certification 2.0 summary

This page contains the official specification of the IFC Certification 2.0 procedure

• buildingSMART IFC Certification 2.0 specification

• reference to the individual certification tracks for official buildingSMART model view definitions
• new: buildingSMART Coordination View Version 2.0 certification
  

The “IFC Certification 2.0” is an improved implementation of the former “IFC2x  Certification” procedure. The most important achievement of the “IFC Certification 2.0” procedure is a detailed quality control approach for the IFC interfaces on top of the self check performed by the software developer.

NOTE The terms "2.0" and "IFC2x" in conjunction with the term "Certification" do not determine the applicability of an IFC Release to a Certification Process. The "IFC2x Certification" procedure has been the first official certification specification established in 2002 that is now superseded by the "IFC Certification 2.0" procedure in 2010.

• the software certification is bound to a particular IFC Model View Definition supporting one or several Exchange Requirements occurring in the construction and facility management industries,
• the software certification is provided with a conformance test suite containing:
• model creation guideline sets to create comparable export test files with test instructions for export checking
• automated export file testing based on validation rules that formalize the constraints imposed by the model view definition
• calibration test files for import checking based on test instructions, i.e. check-lists and templates with testing criteria
  
• the software certification is managed by a web-based database providing the certification center offering:
• central storage and distribution of test guidelines, files and instructions,
  
• central capturing and reporting of test results (at different levels of granularity and access rights)
• running the automatic export testing and providing workflow support for manual evaluation processes

• The new IFC certification 2.0 process provides the participating software companies with a quality assurance methodology, a series of testing tools, a series of test cases for export and import (at different scale and complexity), and access to a team of IFC experts. 
  
• The test environment is tailored to the specific exchange requirements that are satisfied by the IFC Model View Definition (such as the coordination view, or quantity take-off view) that forms the basis for this certification process.
• The IFC Certification Process 2.0 is an internationally recognized certificate accepted to distinguish software applications for their support of interoperability and open standards across many, including strategic, user organizations.
• In detail, each participant get access to:
• the certification center that supports the work flow of certification, from creation and uploading of test cases to final verification and reporting of test results,
• the automatic test routines exclusively defined for the certification process that can be run by participants at any time (including regression tests),
• the list of check boxes for manual verification that will also be used by the certification team for final checks, the individual check items are tight to the requirements (or concepts) of the IFC Model View Definition for the particular certification
• the automatic tracking of issues (and a discussion tool to ask for clarification and help)
• access to elaborated test cases - those are test instructions for generating export test files, and calibration files for import
• ability for self-checking prior to final certification
• the certification itself carried out by a certification team
• marketing benefits by being associated to the buildingSMART certification and included in the buildingSMART International press releases on progress and results of certification.