# How do I use the BCF topics section?

The last section of Results lists every BCF topic the check writes, with a small picture of each. Click a topic to see its elements in 3D and to change its fields, add a comment or close it as not an issue, tick topics to download only those, and send chosen rows from Extended data as a draft. Your changes go into the BCF file.

Updated 1 November 2026

## Work with BCF topics, step by step

1. [Run a check](https://ifcchecker.com/help/check-a-model/) and scroll to **BCF topics**, the last section of **Results**.
2. Choose a topic. Its picture, fields and comments open beside the list, and its elements show in the 3D view.
3. Click the small picture to see it large. Press Esc to close it.
4. Set the topic's fields, for example Priority and Assigned to, and add a comment.
5. To close the topic as not an issue, choose **Closed as not an issue…** in the **Status** menu, then **These elements only** (**This element only** when the topic has one failing element). Choose **Reopen** to take it back.
6. Tick two topics. Choose **Download picked** to download only those.
7. To send part of a topic, tick rows in **Extended data** and choose **Add to BCF** at the end of the row of tabs. The topic then says how many elements it sends.

## What the section is

The last section of **Results** is **BCF topics**. BCF (BIM Collaboration Format, [What is BCF?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/what-is-bcf/)) is the open format tools use to pass issues to each other, and every row here is one topic the BCF file will hold. A line under the heading counts them, for example "55 topics from this check · 40 open". The list has one topic for each specification and group of requirements of the test, a topic for each warning, the issues you marked by hand in Extended data, and your drafts. The first topic of every file is the summary, which is always closed.

Each row shows a small picture of its elements, the topic's name, how many elements fail ("Open · 9 of 52 fail") and its type. The topic keeps the same ID every time the same model is checked against the same test. The ID is written under the topic's name.

## Pick a topic

Click a row and three things happen. The topic opens beside the list, with its picture, its fields, its elements and its comments. Its elements show in the 3D view, and the analytical view goes to the topic's group. Choose **Show in Extended data** to see the same elements in **Extended data**.

Click the small picture to open it large. The large picture shows the topic as the BCF file carries it, and **Show in 3D with this camera** puts the 3D view on the same camera. The arrows beside it go to the picture of the next topic.

To find a topic, choose **Find a topic** and type part of its title. The buttons above the list narrow it: Open, Closed or All, then every source, the test's own topics, the issues you marked by hand and the drafts (the last two only when you have some).

## Change a topic

Your changes belong to you, not to the test. A topic's fields are **Status**, **Type**, **Priority**, **Assigned to**, **Due date** and **Labels**. Choose a field and set it. Under the fields, type a comment in the box, choose **Add comment**, and tick "**With the 3D view as it is now, as its picture**" if the comment should carry a picture.

A topic you changed shows a small note, "**changed, not sent**", until a download has carried the change. The change is in the BCF file you download next, and in a saved result when you save one. Changing fields, comments or drafts does not change the check or the index. Closing a topic as not an issue does, because it marks its failing values (see below).

## Close a topic as not an issue

Some failures are fine in your project. Open the topic's **Status** menu and choose **Closed as not an issue…**. A small menu asks how far it goes: **These elements only**, or **A rule for every similar case**, which opens the rule step ([How do I turn a wrong value into a rule?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/ids-from-results/)). With the first choice every failing value of the topic is marked as not an issue at once, the topic shows "**Closed · not an issue**", and the 3D view and the counts follow. A note at the bottom says what was closed and offers Undo (Ctrl Z) and **Add a note**: the note goes into the topic's comment in the BCF.

To take it back, choose **Reopen** beside the status. The values fail again. **Closed**, the plain choice, is greyed: the test closes a topic itself once nothing fails any more.

Tip: With a topic picked, the bar at the bottom has **Not an issue** with the key N, and **Reopen**.

## Download only some topics

Tick the box at the left of a row to choose the topic. The head of the section then shows **Clear ticks** and a button that reads **Download picked** with the number of ticked topics after it. It writes a BCF with only those topics and a summary. Choose **Clear ticks** to bring **Download BCF** back, which writes every topic.

## Send chosen rows as a draft

A draft sends only some of a topic's elements. In **Extended data**, tick the rows with failing values, then choose **Add to BCF**, at the end of the row of tabs, which says how many rows it takes. The rows become a draft that narrows the topic they belong to, under the same ID. The topic shows how many it sends, "Sends 5 of 34", and its fields say it again under them: "Sends 5 of 34 failing elements when you download". Download BCF, or Download picked, then writes only those elements for that topic. Choose **Remove the draft** to send them all again.

## Keep reading

Next: [How do I export BCF issues, Excel or CSV?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/export-results/)

Related:

- [How do I use the Extended data section?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/extended-data/)
- [How do I export BCF issues, Excel or CSV?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/export-results/)
- [How do I save results and share a link?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/save-and-share/)

[Workflows and help](https://ifcchecker.com/help/) / [The sections of Results](https://ifcchecker.com/help/collections/sections/)