Create a Breakdown Structure

Use the Breakdown Structure tools on the Home tab to create spatial breakdown structures, groups, and systems. You can then contain physical objects in these entities (tasks) and use the entities to select what to export from the model.

Find it here: Select Home > Breakdown Structure on the ribbon.

All the spatial breakdown entities in the IFC schema are represented as tasks in the model.

Note: Not all submenu choices are always active. IfcProject and Spatial Structure Entity can be greyed out. This is because there are limitations below on which spatial entity type in the structure breakdown tree the different spatial breakdown types can be placed. You need to select a correct parent spatial structure entity type in the Explorer to activate the menu choice you want to use.

You create IfcProject or Spatial Structure Entity tasks with this tool. These tasks can later be dragged around and below each other in the Explorer, but there are restrictions on which of these task types can be placed below other task types, according to the IFC schema. Restriction feedback is given in the Process window if you try to violate them.

Note: If you right-click on the project node or the IfcProject node in the Explorer, you get the menu choice Check that all Objects are Contained in the Spatial Structure. When running this validation, the system checks if all objects are contained in the spatial structure, and only once. You get the feedback in the Process window.

Learn more about Breakdown Structures in The IFC Workflow.

See also