The new file arrives as a new model
If each export is uploaded as its own model, the project ends up with “Structure,” “Structure new” and “Structure final,” and the coordination view shows all three at once, one on top of the other.
Model versions
BIM model version control for IFC files
Trades upload a new export of their model every few weeks, and within a quarter nobody is sure which file the last coordination meeting looked at. Version control for a model is the same job as for a drawing: one model, many issues of it, one of them current, and the older ones still reachable. This page shows how Fidrel handles that for IFC files, what the version list tells you, and what happens to an issue raised on a model that has since been replaced.
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What goes wrong when models are replaced by hand
Nobody can say which file is current
The file in the folder, the file the BIM coordinator reviewed and the file the subcontractor downloaded last week are rarely the same one. Questions about a clash then turn into questions about which model was open.
An old issue points at a model that no longer exists
A note raised against last month’s model loses its meaning once that file is overwritten. The camera angle, the selected object and the section are all gone, and the person who has to act on it starts over.
What the card and the version list show
Each model has one card. Its line of facts gives the latest version number, the IFC version, the software that wrote the file, the size and the object count, and below it who uploaded it and when. The title and the Open in 3D button lead to the newest version that is ready, so a version that is still building or failed does not take the model away from the people reviewing it. The federated model button opens the newest ready version of every model together. Older versions stay in the list with their own date and file name, and each can be opened in 3D by itself.
BIM & 3D
A model is a document, a version is a document version
Behind the BIM page, a model is stored as a project document, and each model version is a version of that document. The original IFC file is kept unchanged with the project documents, and every version carries its upload date. That matters for two things. A model follows the same folder structure and access as a drawing, and the Download IFC action in the model’s menu gives you back the file as uploaded. If you upload a new model whose name is already used by another document, Fidrel says that the document number is already in use and asks you to change the model name.
Versioning a model from the first upload
Step 1
Upload the first export as a new model
On the BIM models page choose Upload model and drag in the IFC file. Fidrel proposes a model name from the file name and guesses the discipline from it. Check both, pick a Folder, and leave Add as on New model.
Step 2
Upload each later export as a new version
For the next export, open the model’s menu and choose New version, or choose Upload model and set Add as to New version of an existing model. Pick the model in the list, so the file lands in the same history instead of a new card.
Step 3
Keep the window open while 3D is built
The dialog steps through Uploading, Checking the file, Building 3D model and Publishing. The model is built in your own browser, so keep the window open. A card shows Waiting for 3D, Building 3D model or Ready.
Step 4
Read the version list
On a model with more than one version, choose Show all versions. Each row gives the version number, the file name, the date and the state, and an Open in 3D link for every version that is ready.
Step 5
Raise issues in the viewer, on the version in front of you
Select an object and choose Create deviation or Create task. The record is saved with the view, and its 3D link always opens the version it was made on, with the same camera, selection and section.
How an issue stays with its version
An issue created in the viewer is stored against the version that was open, together with the camera, the selected object and the section. Its 3D link opens that version with that view, and not whatever is newest. The effect is deliberate: an issue raised on version 3 still shows what the reviewer saw on version 3, even after version 5 is published. To check whether it still applies, open the current version and look at the same place.
What Fidrel does not do with versions
Fidrel does not compare two versions of a model: it lists them and opens either, but it does not mark what changed between them. There is no button that makes an older version the current one; the newest ready version is the one the model opens. An issue made on an older version keeps opening that version; Fidrel does not move it to the newer one. Members with read-only rights can review the models but not upload new ones.
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Use New version in the model’s menu, or Upload model with Add as set to New version of an existing model. The new file joins the same model, and the earlier versions stay in the list with their date and file name.
The newest version that is ready. The model’s title, its Open in 3D button and the federated model all lead to it. A version that is still building or has failed is shown by its state, but it does not replace the last ready one.
Yes. Choose Show all versions on the model and open any ready version in 3D. The original file of each version is kept unchanged with the project documents.
It stays linked to the version it was raised on and opens that version with the saved camera, selection and section. Open the current version to see whether the problem is still there.
No. Fidrel keeps and lists the versions and opens each in 3D, but it does not compare two of them or mark the differences. For clashes, run the check between the models you want to coordinate.