#### 6.1.3.4 IfcDistributionSystem

| Système de distribution
| haustechnische Anlage

A distribution system is a network designed to receive, store, maintain, distribute, or control the flow of a distribution media. A common example is a heating hot water system that consists of a pump, a tank, and an interconnected piping system for distributing hot water to terminals.

The group IfcDistributionSystem defines the occurrence of a specialized system for use within the context of building services.

Important functionalities for the description of a distribution system are derived from existing IFC entities:

- From IfcSystem it inherits the ability to couple the distribution system via IfcRelServicesBuildings to one or more IfcSpatialElement subtypes as necessary.

- From IfcGroup it inherits the inverse attribute IsGroupedBy, pointing to the relationship entity IfcRelAssignsToGroup. This allows to group distribution elements (instances of IfcDistributionElement subtypes), and in special cases ports directly (instances of IfcDistributionPort).

- From IfcObject it inherits the inverse attribute IsDecomposedBy pointing to the relationship entity IfcRelAggregates. It provides the hierarchy between the separate (partial) distribution systems. For example, an electrical main circuit may be aggregated into branch circuits.

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For electrical power systems, IfcElectricalCircuit has been used for low-voltage (12-1000 V) power circuits and has been replaced by IfcDistributionCircuit in IFC4; IfcDistributionSystem with PredefinedType 'ELECTRICAL' should be used for overall power systems, and IfcDistributionCircuit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

XSD Specification:

<xs:element name="IfcDistributionSystem" type="ifc:IfcDistributionSystem" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcSystem" nillable="true"/>
<xs:complexType name="IfcDistributionSystem">
<xs:complexContent>
<xs:extension base="ifc:IfcSystem"/>
</xs:complexContent>
</xs:complexType>

EXPRESS Specification:

ENTITY IfcDistributionSystem

| SUBTYPE OF (IfcSystem);

LongName | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;
PredefinedType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

END_ENTITY;

Attribute Definitions:

LongName | : | Long name for a system, used for informal purposes. It should be used, if available, in conjunction with the inherited Name attribute. 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.

Inheritance Graph:

ENTITY IfcDistributionSystem

| ENTITY IfcRoot

GlobalId | : | IfcGloballyUniqueId;
OwnerHistory | : | OPTIONAL IfcOwnerHistory;
Name | : | OPTIONAL IfcLabel;
Description | : | OPTIONAL IfcText;

| ENTITY IfcObjectDefinition

| INVERSE

HasAssignments | : | SET OF IfcRelAssigns FOR RelatedObjects;
HasContext | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDeclares FOR RelatedDefinitions;
IsDecomposedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelAggregates FOR RelatingObject;
Decomposes | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelAggregates FOR RelatedObjects;
HasAssociations | : | SET OF IfcRelAssociates FOR RelatedObjects;

| ENTITY IfcObject

ObjectType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

| INVERSE

IsTypedBy | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDefinesByType FOR RelatedObjects;

| ENTITY IfcGroup

| INVERSE

IsGroupedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelAssignsToGroup FOR RelatingGroup;

| ENTITY IfcSystem

| INVERSE

| ENTITY IfcDistributionSystem

LongName | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;
PredefinedType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

END_ENTITY;

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