20 definitions across four parts of the workflow. Use them to connect architectural information, analytical geometry, and the decisions made during review.
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Building Information Modelling: working with digital representations that combine building geometry and information about the elements being designed. In a structural handoff, the useful information extends beyond a visible shape to properties, classifications, and relationships that another team needs to interpret.
Industry Foundation Classes: buildingSMART’s open, vendor-neutral standard for describing and exchanging built-environment information. An IFC exchange can carry objects, properties, and relationships as well as geometry. The version, export settings, and receiving application affect which information is available in a particular handoff.
Structural Analytical Format: an open, spreadsheet-based schema for exchanging structural analytical model information. ArchiCAD can export its analytical model in SAF. Its focus is the representation needed for structural workflows, so the receiving team should review the analytical data and the translator used for the exchange.
A collection of rules that controls how information is written to an exchange file. In ArchiCAD, SAF and IFC have their own translators. Depending on the format, these rules can affect element inclusion, property conversion, material or section mapping, and the interpretation of geometry.
The representation of the building’s physical components: walls, slabs, columns, beams, and their actual dimensions and positions. It carries architectural intent and building information. The corresponding analytical representation simplifies selected parts of this geometry to make structural behaviour possible to describe and evaluate.
A simplified representation of a structure using members, nodes, surfaces, and engineering properties. It describes the model that will be used for structural analysis. Its geometry and assumptions need to represent the intended structural behaviour; visual similarity to the physical model alone does not establish that.
An analytical member represented along a line between its end nodes, typically used for a beam or column. The line describes its axis, while the assigned section and material describe properties that cannot be read from the line alone. The local axes also matter when interpreting its orientation.
An analytical surface representation, commonly used for a slab or wall. Its boundaries, openings, thickness, and connection to neighbouring members are part of the model’s meaning. In ArchiCAD, eligible slabs, walls, and single-plane roofs can generate this type of analytical member.
A defined point in an analytical model used to describe member geometry and connections. Two members that look as though they touch are not necessarily connected in the analytical representation. Reviewing the relevant node positions and connection definitions helps distinguish a visual intersection from an intended analytical connection.
The description of how analytical members are connected to one another. It includes which points or boundaries meet and how those connections are represented. A review looks for both missing connections and unintended ones, using the structural intent as the reference rather than geometry alone.
The set of axes attached to an individual member, distinct from the coordinates of the whole project. Local directions help describe member orientation, releases, supports, and loads. Different applications may interpret these axes differently, making orientation an important part of exchange review.
The shape and dimensions assigned across a member, such as a rectangular beam section or a named steel profile. In an exchange, a familiar section label is only part of the check: the intended geometry and its interpretation in the receiving model also need to agree.
The correspondence between material definitions in the source model and the definitions used by the receiving workflow. Naming conventions can differ between applications. Review the intended material assignment and relevant properties, rather than assuming that similar names identify equivalent engineering inputs.
An analytical definition of how a structure or member is restrained or supported. Supports may be associated with points, lines, or surfaces. Their location, direction, and restraint or stiffness settings express engineering assumptions that should be checked in the receiving analysis model.
A definition controlling which force and moment components are transferred at a member end or surface edge. Releases describe connection behaviour in the analytical model. They may not change the appearance of the physical building, so they require an explicit engineering check.
An offset between an analytical member and its default reference position. For example, an analytical axis or surface may be displaced relative to the centre of the physical element’s structural core. The reason for an offset matters: an intentional modelling choice and an accidental displacement need different responses.
A named arrangement of actions considered together for an analysis or verification. Load cases organise the inputs that an engineer evaluates, and are distinct from the combinations used to consider multiple cases together. During revision review, check which cases and associated loads are actually included in the comparison.
An identifiable version of a model at a particular point in the design process. A useful revision has a clear source, date or issue identifier, scope, and predecessor. Those details make it possible to compare the intended versions and explain why the analytical model changed.
The examination of two model versions to identify differences in elements, properties, or analytical inputs. The result depends on what is included in each model or view. Review the comparison scope first so that an omitted element is not mistaken for an intentional design deletion.
The ability to connect an analytical element back to the source information that produced it. This makes a discrepancy or revision easier to investigate. NodeSnap describes a workflow that checks converted elements against their architectural source, so the review can stay anchored to the relevant geometry and properties.
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