diff --git a/src/bonsaiviewer/modules/properties/View.cpp b/src/bonsaiviewer/modules/properties/View.cpp
index 0e23e57c5c..0b992e0f1a 100644
--- a/src/bonsaiviewer/modules/properties/View.cpp
+++ b/src/bonsaiviewer/modules/properties/View.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 #include "../../ElementRegistry.h"
 #include "../../SessionState.h"
 
+#include "element.h"  // helpers: get_predefined_type
+
 namespace bonsaiviewer::modules::properties {
 
 PropertiesPanelView::PropertiesPanelView(PropertiesPanel* widget,
@@ -90,9 +92,17 @@ void PropertiesPanelView::refresh(uint32_t object_id) {
         return;
     }
 
+    // A real project is loaded — don't leak the placeholder predefined type.
+    // It's populated below from live IFC data, or set to "N/A" for
+    // geometry-only elements that have no data to read it from.
+    state.entity.predefined_type.clear();
+
     auto entity = registry->findEntity(object_id);
     if (entity) {
         state.entity.entity_class = QString::fromStdString(entity->declaration().name());
+        if (auto predefined_type = get_predefined_type(*entity)) {
+            state.entity.predefined_type = QString::fromStdString(*predefined_type);
+        }
         if (!state.property_sets.isEmpty() && !state.property_sets[1].rows.isEmpty()) {
             state.property_sets[1].rows[0].value = state.entity.entity_class;
         }
@@ -104,6 +114,8 @@ void PropertiesPanelView::refresh(uint32_t object_id) {
         auto info = registry->findBasicElementInfo(object_id);
         if (info && !info->type.isEmpty()) {
             state.entity.entity_class = info->type;
+            // Geometry only — no live IFC entity to read a predefined type from.
+            state.entity.predefined_type = "N/A";
             if (!state.property_sets.isEmpty() && !state.property_sets[1].rows.isEmpty()) {
                 state.property_sets[1].rows[0].value = info->type;
             }
diff --git a/src/helpers/CMakeLists.txt b/src/helpers/CMakeLists.txt
index 7abd7411de..c21c56113f 100644
--- a/src/helpers/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/helpers/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ message("Running CMakeLists.txt in /src/helpers")
 #                   (ifcopenshell.util.placement)
 #   * Pset        — property and quantity retrieval
 #                   (ifcopenshell.util.element)
+#   * Element     — get_predefined_type (ifcopenshell.util.element)
 
 find_package(Eigen3 REQUIRED)
 
diff --git a/src/helpers/element.cpp b/src/helpers/element.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b9968a8aba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/element.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ *                                                                              *
+ * This file is part of IfcOpenShell.                                           *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * IfcOpenShell is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify         *
+ * it under the terms of the Lesser GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3.0 of the License, or          *
+ * (at your option) any later version.                                          *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * IfcOpenShell is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,              *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of               *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the                 *
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.                          *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License     *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.         *
+ *                                                                              *
+ ********************************************************************************/
+
+// This file was generated with the assistance of an AI coding tool.
+
+#include "element.h"
+
+#include "../ifcparse/exception.h"
+#include "../ifcparse/file.h"
+#include "../ifcparse/instance_data.h"
+#include "../ifcparse/schema.h"
+#include "schema_dispatch.i"
+
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <type_traits>
+
+namespace {
+
+template <typename Schema, typename = void>
+struct is_ifc4_or_higher : std::false_type {};
+
+template <typename Schema>
+struct is_ifc4_or_higher<Schema, std::void_t<typename Schema::IfcMaterialDefinition>> : std::true_type {};
+
+std::string schema_name(const express::Base& instance) {
+    return instance.declaration().schema()->name();
+}
+
+[[noreturn]] void unsupported_schema(const std::string& name) {
+    throw ifcopenshell::exception("No helper implementation was built for schema " + name);
+}
+
+// getattr(element, name) for a string- or enum-valued attribute. std::nullopt
+// when the attribute is not part of this entity's type (Python's absent
+// getattr) or when it is IFC null. Reads by name, so it works uniformly across
+// the various IfcElement / IfcType* subtypes that carry PredefinedType et al.
+std::optional<std::string> get_string_attribute(const express::Base& element,
+                                                const std::string& name) {
+    const ifcopenshell::entity* declaration = element.declaration().as_entity();
+    if (declaration == nullptr) {
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+    const std::ptrdiff_t index = declaration->attribute_index(name);
+    if (index < 0) {
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+    const attribute_value value = element.get_attribute_value(static_cast<std::size_t>(index));
+    if (value.isNull()) {
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+    switch (value.type()) {
+    case ifcopenshell::Argument_ENUMERATION: {
+        const enumeration_reference enumeration = value;
+        return enumeration.value() ? std::string(enumeration.value()) : std::string();
+    }
+    case ifcopenshell::Argument_STRING:
+        return static_cast<std::string>(value);
+    default:
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+}
+
+// ifcopenshell.util.element.get_type: the construction type of an occurrence
+// (get_type(type_element) == type_element).
+template <typename Schema>
+express::Base get_type_s(const express::Base& element) {
+    if (element.template as<typename Schema::IfcTypeObject>()) {
+        return element;
+    }
+    const auto object = element.template as<typename Schema::IfcObject>();
+    if (!object) {
+        return {};
+    }
+    if constexpr (is_ifc4_or_higher<Schema>::value) {
+        const auto relationships = object.IsTypedBy();
+        if (!relationships.empty()) {
+            return relationships.front().RelatingType();
+        }
+    } else {
+        for (const auto& relationship : object.IsDefinedBy()) {
+            if (auto by_type = relationship.template as<typename Schema::IfcRelDefinesByType>()) {
+                return by_type.RelatingType();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return {};
+}
+
+template <typename Schema>
+std::optional<std::string> get_predefined_type_s(const express::Base& element) {
+    // Prefer the associated type element's predefined type.
+    if (const express::Base type = get_type_s<Schema>(element)) {
+        std::optional<std::string> predefined_type = get_string_attribute(type, "PredefinedType");
+        if (!predefined_type || *predefined_type == "USERDEFINED") {
+            // ElementType (IfcElementType) or ProcessType (IfcTypeProcess) — the
+            // two are mutually exclusive by type, so whichever is present wins.
+            std::optional<std::string> custom = get_string_attribute(type, "ElementType");
+            if (!custom) {
+                custom = get_string_attribute(type, "ProcessType");
+            }
+            predefined_type = custom;
+        }
+        if (predefined_type && !predefined_type->empty() && *predefined_type != "NOTDEFINED") {
+            return predefined_type;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Fall back to the occurrence's own predefined type / user-defined ObjectType.
+    std::optional<std::string> predefined_type = get_string_attribute(element, "PredefinedType");
+    if (!predefined_type || *predefined_type == "USERDEFINED") {
+        predefined_type = get_string_attribute(element, "ObjectType");
+    }
+    return predefined_type;
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+std::optional<std::string> get_predefined_type(const express::Base& element) {
+    if (!element) {
+        return std::nullopt;
+    }
+    const std::string name = schema_name(element);
+#define IFCOPENSHELL_DISPATCH(Schema, Identifier)      \
+    if (name == Identifier) {                          \
+        return get_predefined_type_s<Schema>(element); \
+    }
+    IFCOPENSHELL_HELPER_FOR_EACH_SCHEMA(IFCOPENSHELL_DISPATCH)
+#undef IFCOPENSHELL_DISPATCH
+    unsupported_schema(name);
+}
diff --git a/src/helpers/element.h b/src/helpers/element.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c340c262f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/helpers/element.h
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/********************************************************************************
+ *                                                                              *
+ * This file is part of IfcOpenShell.                                           *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * IfcOpenShell is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify         *
+ * it under the terms of the Lesser GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3.0 of the License, or          *
+ * (at your option) any later version.                                          *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * IfcOpenShell is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,              *
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of               *
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the                 *
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.                          *
+ *                                                                              *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License     *
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.         *
+ *                                                                              *
+ ********************************************************************************/
+
+// This file was generated with the assistance of an AI coding tool.
+
+#ifndef ELEMENT_H
+#define ELEMENT_H
+
+#include "../ifcparse/express.h"
+
+#include <optional>
+#include <string>
+
+// Mirrors ifcopenshell.util.element.get_predefined_type. Returns the element's
+// PredefinedType, falling back to the user-defined ObjectType / ElementType /
+// ProcessType when it is USERDEFINED or unset, and preferring the predefined
+// type of the associated type element (via IsTypedBy / IsDefinedBy) first.
+// std::nullopt when there is no such attribute (e.g. the element is not an
+// IfcObject, or a geometry-only proxy with no live IFC data).
+std::optional<std::string> get_predefined_type(const express::Base& element);
+
+#endif // ELEMENT_H