IfcDistributionCircuit

Natural language names
Verteiler / Schaltkreis
Distribution Circuit
Circuit de distribution
Change log
ItemSPFXMLChangeDescription
IFC2x3 to IFC4 4.0.0.0
    IfcDistributionCircuitADDED
IFC4x2 to IFC4x3_RC1
    IfcDistributionCircuit
      ServicesFacilitiesADDED
Semantic definitions at the entity
Entity definition

A distribution circuit is a partition of a distribution system that is conditionally switched such as an electrical circuit.

HISTORY  New entity in IFC4.

IFC4 CHANGE  For electrical power systems, IfcElectricalCircuit has been used for low-voltage (12-1000 V) power circuits and has been replaced by IfcDistributionCircuit in IFC4; IfcDistributionSystem with PredefinedType 'ELECTRICAL' should be used for overall power systems, and IfcDistributionCircuit with PredefinedType 'ELECTRICAL' should be used for each switched circuit.

Composition Use Definition

An IfcDistributionCircuit may aggregate an IfcDistributionSystem using the IfcRelAggregates relationship where RelatingObject refers to the IfcDistributionSystem and RelatedObjects includes one or more IfcDistributionCircuit groups.

An IfcDistributionCircuit may be aggregated into sub-circuits using the IfcRelAggregates relationship where RelatingObject refers to the parent IfcDistributionCircuit and RelatedObjects refers to one or more IfcDistributionCircuit sub-circuits.

Assignment Use Definition

An IfcDistributionCircuit should be assigned to an IfcDistributionPort on an IfcFlowController element indicating the host or origination of the system using the IfcRelAssignsToProduct relationship.

Each device whose operation is conditional based upon the state of the circuit is assigned to the IfcDistributionCircuit via the IfcRelAssignsToGroup relationship. An IfcDistributionElement may belong to multiple systems or circuits, however only one IfcDistributionSystem or IfcDistributionCircuit of a particular PredefinedType.

Inherited definitions from supertypes
Entity inheritance IfcDistributionSystem IfcSystem IfcGroup IfcObject IfcObjectDefinition IfcRoot
Attribute inheritance
#AttributeTypeCardinalityDescriptionG
IfcRoot
1GlobalIdIfcGloballyUniqueId Assignment of a globally unique identifier within the entire software world. X
2OwnerHistoryIfcOwnerHistory? Assignment of the information about the current ownership of that object, including owning actor, application, local identification and information captured about the recent changes of the object,
NOTE  only the last modification in stored - either as addition, deletion or modification.
IFC4 CHANGE  The attribute has been changed to be OPTIONAL.
X
3NameIfcLabel? Optional name for use by the participating software systems or users. For some subtypes of IfcRoot the insertion of the Name attribute may be required. This would be enforced by a where rule. X
4DescriptionIfcText? Optional description, provided for exchanging informative comments. X
IfcObjectDefinition
HasAssignmentsIfcRelAssigns
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship objects, that assign (by an association relationship) other subtypes of IfcObject to this object instance. Examples are the association to products, processes, controls, resources or groups. X
NestsIfcRelNests
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is a part within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object occurrence or type can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added and separated from Decomposes defined at IfcObjectDefinition.
X
IsNestedByIfcRelNests
@RelatingObject
S[0:?]References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is the whole within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object or object type can be nested by several other objects (occurrences or types).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added and separated from IsDecomposedBy defined at IfcObjectDefinition.
X
HasContextIfcRelDeclares
@RelatedDefinitions
S[0:1]References to the context providing context information such as project unit or representation context. It should only be asserted for the uppermost non-spatial object.
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added.
X
IsDecomposedByIfcRelAggregates
@RelatingObject
S[0:?]References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is whole within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can be aggregated by several other objects (occurrences or parts).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been changed from the supertype IfcRelDecomposes to subtype IfcRelAggregates.
X
DecomposesIfcRelAggregates
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is a part within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been changed from the supertype IfcRelDecomposes to subtype IfcRelAggregates.
X
HasAssociationsIfcRelAssociates
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship objects, that associates external references or other resource definitions to the object.. Examples are the association to library, documentation or classification. X
IfcObject
5ObjectTypeIfcLabel? The type denotes a particular type that indicates the object further. The use has to be established at the level of instantiable subtypes. In particular it holds the user defined type, if the enumeration of the attribute PredefinedType is set to USERDEFINED. X
IsDeclaredByIfcRelDefinesByObject
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]Link to the relationship object pointing to the declaring object that provides the object definitions for this object occurrence. The declaring object has to be part of an object type decomposition. The associated IfcObject, or its subtypes, contains the specific information (as part of a type, or style, definition), that is common to all reflected instances of the declaring IfcObject, or its subtypes.
IFC4 CHANGE  New inverse relationship, change made with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
DeclaresIfcRelDefinesByObject
@RelatingObject
S[0:?]Link to the relationship object pointing to the reflected object(s) that receives the object definitions. The reflected object has to be part of an object occurrence decomposition. The associated IfcObject, or its subtypes, provides the specific information (as part of a type, or style, definition), that is common to all reflected instances of the declaring IfcObject, or its subtypes.
IFC4 CHANGE  New inverse relationship, change made with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
IsTypedByIfcRelDefinesByType
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]Set of relationships to the object type that provides the type definitions for this object occurrence. The then associated IfcTypeObject, or its subtypes, contains the specific information (or type, or style), that is common to all instances of IfcObject, or its subtypes, referring to the same type.
IFC4 CHANGE  New inverse relationship, the link to IfcRelDefinesByType had previously be included in the inverse relationship IfcRelDefines. Change made with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
IsDefinedByIfcRelDefinesByProperties
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Set of relationships to property set definitions attached to this object. Those statically or dynamically defined properties contain alphanumeric information content that further defines the object.
IFC4 CHANGE  The data type has been changed from IfcRelDefines to IfcRelDefinesByProperties with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
IfcGroup
IsGroupedByIfcRelAssignsToGroup
@RelatingGroup
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship IfcRelAssignsToGroup that assigns the one to many group members to the IfcGroup object.
IFC4 CHANGE  The cardinality has been changed from 1..1 to 0..? in order to allow the exchange of a group concept without having already group members assigned. It now also allows the use of many instances of IfcRelAssignsToGroup to assign the group members. The change has been done with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
ReferencedInStructuresIfcRelReferencedInSpatialStructure
@RelatedElements
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship IfcRelReferencedInSpatialStructure that relates the group to a spatial element. X
IfcSystem
ServicesBuildingsIfcRelServicesBuildings
@RelatingSystem
S[0:1]Reference to the building spatial structure via the objectified relationship IfcRelServicesBuildings, which is serviced by the system. X
ServicesFacilitiesIfcRelReferencedInSpatialStructure
@RelatedElements
S[0:?]X
IfcDistributionSystem
6LongNameIfcLabel? Long name for a distribution system, used for informal purposes. It should be used, if available, in conjunction with the inherited Name attribute.\X\0D
NOTE  In many scenarios the Name attribute refers to the short name or number of a distribution system or branch circuit, and the LongName refers to a descriptive name.
X
7PredefinedTypeIfcDistributionSystemEnum? X
IfcDistributionCircuit
Definitions applying to General Usage

Concept inheritance

#ConceptTemplateModel View
IfcRoot
IdentitySoftware IdentityGeneral Usage
Revision ControlRevision ControlGeneral Usage
IfcObjectDefinition
Classification AssociationClassification AssociationGeneral Usage
Assignment to ProductAssignment to ProductGeneral Usage
IfcObject
Object User IdentityObject User IdentityGeneral Usage
Object Predefined TypeObject Predefined TypeGeneral Usage
Object TypingObject TypingGeneral Usage
Property Sets with OverrideProperty Sets with OverrideGeneral Usage
IfcSystem
System Element AttributesSystem Element AttributesGeneral Usage
IfcDistributionSystem
Property Sets for ObjectsProperty Sets for ObjectsGeneral Usage
AggregationAggregationGeneral Usage
Group AssignmentGroup AssignmentGeneral Usage
Formal representations
XML Specification
 <xs:element name="IfcDistributionCircuit" type="ifc:IfcDistributionCircuit" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcDistributionSystem" nillable="true"/>
 <xs:complexType name="IfcDistributionCircuit">
  <xs:complexContent>
   <xs:extension base="ifc:IfcDistributionSystem"/>
  </xs:complexContent>
 </xs:complexType>
EXPRESS Specification
ENTITY IfcDistributionCircuit
 SUBTYPE OF (IfcDistributionSystem);
END_ENTITY;

Link to EXPRESS-G diagram EXPRESS-G diagram

Link to this page  Link to this page