This idea arises from the growing need to comply with BIM requirements established by the Spanish rail administration, which mandate the delivery of structured IFC files. These IFC models must include specific properties (Psets) not only at the element level but also at the project level and across the entire IFC model.

Currently, within OpenRail Designer, the existing IFC mapping workflow does not allow users to define or assign properties at the project or global model level. This limitation creates a significant gap when trying to meet official BIM deliverable standards, requiring additional manual work or external tools to complete the dataset.

Proposed Improvement:

Introduce enhanced IFC export and mapping capabilities that allow:

• Assignment of Property Sets (Psets) at the project level (IfcProject)

• Inclusion of metadata at the global IFC model level

• A more flexible and user-friendly interface for defining non-element-based properties within the IFC schema

• Compatibility with national and international BIM standards requiring structured data beyond individual elements

Benefits:

• Ensures compliance with Spanish rail BIM requirements and similar regulatory frameworks

• Reduces the need for post-processing or external IFC editing tools

• Improves workflow efficiency and data consistency

• Strengthens OpenRail Designer’s position as a BIM-compliant solution for infrastructure projects

Use Case:

Infrastructure projects developed for Spanish rail authorities require IFC deliverables enriched with standardized metadata at multiple levels. Without native support for project-level Psets, users face challenges in delivering compliant models directly from OpenRail Designer.

Conclusion:

Enhancing IFC mapping to support project and model-level properties would address a critical compliance gap and significantly improve usability for BIM-driven infrastructure projects.