# What do the status words mean?

Every element has one status: Pass, Fail or Untested, or Approved once you accept an untested element for the session. Not applicable marks an optional specification that applies to no element, or a Model health check that could not run. Warning and To review mark things to look at, and they never change a status, the counts or the index.

Updated 1 November 2026

## Find the status words on Results

1. [Run a check](https://ifcchecker.com/help/check-a-model/).
2. On **Results**, open a tab of **Extended data** and read each element's status in the **Status** column.
3. Find the failing cells: each is tinted, with ✕ before its value.
4. Choose the **Untested** tab, or the small **Tab ›** beside the number of untested elements in the Model table, to see the elements no specification applies to.
5. Point at the small i beside a count in the analytical view to read what the count means.

## The status words

Every status has its glyph, and colour never stands alone.

- **Pass**, with a ✓: the element meets every requirement of every specification that applies to it.
- **Fail**, with a ✕: it misses at least one requirement. Only the failing cell is tinted, never the whole row.
- **Untested**, with a !: no specification applies to it. Untested is not Pass.
- **Approved**, with a ✓ in a dashed box: an untested element a person accepted, for this session. Approvals are written into the exports.
- **Not applicable**, with a –: an optional specification that applies to no element of the model, or a **Model health** check that could not run. In the Extended data tables, a requirement that does not apply to an element leaves its cell blank, a failing cell with no value says **not set** or **empty**, and a – in any other cell means it has no value.
- **Warning**, with a ! in a triangle: something to look into, never a failure. A warning never changes a status, the counts or the index. Generic elements and the issues of **Model health** are warnings.

## In doubt

In doubt is not a status word. It marks a result IFC Checker cannot be sure of, for example when the unit of a measured value could not be confirmed. It shows as a muted ! with the words **In doubt**, and its cell is not tinted. While any result is in doubt, the [Model Correctness Index is withheld](https://ifcchecker.com/help/model-correctness-index/#withheld), with the reason.

## To review

**To review** is not a status word either. A flag before a value marks a placeholder written in place of a value, TBC or a dash (-), in any test. The cell is not tinted: the value passes the IDS, and a reviewer should look at it. A placeholder that fails, warns or is in doubt shows that instead, with no flag. A tab that holds a value to review shows the flag, with no number, and a line above the table explains it. A value to review never changes a status, the counts or the index, and the downloads do not list it. The table's own grey dash still means the cell has no value; a dash the model holds is shown in ink, as written. N/A is not marked.

## Keep reading

Next: [How is the Results page laid out?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/read-the-results/)

Related:

- [What does the Model Correctness Index mean?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/model-correctness-index/)
- [How is the Results page laid out?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/read-the-results/)
- [What are untested elements?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/untested-elements/)

[Workflows and help](https://ifcchecker.com/help/) / [Understanding a result](https://ifcchecker.com/help/collections/results/)