IFC or DWG: a model is not a drawing
The confusion comes from exchanging them in the same emails. They do not answer the same question.
The answer in three lines
A DWG holds strokes, circles and text arranged in layers. Nothing inside it knows that a rectangle is a door. An IFC holds typed objects, a wall, a slab, a window, with their properties and relationships: the window knows which wall it sits in, the wall knows which storey it belongs to. That is why quantities can be extracted from an IFC automatically, and not from a DWG without a strict layer convention.
What sets them apart
IFC
An open, standardised format for describing a building. It carries typed objects, their properties, their quantities and their relationships, independently of the software that created them.
DWG
A drawing format. It carries geometry arranged in layers, with dimensions and text, but no semantics: a wall is a set of lines on a layer named wall, by convention.
When to use which
IFC
When the contract asks for a model, when several trades must coordinate, or when you want quantities without redrawing.
DWG
When you need a drawing to print, dimension and annotate, and when the production chain stays in classic CAD.
IFC does not replace DWG. Many projects exchange both: IFC for coordination and quantities, DWG for the construction drawings that get printed.
Frequently asked questions
Can IFC replace our DWG drawings?
Not for printing and dimensioning, where the drawing still rules. IFC does however avoid manual recounting: quantities come out of the model instead of being read off the printed sheet.
Do you need Revit to produce an IFC?
No, the format is open and several tools write it. FloorScan produces one from an analyzed PDF plan, with one storey per level: it is not a design model, but it answers an exchange request.
Other common confusions
What if the plan did the work?
FloorScan reads a PDF, produces areas and lengths, and exports in whatever format your counterpart expects.