Parse an IFC file and extract building elements, property sets, and quantities with IfcOpenShell in Python
domain: docs.ifcopenshell.org · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Install ifcopenshell (pip install ifcopenshell) and open a model with ifcopenshell.open("model.ifc")
Query elements by IFC class, e.g. model.by_type("IfcWall") or model.by_type("IfcBuildingStorey"), rather than iterating the whole file
Read property sets and quantities with ifcopenshell.util.element.get_psets(element), using psets_only=True or qtos_only=True to separate them
For geometry, use the ifcopenshell.geom module/iterator to get triangulated shapes (vertices/faces) rather than parsing STEP geometry by hand
For bulk edits (e.g. regenerating GlobalIds), use an ifcpatch recipe (e.g. ifcpatch.recipes.RegenerateGlobalIds) instead of hand-rolled mutation
Known gotchas
IfcOpenShell has full schema parsing across IFC2x3 through IFC4x3, but the geometry engine is most mature for IFC2x3/IFC4 - some IFC4x3 geometry (e.g. alignments) may need extra handling
get_psets() returns both project-defined and type-inherited property sets by default; use the psets_only/qtos_only flags or values get double counted
IFC files from different authoring tools (Revit, ArchiCAD, Tekla) populate property sets inconsistently - never assume a given Pset/property will be present
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