ifc-core-ifc5-architecture
IFC5 Architecture
IN DEVELOPMENT : IFC5 is NOT a released standard. The schema, the file
format, the entity names, and every concept in this skill are preliminary
and WILL change. The official buildingSMART/IFC5-development repository
states the examples are "preliminary and represent a direction of working
for IFC 5" and are "for educational and testing purposes only. They are
not suitable for production use without further refinement." NEVER use
IFC5 for a production deliverable. NEVER teach IFC5 as a stable target.
For production work use IFC4.3 (ISO 16739-1:2024) or IFC2x3.
This skill explains the architectural direction of IFC5 so that an IFC5
question gets an accurate, suitably-hedged answer. It covers the
composition model, multi-author layering, the .ifcx JSON format,
TypeSpec, and how IFC5 departs from IFC4.3. Every claim is verified
against the buildingSMART/IFC5-development repository (verified
2026-05-20).