Revit MEP Assembly codes

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with assembly codes in Revit MEP? I talked to our Revit MEP trainer and discovered that unlike Revit Arch and Building, MEP content from Autodesk does not have assembly codes assigned to them.
This issue came up when a contractor used a Revit model that we produced for cost estimation and the output was a spreadsheet that categorized building components by assembly code. For example, all of the exterior doors were under one section, etc. and I found out that ALL of the MEP content was grouped under "Misc" because they had no assembly codes assigned to them. Are all contractors/clients using Revit models for this purpose? Also, has anyone else assigned assembly codes to Revit MEP content?

[Anonymous]

We are using eSpecs, and this requires assembly codes (I'm an architect) eSpecs for Revit allows you to begin creating assembly codes that are then "bound" to as many parts/portions of a Masterspec database format specification that you wish. The single biggest issue is that the is no MASTER list of assembly codes. Different programs use different flavors of those codes. That alone can be an issue. Also, we create types within a single family that have different assembly codes. Depending upon how you impliment these codes, you can get down to the level of the specifications anctually listing every size of a roof-top unit on a project, or every VAV box/size on the project.

Scott Womack

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. I feel that using Revit for cost estimating makes sense but isn't practical yet- as far as MEP goes. How has your experience with especs gone? I have read a little bit about it but haven't heard of anyone using it.

[Anonymous]

We/I am impressed. There is some work involved in editing the assembly codes, and tweaking what is called "bindings" which determine what portions of the master spec sections get added to the project. This ah enabled our project architects to start editing/notating specs at a vastly earlier point in the project, with no inter action required at that same point by the spec writer. It should also increase our accuracy, but not having alot of extra paragrahs/sections in the spec that do not apply to that specific project.

Scott Womack