The concept of Group Spatial Connectivity allows for the association of a IfcGroup (and its relevant subtypes) representing a grouping of objects to a particular spatial structure, either an entire facility (and its specific subtypes e.g. buildings, bridges, roads, or marine facilities), a facility part, a building storey, or any part of these structures.
The group (IfcGroup) in question should be human identifiable by its Name attribute.
The relationship (IfcRelReferencedInSpatialStructure) in question can provide context of the connection through the Name and Description attributes.
The use of IfcRelReferencedInSpatialStructure in this template provides the relationship across spatial and functional hierarchies allowing the spatial coverage of functional groups.
It is permissible for an IfcGroup not to be related to any spatial structure element. When the IfcGroup is not connected to the spatial structure it must be declared to the IfcProject using the Project declaration template via the IfcRelDeclares relationship, or have a parent IfcGroup (or its relevant subtypes) through the use of composition, with said parent IfcGroup either connected to the spatial structure using Group Spatial Connectivity or declared to the IfcProject using the Project declaration template.
The following diagram shows the generic classes and relationships used when applying this concept.
In addition, concepts may have particular importance to common or standardised industry practices and scenarios. For these specific usage scenarios, the table below shows a recommended list of general usage patterns that users may adopt.