If your models can’t talk, your teams won’t either. That’s the heart of BIM interoperability-making sure geometry, properties, and issues move cleanly between authoring tools, coordination platforms, cost/schedule systems, and FM applications. When you nail interoperability with IFC in BIM, the BCF format, and other open BIM standards, collaboration gets simpler, RFIs drop, and handovers stop being a fire drill.
Why interoperability matters in real projects
On live jobs, teams juggle Revit, Archicad, Tekla, Civil 3D, Navisworks/Revizto, scheduling tools, and CAFM. Without disciplined data exchange in BIM you get duplicated modeling, broken parameters, and “dumb” geometry at handover. With open standards, your BIM collaboration becomes resilient, vendor-neutral, and future-proof-exactly what stakeholders expect in modern bim and construction delivery. If you’re formalizing this in a BEP, it helps to align your exchanges with a service partner that already templates CDE structures, clash gates, and handover drops; many teams pair that setup with targeted BIM Coordination Services so training happens on real project deliverables, not in a vacuum.
IFC in BIM: the backbone of data exchange
IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is an open schema that describes elements (e.g., IfcWall, IfcPipeSegment), their property sets, relationships (systems, hosts, spatial hierarchy), and geometry. Think of IFC as the “common language” for models.
What IFC does well
- Moves rich element data between platforms without trapping you in a single vendor.
- Enables consistent QTO/validation downstream (when classifications and Psets are disciplined).
- Delivers owner-friendly, long-life files at handover.
How to put IFC to work
- Choose the right MVD (Model View Definition) for the task-Coordination View/Reference View for review, Design Transfer where editability matters.
- Lock naming, units, classifications (Uniclass/OmniClass) so Psets map predictably.
- Validate exports with model checkers (rules for completeness, duplicates, geometry sanity) before issuing.
For existing conditions, combine reliable scans with standards-driven modeling; that’s why Scan-to-BIM pipelines are often packaged alongside coordination under BIM Services – Offerings to keep IFC deliverables consistent from day one.
BCF format: issues without shipping the whole model
BCF (BIM Collaboration Format) is a tiny, open container for issues: comments, viewpoints, element references, status, and assignee-not geometry. It’s perfect for short, accountable coordination loops.
Why teams adopt BCF
- Tool-agnostic: authors in Revit/Archicad, coordinators in Navisworks/Revizto-same issue, same camera.
- Faster cycles: you send kilobytes, not gigabytes.
- Traceability: statuses and decisions live with the issue record.
Good practice
- Standardize statuses, priorities, due dates in your BEP.
- Run weekly gates: import BCF → resolve → re-export; measure cycle time per issue (not “clash count”).
- Keep one source of truth (CDE or BCF server), not scattered emails.
Many contractors pair BCF-driven coordination with model-derived submittals and fabrication drawings; when schedules get tight, teams often fold in shop-drawing support through BIM Coordination / Shop Drawings to keep the loop unbroken.
Open BIM standards beyond IFC and BCF
Open BIM is an ecosystem that keeps bim designs usable across platforms and phases:
- MVDs (Model View Definitions): Task-specific IFC subsets to avoid over/under-sharing.
- IDM (Information Delivery Manual): Who delivers what, when, and why-perfect to anchor your BEP.
- bSDD (buildingSMART Data Dictionary): Controlled vocabularies so “FireRating” isn’t 10 different labels.
- COBie: Tabular handover data (assets, systems, warranties) extracted from BIM/IFC for FM.
If you’re mapping these concepts to day-to-day delivery, case-led explainers on the BIM Services blog are a helpful on-ramp for non-technical stakeholders who still make key process decisions.
How IFC, BCF, and open standards fit together
- Authoring (Revit/Archicad/Tekla/Civil 3D) to office/project templates.
- IFC export with the correct MVD for the purpose (review, coordination, design transfer).
- Federation and checks (Navisworks/Solibri/Revizto) for clashes and property validation.
- BCF issues created from findings and routed to the right discipline leads.
- Round-trip fixes in native tools using BCF viewpoints and element references.
- Milestone drops (IFC/COBie) validated against acceptance criteria for design, construction, and FM.
Organizations that lack internal bandwidth usually operationalize this by co-delivering a pilot package with BIM Coordination Services, then scale standards across programs with selective bim outsourcing services instead of staffing every spike in workload.
Implementation checklist
- Define exchange events per phase: sender/receiver, format, MVD, frequency.
- Fix classification systems and property naming (and enforce unit consistency).
- Stand up a BCF workflow (server or agreed routine) with statuses/priorities.
- Publish validation rules (IDS/Solibri/QA scripts) for property completeness and geometry sanity.
- Schedule data drops (IFC/COBie) with objective acceptance tests.
- Track cycle time per issue, first-pass approval, asset data completeness at each gate.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- Expecting IFC to fix messy models. Garbage in, garbage out. Start with model health: templates, shared parameters, and classification discipline.
- Using the wrong MVD. Match the view definition to the task or you’ll create rework.
- Property drift. If “Door_Fire_Rating” multiplies into ten variants, downstream tools will guess-and be wrong.
- Email-driven coordination. Move to BCF; screenshot archaeology kills time and accountability.
- Handover as an afterthought. Define COBie/asset parameters on day 1; don’t retrofit at practical completion.
Interoperability for different audiences
- Design authors (Arch/Str/MEP): Focus on template fidelity and property sets that survive IFC export; this is where bim and construction documentation stays consistent across trades.
- Coordinators/VDC: Tune clash tolerances, automate checks, and anchor meetings around BCF lists-not slide decks.
- Estimators/Planners: Use stable element GUIDs and classifications so 4D/5D links persist across revisions.
- FM/Owners: Require IFC + COBie with defined acceptance criteria; you’re buying data, not just drawings.
Where to learn more
Teams evaluating platforms and exchange strategies usually find it useful to read a recent comparison of common CDE stacks and coordination flows on the BIM Services blog, then mirror that guidance in their BEP. From there, service pages such as BIM Coordination Services and Scan-to-BIM / As-Built Modeling show how those patterns translate into deliverables you can deploy immediately.
