The Spatial Container concept defines a spatial element as being the spatial container for physical elements, or other elements being directly related to the spatial container, such as annotations or grids.
The Spatial Container concept is realized by using the IfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure objectified relationship between subtypes of IfcSpatialElement and the elements contained. The inverse relationship ContainsElements at the subtypes of IfcSpatialElement refers to the contained physical elements.
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.