
Unlike proprietary formats—such as Revit’s .rvt or ArchiCAD’s .pln—IFC is an open, publicly documented format not controlled by any software vendor. Any company can implement IFC support in its application without paying for licenses or asking permission from anyone.
What makes IFC especially powerful is what it can contain. An IFC file is not simply a geometric representation of the model: it is a container of structured information that includes the geometry of each element, its physical and technical properties, its relationships with other elements, its position in the project structure, its classification according to international standards, and any additional attributes the team decides to include.
In practical terms, a wall exported in IFC format is not just a three-dimensional shape. It’s an object that knows it’s a wall, that knows its exact dimensions, its material, its function within the building, its relationship to the floors it defines, and the openings it contains. This wealth of information is what allows different teams to work with the same model without losing the context that makes it useful.
The history of the IFC: where it came from and how it evolved
The IFC did not emerge from a moment of inspiration but from a practical need that the construction industry had been accumulating since design software began to fragment in the nineties.
The first version of the standard was published by buildingSMART in 1997. It was rudimentary compared to what exists today, but it established the fundamental principle: a neutral format for exchanging building models.
Since then, the standard has evolved significantly. IFC2x3 , published in 2006, was for many years the most widely adopted version by the industry and is still used in a large number of projects. IFC4 , published in 2013 and updated in subsequent versions, incorporated major improvements in geometry representation, support for civil infrastructure, and the ability to handle more complex models.
The most recent version under active development is IFC 4.3 , which significantly extends the standard to include infrastructure: bridges, tunnels, roads, railways, and ports. This extension is especially relevant for Latin America, where many of the largest projects are public infrastructure and where governments are beginning to require BIM in civil works tenders.
OpenBIM vs. ClosedBIM: the difference in practice
To understand why OpenBIM matters, it helps to understand what happens when it is not adopted, that is, when a project is developed in an environment of what some call ClosedBIM.
In a ClosedBIM environment, all project participants use the same software or software suite from the same vendor. Coordination is seamless because everyone speaks the same proprietary language. The problem arises when someone in the chain needs to use a different tool, when the client wants to export the model to an asset management platform from a different vendor, or when the building needs to be remodeled in the future and the original software is no longer available or in use.
Dependence on a proprietary format creates a constraint that can have very concrete consequences: incompatibilities that generate rework, information that is lost in each conversion, and models that become obsolete because they cannot be migrated to new platforms without losing critical data.
OpenBIM solves that from the ground up. When a project is developed under open standards, each discipline can use the tool that best suits its work, information exchange is standardized and software-independent, and the building model can outlast the lifecycles of the specific software used to create it.
Complementary standards: IFC is not alone
IFC is the best-known component of the OpenBIM ecosystem, but it is not the only relevant standard. buildingSMART developed a set of complementary standards that together form a complete infrastructure for collaborative work on BIM projects.
BCF (BIM Collaboration Format) is the standard for communicating issues and comments about the model. It allows a reviewer to flag a problem in a specific view of the model and share it with the team responsible for resolving it, regardless of the software each team uses. It’s the equivalent of comments in a shared document, but applied to a three-dimensional model.
IDS (Information Delivery Specification) is a more recent standard that allows for the formal definition of what information the model should contain at each stage of the project. It specifies which properties each element type should have, what values are valid for each property, and which discipline is responsible for providing that information. It is the technical formalization of information requirements that, until recently, were communicated in text documents.
bSDD (buildingSMART Data Dictionary) is a data dictionary that defines in a standardized way the terms and classifications used in the model, ensuring that a “reinforced concrete wall” means the same thing in the architect’s model as in the structural engineer’s model.
The adoption of OpenBIM in Latin America
The state of OpenBIM adoption in the region is heterogeneous, with significant differences between countries and between types of projects.
Chile is the most advanced country in this area, with the Chile BIM Plan actively promoting the adoption of open standards in public works projects. The technical frameworks of the Chile BIM Plan explicitly reference the IFC as the required exchange format for coordination models in government tenders.
Colombia is moving in a similar direction through the Colombia BIM program, which also promotes the use of open standards as part of the digital transformation policy of the construction sector.
In Argentina, adoption is more organic and less directed by public policy, but the larger private sector — especially companies working on projects with international financing or with foreign partners — already incorporates IFC as a standard requirement in their workflows.
Brazil, with the largest construction market in the region, has an active BIM community and an ABNT NBR standard that incorporates references to international standards including IFC.
The common denominator in all these markets is that the pressure towards OpenBIM comes both from above —governments that require it in tenders— and from below —professionals who discover in practice that dependence on proprietary formats creates real problems for them in projects with multiple participants.
Which software supports IFC and at what level of quality
Virtually all relevant BIM software on the market supports IFC import and export. But not all of them do so with the same quality, and that difference matters.
The quality of an IFC implementation in software is measured by how complete and accurate the exported and imported information is. Software with a high-quality IFC implementation exports not only the geometry but also all the properties of the elements, their relationships, and their correct classification. Software with a poor implementation may export the geometry but lose much of the semantic information that makes the model truly useful.
Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD has historically been one of the software programs with the best IFC implementation on the market. This is no coincidence: Graphisoft was one of the first manufacturers to adopt the standard and has consistently invested in the quality of its implementation over the years. For architecture firms working on multidisciplinary projects, this IFC export quality is a significant differentiator.
Octave Bricscad also has IFC support and is especially relevant for teams coming from the CAD world and transitioning to BIM, as it combines the familiarity of the CAD interface with growing BIM capabilities.
SketchUp has IFC support through extensions, making it compatible with OpenBIM workflows, especially in the earliest stages of design.
Bentley Systems , with its products for civil infrastructure, has a strong implementation of IFC specifically geared towards civil engineering and infrastructure projects, including support for the IFC4.3 extensions for bridges and roads.
The ecosystem of software with IFC support is broad and continues to grow, which means that adopting OpenBIM today does not imply restricting the options of available tools but exactly the opposite: it opens the possibility of combining the best tools of each discipline without sacrificing interoperability.
How to get started with OpenBIM in practice
For a professional or studio that wants to incorporate OpenBIM into their workflow, the path does not begin by changing software but by changing their mindset about how project information is managed.
The first step is understanding what information the model needs to contain at each stage. Not the entire model needs to have all the information from day one: different project stages require different levels of detail and different types of properties. Defining this at the beginning prevents overworking at the start and discovering later that critical information is missing.
The second step is to correctly configure IFC exports in the software being used. Most software allows you to customize what is exported and how the native model elements are mapped to the IFC standard categories. A careless configuration can produce a technically valid IFC file but with incomplete or incorrectly classified information.
The third step is to validate IFC files before sharing them. Free validation tools, such as buildingSMART’s free IFC viewer, allow you to verify that the file is technically correct and contains the expected information before sending it to other team members.
The fourth step is to agree with all project participants on which classification standards will be used. A well-structured IFC model uses recognized classification systems—such as Uniclass or OmniClass—to categorize items consistently. Without this prior agreement, different teams may classify the same items in incompatible ways, hindering coordination.
Conclusion
OpenBIM and the IFC format solved one of the most persistent problems in the AEC industry: the fragmentation of information in software silos that don’t communicate with each other. They didn’t solve it perfectly or instantly, but they established a solid foundation upon which the industry continues to build.
For architecture, engineering, and construction professionals in Latin America, understanding OpenBIM is no longer optional. It is increasingly becoming a requirement for participating in larger-scale projects, working with international clients, and complying with the regulatory demands that governments in the region are progressively implementing.
The good news is that the tools for working with OpenBIM are available, mature, and accessible. The missing step, in many cases, is simply understanding the standard well enough to take advantage of it.
Want to know which BIM software is best suited for your workflow and how to configure it to work correctly with IFC? At aufieroinformatica.com you can consult with our specialists.
