IDS XML is the file format of buildingSMART's Information Delivery Specification: your BIM requirements written as XML that checking software can read. The quickest way to make one is to write the requirements in a tool like Plannerly and export them, then give the .ids file to every team so they can check their IFC models against it before they submit.
I will show you the easiest step-by-step process to create your own IDS XML. Read on! (New to IDS? Start with the complete guide to IDS in BIM, or watch the IDS demo with Solibri.)
1) buildingSMART IDS (Information Delivery Specification) IDS XML
The IDS XML standard from buildingSMART improves the BIM management workflow by moving BIM specifications from one BIM application to another in a machine-readable format. IDS 1.0 has been an official buildingSMART standard since 2024.
When IDS was still a draft in early 2023, Plannerly became the first commercial BIM scoping software to add a simple export for it.
Plannerly helps you create a BIM specification for your project, then export that BIM scope as an IDS XML file so you can check it in other software (if you are not already using Plannerly's Verify module).
2) How To Create an IDS XML Spec
Let's take a look at how to get started with the IDS XML export in Plannerly!
It's pretty simple. First you create a BIM specification from Plannerly templates, from scratch or from a previous project - like this:
Free lessons: Defining your information requirements database and Quickly assigning requirements and status.
Then go to the exports in File Manager and export an IDS XML BIM specification. An IDS export covers one project milestone (so the project needs at least one), and you can filter it by type of information requirement, tags, teams and team member responsibilities, or by folders in your project's hierarchy (WBS).
You can also choose the IFC version that works best for you: IFC2X3, IFC4, IFC4.3 or IFC4.4. IDS 1.0 itself is defined for IFC2X3, IFC4 and IFC4X3_ADD2 (IFC 4.3), so pick the version your models are delivered in and your checking tool reads. Not every tool reads every IDS option yet, so the export settings let you leave some out, such as classifications.
Give the IDS specification a name and a description so teams know what it covers. Finally, hit Create and you're all set!
It's that simple :)
Here is a video of Clive Jordan showing the workflow:
What an IDS XML file looks like
Open an .ids file in any text editor and you'll find a list of specifications. Here is one, cut down to the essentials:
<ids:specification name="Doors" ifcVersion="IFC4">
<ids:applicability minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<ids:entity>
<ids:name><ids:simpleValue>IFCDOOR</ids:simpleValue></ids:name>
</ids:entity>
</ids:applicability>
<ids:requirements>
<ids:property dataType="IFCLABEL">
<ids:propertySet><ids:simpleValue>Pset_DoorCommon</ids:simpleValue></ids:propertySet>
<ids:baseName><ids:simpleValue>FireRating</ids:simpleValue></ids:baseName>
<ids:value>
<xs:restriction base="xs:string">
<xs:enumeration value="EI30"/>
<xs:enumeration value="EI60"/>
</xs:restriction>
</ids:value>
</ids:property>
</ids:requirements>
</ids:specification>Read it like a sentence: every door (the applicability) must have a FireRating in Pset_DoorCommon, and it must be EI30 or EI60 (the requirement). A checking tool runs that sentence against every door in the IFC model and reports each one that fails. Plannerly writes this XML for you, one specification per element, from the requirements you set.
3) How IDS xml enhances data exchange within BIM projects
The Information Delivery Specification (IDS) XML moves requirements between modelling tools quickly and accurately. Because it is machine-readable, teams can check their BIM models against the owner's, architect's, engineer's or contractor's information requirements with ease.
That's IDS validation in practice: give each team the file, and they check their IFC models against it in the tool they use - see the IDS check in Solibri, with the webinar slides (PDF) (opens in a new tab). The delivered model can then be checked in Plannerly against the same requirements; the free lesson Linking models for auto-checking shows how.
Received an IDS from someone else? Project managers can import an IDS file into Plannerly's Scope, so its requirements become tasks you can assign and track.
4) Benefits for users of Plannerly's support for IDS XML
No more retyping the same requirements into every checker. Write them once in Plannerly, export the IDS, and every team checks against the same rules. The visual approach means teams adopt IDS with little or no training.
Summary
Plannerly was the first commercial software to adopt the Information Delivery Specification (IDS) XML export standard for BIM specifications.
Plannerly helps any organisation keep its data quality high across the whole project lifecycle, and with IDS, BIM teams collaborate better and reach a higher level of quality assurance. For the whole route, from requirements to an IDS file to accepted models, see model checking with IDS.
To see how Plannerly and the IDS XML export can work for your BIM project, book a demo today: plannerly.com/meeting
Other interesting reads: BIM and IFC, what is openBIM? and why you need a BIM Execution Plan (BEP). You'll find more on the Plannerly BIM blog and from five BIM bloggers we follow. Join Plannerly free.
