Why can't Architectural copy/monitor MEP fixtures?

[rkuffel]

Does anyone know what the philosophy is behind not allowing Revit Architecture to Copy/Monitor MEP fixtues?

[LisaDrago]

You  know that is a pretty good question.

The thinking may be that architecturally they set the items in place and MEP just connects to it. So if the Arch model controls it then they don't need to monitor it. 

Just my thinking... any other thoughts?

LD

[rkuffel]

That probably is the thought. Unfortunately though, as soon as we place the fixtures our lighting consultant takes "ownership". Our EEs do not connect to our lights, because our Arch families don't contain the lighting data the EE's fixture families contain. For true collaboration, I suggest Autodesk stop limiting the flow direction of information by limiting the copy/monitor functionality. I wonder how difficult it is (from a programming standpoint) to have the ability to copy/monitor all families?

[Anonymous]

rkuffel,

It's not written anywhere you you cannot load, insert, and use the MEP falilies in the RAC Models........you can wonload them from the adesk site and load them into the projects just like the "RAC" equivulent.

Mike

[rkuffel]

---

@mike wrote:

rkuffel,

It's not written anywhere you you cannot load, insert, and use the MEP falilies in the RAC Models........you can wonload them from the adesk site and load them into the projects just like the "RAC" equivulent.

Mike

---

This is true, but our consultants don't use the MEP families, they have made their own custom families which are very generic from a 3D standpoint versus the RAC families we have custom built to "look nice". 🙂  In my experience, most MEPs do this or should do this to make a lighter weight model. Regardless, I contend that there should always be a bi-directional flow of data/information for true collaboration.

[kathryn.langan]

As far as the reasoning behind it goes, I believe at the time that it was assumed (whether correctly or not) that this would be an MEP specific workflow that would not be needed in Revit Architecture. That doesn't mean that it can't be changed in the future, but I just don't think at the time that there was a tremendous amount of feedback that it was needed in Architecture.

[Anonymous]

BUT......this also goes to show that at least the dialogue is actually becoming a 2-way street, as it should have been all along...............this just reinforces that that fact.......notwithstnanding the original question. 

Mike

[rkuffel]

@Kathryn - Thank you for the honest feedback! Hearing someone from Autodesk say that perhaps an assumption was incorrect means a great deal. I should preface my next comment by saying I am an Architect and user of Autodesk software for over 20 years and Revit software since 2005. I am probably our company's biggest promoter and supporter of BIM tools. With that said, sometimes when using Revit I may realize something that seems obvious to me, such as this collaboration question. I then wonder, does Autodesk truly understand the process of building design/collaboration or are they keeping the functionality locked away for a future release. The former assumption leads me to believe that more research and/or hiring of seasoned professionals for product development is needed and the latter tells me it is a conscious decision based on their business model. Neither of these assumptions sits well with the end user. Hearing that an incorrect assumption may have been made is a much easier pill for me to swallow. Anyway, I hope to see this functionality in the near future as it will indeed support the collaboration/two-way-street processes. Thank you!

[Alfredo_Medina]

The idea is to avoid the duplication of elements, and to divide responsibilities. The most common practice is that the architectural office places the fixtures, and the MEP consultants connect the fixtures without placing new one. The need for copy-monitor is caused by the fact that, by default, the families that come in Revit Architecture don't have connectors, and the ones that come with MEP do have connectors.

Two solutions I have seen to eliminate the need for copy-monitor are these :

1) Architects replace their libraries of fixtures with those of MEP, and place the fixtures once, with connectors. Then MEP staff don't have to place new fixtures on top of the architects' fixtures, but just connect the fixtures to systems.

2) Architects place architectural fixtures without connectors, and MEP people place special families that have only connectors but no solids.