What does IFC stand for on a drawing?

On a drawing, IFC stands for issued for construction: the drawing has been reviewed, approved, and released for the works to be built from. In BIM, the same three letters name the Industry Foundation Classes data schema, an open format for exchanging building models published as ISO 16739-1. Context separates them. A status stamp in a title block means issued for construction, and a file ending in .ifc is a model.

What is the difference between IFC drawings and shop drawings?

IFC drawings are the design set released for construction, produced by the design team and approved for the works to be built from. Shop drawings are produced by a contractor, fabricator, or supplier to show how a specific element will be made and installed, and they are submitted for review against the IFC set. One is the released design, and the other is the detailed proposal for delivering part of it.

What happens when an IFC drawing is revised?

The new revision is issued for construction and becomes the current sheet, and the previous revision is marked superseded and kept on the record. Everyone who received the earlier revision needs the new one, which is why the reissue goes out on a transmittal that records the recipient, the date, and the revision. Printed copies of the superseded revision have to come off site, because a print carries no status of its own once it leaves the register.

How does issued for construction map to ISO 19650 status codes?

ISO 19650 moves an information container through work in progress, shared, published, and archived, and gives each container a status or suitability code. Under the UK National Annex to BS EN ISO 19650-2, published containers carry A codes for authorised information, with the project information standard defining what each code means. A4 is commonly set as authorised and accepted as suitable for construction, which is the ISO 19650 equivalent of an IFC stamp.

fig. 01 · glossary / issued for construction

What does issued for construction mean?

Issued for construction, usually shortened to IFC, is the drawing status that records a drawing as reviewed, approved, and released for the works to be built from. The status is stamped in the title block and carried on the drawing record, so anyone holding the sheet can see what it may be used for.

An IFC drawing is the version the crew builds from, the fabricator works to, and procurement orders against. Every status before it carries a qualifier, for review, for approval, or for tender, and only this one releases the design to be built.

Also written IFC · Sometimes issued as AFC, approved for construction · Related terms: superseded drawings, as-constructed drawings

fig. 02 · the lifecycle

Where IFC sits in the drawing status lifecycle.

A drawing earns its status by passing a gate. Each issue names what the sheet may be used for, and the codes below are the ones most engineering and construction projects run, though the exact set is defined by the project.

Reaching IFC is a decision, so it should be recorded as one. Years later, the owner needs the approval that released the drawing and the date it went out, so keep both against the sheet.

See how review and approval move a drawing

Drawing status sequence5 stages

IFR
Issued for review
Early coordination sets, circulated between disciplines. Gaps are expected, and finding them is the point.
IFA
Issued for approval
Submitted to the client, the engineer, or an authority for formal sign-off.
IFT
Issued for tender
The set contractors price. Also written IFB, issued for bid, on projects that use that term.
IFC
Issued for construction
Approved and released to build from. This is the sheet the crew, the fabricator, and procurement work to.
AC
As-constructed
The IFC set updated to match what was actually built, handed to the asset owner as the record set.

One acronym, two meanings

IFC also names the Industry Foundation Classes, the open data schema for exchanging building models, published as ISO 16739-1 and used across BIM projects. A team can hold an IFC model at IFC status, which reads as nonsense until you know both meanings. The fix is to say the words in full when the sentence could go either way: an IFC model is a file format, and an IFC drawing is a status.

See how models and drawings sit in one environment

fig. 03 · why it matters

Why superseding an IFC drawing correctly matters to owners.

A construction issue is the point where paper turns into steel and concrete. When a revision goes out and the old one stays in circulation, someone builds the previous design, and the cost lands on the asset owner as rework, a variation, or a defect found years later.

It is the sheet work is priced and built to

An IFC drawing is a project control point. It tells the field, procurement, and every subcontractor which version of the design the contract expects, so a variation claim is measured against it.

Status outranks date

A later drawing at an earlier status does not replace a current IFC sheet. Only a newer revision issued for construction does, which is why the status has to sit on the record rather than in the covering email.

The record set starts here

The as-constructed set is the IFC set brought up to match the asset as built. If the IFC baseline is unclear, so is everything derived from it.

Supersession has to be visible

When a new revision is issued for construction, the previous one becomes superseded and has to be marked as such. A superseded IFC print left in circulation is the one that gets built.

fig. 04 · how Lunr handles it

The status lives on the document record.

Lunr holds drawing files under revision control and runs each issue through a workflow, so the drawing marked issued for construction is the one the register serves, and the previous revision is on the record as superseded.

The status on the document record is the real status, so IFC means IFC rather than whatever the file name says.
Each new revision supersedes the last, and the superseded copy stays on the record marked as superseded.
The revision is synchronised back to the drawing title block, so the sheet in someone's hand agrees with the register.
Every transmittal records the recipient, the date issued, and the revision sent, so you can show who held which IFC revision.
Overlay one revision on another to see exactly what changed between two issues.
Check the current sheet from the field on mobile, before anyone builds from a print.

document status · revision control · superseded marking · transmittal record · revision compare

See how document control works in Lunr

fig. 05 · related

Keep reading.

Glossary

Superseded drawings

What happens to the previous IFC revision, and why it stays retrievable.

Glossary

Revision control

The discipline that keeps one revision current and every earlier one on the record.

Glossary

ISO 19650

The standard behind status codes, published containers, and the common data environment.

Blog

How the CDE will evolve

Where IFC models sit in the environment, and why the acronym clash is worth watching.

fig. 06 · questions

Questions about issued for construction.

What does IFC stand for on a drawing?: On a drawing, IFC stands for issued for construction: the drawing has been reviewed, approved, and released for the works to be built from. In BIM, the same three letters name the Industry Foundation Classes data schema, an open format for exchanging building models published as ISO 16739-1. Context separates them. A status stamp in a title block means issued for construction, and a file ending in .ifc is a model.
What is the difference between IFC drawings and shop drawings?: IFC drawings are the design set released for construction, produced by the design team and approved for the works to be built from. Shop drawings are produced by a contractor, fabricator, or supplier to show how a specific element will be made and installed, and they are submitted for review against the IFC set. One is the released design, and the other is the detailed proposal for delivering part of it.
What happens when an IFC drawing is revised?: The new revision is issued for construction and becomes the current sheet, and the previous revision is marked superseded and kept on the record. Everyone who received the earlier revision needs the new one, which is why the reissue goes out on a transmittal that records the recipient, the date, and the revision. Printed copies of the superseded revision have to come off site, because a print carries no status of its own once it leaves the register.
How does issued for construction map to ISO 19650 status codes?: ISO 19650 moves an information container through work in progress, shared, published, and archived, and gives each container a status or suitability code. Under the UK National Annex to BS EN ISO 19650-2, published containers carry A codes for authorised information, with the project information standard defining what each code means. A4 is commonly set as authorised and accepted as suitable for construction, which is the ISO 19650 equivalent of an IFC stamp.

fig. 07 · get started

Make sure the sheet on site is the current one.

Book a walkthrough and watch Lunr release a revision for construction, mark the previous one superseded, and record exactly who received which issue.

Book a demo See document control

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