Archicad Translator - IFC Material Category

[ShaunTaylor]

Hi,

Does Archicad have property for "Category" for ifcMaterial, when Archicad Exports the assigned Building Materials on elements to IFC?

I can see Archicad creates the ifcMaterial and defines the "Name" property, however it does not define the "Description" and the "Category" properties. Please see below an extract from my exported IFC, where the '$' symbols represent where "Description" and "Category" should be defined.

#91=IFCMATERIAL('Concrete Block - Structural',$,$);

Is there a setting in the translator where I can define the category, so it is defined in the ifcMaterial? To look like the below.

#91=IFCMATERIAL('Concrete Block - Structural',$,'Concrete');

Is there a button I have missed, or is this a limitation with the Archicad translator?

Cheers,

Shaun.

Operating system used: Windows 11

[Ricardo Lopez]

Hi @ShaunTaylor 

There is an option at Interoperability> IFC> IFC Translators...> Data Conversion for IFC Export that allows you to export Building Material Properties and Classifications.

You could create your own translator or use the existing CostX Export for testing.

I did a test with Name, Category and Description for a Composite Wall and Material Properties can be shown in Solibri individually by Building Element Part.

Regards.

[ShaunTaylor]

Hi Ricardo,

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately, I have tried this. Although the data does export to properties in the IFC file, it puts the category in the wrong data field inside the IFC file.

To be truly compliant with IFC4 open BIM standards, the category field must be populated where the "$" is, where I highlighted. As far as I can see, I can't see an option for that in the translator.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept the IFC file for our facility management unless the data is provided in the correct IFC properties. I can use python to populate the "$" after export, but this is not sustainable.

Cheers,

Shaun.