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IfcSpatialStructureElement

Definition from IAI: A spatial structure element (IfcSpatialStructureElement) is the generalization of all spatial elements that might be used to define a spatial structure. That spatial structure is often used to provide a project structure to organize a building project.

A spatial project structure might define as many levels of decomposition as necessary for the building project. Elements within the spatial project structure are:

or aggregations or parts thereof. The composition type declares an element to be either an element itself, or an aggregation (complex) or a decomposition (part). The interpretation of these types is given at each subtype of IfcSpatialStructureElement.

The IfcRelAggregates is defined as an 1-to-many relationship and used to establish the relationship between exactly two levels within the spatial project structure.

Informal proposition:

  1. The spatial project structure, established by the IfcRelAggregates, shall be acyclic.
  2. A site should not be (directly or indirectly) associated to a building, storey or space.
  3. A building should not be (directly or indirectly) associated to a storey or space.
  4. A storey should not be (directly or indirectly) associated to a space.

HISTORY New entity in IFC Release 2.x
NOTE Previous entity IfcSpatialElement has been replaced.
ISSUE See issue and change log for changes made in IFC Release 2.x

Use case:

fig1
The figure shows the use of IfcRelAggregates to establish a spatial structure including site, building, building section and storey.

EXPRESS specification:

ENTITY IfcSpatialStructureElement
ABSTRACT SUPERTYPE OF (ONEOF(IfcBuilding, IfcBuildingStorey, IfcSpace, IfcSite))
SUBTYPE OF ( IfcProduct);
LongName  :  OPTIONAL IfcIdentifier;
CompositionType  :  IfcElementCompositionEnum;
INVERSE
ContainsElements  :  SET OF IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure FOR RelatingStructure;
END_ENTITY;

Attribute definitions:

LongName  :  Long name for a spatial structure element, used for informal purposes. Maybe used in conjunction with the inherited Name attribute.
CompositionType  :  Denotes, whether the predefined spatial structure element represents itself, or an aggregate (complex) or a part (part). The interpretation is given separately for each subtype of spatial structure element.
ContainsElements  :  Set of relationships, that holds those elements, which are associated with this element of the spatial project structure.

References (6):

Name Type Referred through Express-G
IfcBuilding Entity
Supertype
Diagram 2
IfcBuildingStorey Entity
Supertype
Diagram 2
IfcProduct Entity
Subtype
Diagram 1
IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure Entity
Attribute 'RelatingStructure'
Diagram 1
IfcSite Entity
Supertype
Diagram 2
IfcSpace Entity
Supertype
Diagram 3

Inheritance graph

ENTITY IfcSpatialStructureElement;
ENTITY IfcRoot;
GlobalId  :  IfcGloballyUniqueId;
OwnerHistory  :  IfcOwnerHistory;
Name  :  OPTIONAL IfcLabel;
Description  :  OPTIONAL IfcText;
ENTITY IfcObject;
ObjectType  :  OPTIONAL IfcLabel;
INVERSE
IsDefinedBy  :  SET OF IfcRelDefines FOR RelatedObjects;
HasAssociations  :  SET OF IfcRelAssociates FOR RelatedObjects;
HasAssignments  :  SET OF IfcRelAssigns FOR RelatedObjects;
Decomposes  :  SET OF IfcRelDecomposes FOR RelatedObjects;
IsDecomposedBy  :  SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDecomposes FOR RelatingObject;
ENTITY IfcProduct;
ObjectPlacement  :  OPTIONAL IfcObjectPlacement;
Representation  :  OPTIONAL IfcProductRepresentation;
INVERSE
ReferencedBy  :  SET OF IfcRelAssignsToProduct FOR RelatingProduct;
ENTITY IfcSpatialStructureElement;
LongName  :  OPTIONAL IfcIdentifier;
CompositionType  :  IfcElementCompositionEnum;
INVERSE
ContainsElements  :  SET OF IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure FOR RelatingStructure;
END_ENTITY;