Uniformat Questions. Please Help!

[bmwm3owner]

I am working on our Revit template and trying to get a model set up so that as people create walls, materials, etc, they are actually going thru the proper procedures to assemble a cohesive model. I have decided to create a few wall types and want to set them up with the assembly codes already mapped to them. Please bear in mind that I am no expert with assembly codes nor specifications.

I found the uniformatclassifications.txt file in my C: drive. I also have a RS means 2005 Assemblies Cost data book as well. Looking at the Revit .txt file vs. the RS means book, it appears that the information does not quite correlate. For example, a Revit B2010148 is a Glass Block wall. In RS Means, a B2010148 is listed as Panel, Shingle & Lap Siding.

So my question is this: Where did Autodesk get this information for their UIniformat sections? I would like to add to this file so that I can get some more details into my assemblies.

Thanks in advance.

Sash K

[Anonymous]

"sashk" wrote in message news:6298834@discussion.autodesk.com...
>my question is this: Where did Autodesk get this information for their
>UIniformat sections?

good question.

I've asked this question previously,
and never received a response...

[bmwm3owner]

Ahh, hopefully someone can explain this one. The uniformat and keynoting in Revit are a little odd to me. I do not like the 09270.A3 for the Keynoting. Last that I checked, .A3 is not part of a specification number!

[Anonymous]

"sashk" wrote in message news:6298874@discussion.autodesk.com...
> .A3 is not part of a specification number!

yeah, they're using the . to break the various Components down
further than the standard CSI specifications go.

So rather than just designating a window as "08 52 00 Wood Windows",
Adesk has broken that group down into more granular designations for:

08 52 00.A1 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Head
08 52 00.A2 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Sill
08 52 00.A3 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Jamb

etc...

Which should be fine, though.
You don't *have* to select keynotes at that level of detail,
and can simply select the "08 52 00", and call it a day.

But it sure would be nice to have a reference for a standard that adesk is
using to determine these sub-groups.
But it's also entirely possible that there is no standard, and its all just
arbitrary...

[bmwm3owner]

Arbitrary is bad. Who knows, maybe some of it is. I want to have the ability to do some cost estimating with Revit. Autodesk keeps on touting the power of Revit but then they seem to leave us out in the dark on how to execute it. Not sure if they have done any webcasts on assembly codes or not. I find that most of the webcasts are useless anyways because they go over the real basics, which most Revit users know anyways. I wish they would help the Revit people out some more, rather then keep supporting the Autocad platform.

[Anonymous]

I did a little digging into this question because I wanted to know the
history of these decisions as well. Here is what I found.

The Uniformat assmebly codes per Uniformat II are defined out to Level 3,
i.e. B2010 = exterior walls. Anything after the B2010 is "user defined". I
am told (I was not around when this happened) the last 3 digits used in
Revit's Uniformat codes were based on the original codes used in Level 5
Uniformat standards.

These were originally detirmined quite some time ago and have not be altered
since originally defined.

This is all I could find on how the entire uniformat number was decided. I
hope this helps in some way.

--
Jeff Hanson
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Autodesk - BIM UX
Manchester, NH


"caLayton" wrote in message
news:6298986@discussion.autodesk.com...
"sashk" wrote in message news:6298874@discussion.autodesk.com...
> .A3 is not part of a specification number!

yeah, they're using the . to break the various Components down
further than the standard CSI specifications go.

So rather than just designating a window as "08 52 00 Wood Windows",
Adesk has broken that group down into more granular designations for:

08 52 00.A1 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Head
08 52 00.A2 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Sill
08 52 00.A3 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Jamb

etc...

Which should be fine, though.
You don't *have* to select keynotes at that level of detail,
and can simply select the "08 52 00", and call it a day.

But it sure would be nice to have a reference for a standard that adesk is
using to determine these sub-groups.
But it's also entirely possible that there is no standard, and its all just
arbitrary...

[Anonymous]

Attached is a spreadsheet used when the original Uniformat codes were
established in Revit. It at least gives a little insight to the system that
was used and the numbers that were assigned.

--
Jeff Hanson
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Autodesk - BIM UX
Manchester, NH


"caLayton" wrote in message
news:6298986@discussion.autodesk.com...
"sashk" wrote in message news:6298874@discussion.autodesk.com...
> .A3 is not part of a specification number!

yeah, they're using the . to break the various Components down
further than the standard CSI specifications go.

So rather than just designating a window as "08 52 00 Wood Windows",
Adesk has broken that group down into more granular designations for:

08 52 00.A1 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Head
08 52 00.A2 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Sill
08 52 00.A3 Clad Wood Double Hung Window Jamb

etc...

Which should be fine, though.
You don't *have* to select keynotes at that level of detail,
and can simply select the "08 52 00", and call it a day.

But it sure would be nice to have a reference for a standard that adesk is
using to determine these sub-groups.
But it's also entirely possible that there is no standard, and its all just
arbitrary...

[bmwm3owner]

Jeff, thanks for the reply. I hope I am interpreting a conversation that I just had with REED Construction Data. I just got off the phone with one of their experts in this subject matter. She informed me that Autodesks RS means format is outdated and that they have tried to align their data Autodesk's. Apparently they are currently working on a way to integrate their assembly data with Revit for cost estimating purposes. For some reason, I was under the impression that these items have been ironed out. I guess there is no such thing as a Level 5. It appears that the outdated Revit uniformatclassifications.txt file is in a Level 4 format, it's just outdated. According to a 2005 RS Means book, a B1010 is a level 3; a B1010222 is a level 4. A B1010222 1700 is a level 4 with a Means individual line number. Please bear in mind that I am no expert in this area so I may have misspoken a little here.

[Anonymous]

I am by no means an expert either. I just did a little research on the
subject because it interrested me.

Keep in mind all of this work was done in 2001 and not updated since. It is
very possible the numbering scheme used at the time is now outdated. I
don't think the person who did the original mapping is even at Autodesk any
longer. In fact the original mapping was done before Autodesk acquired
Revit Technologies. I was left with looking at some old design documents
and talking with someone who was at least around when the project was
undertaken.

--
Jeff Hanson
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Autodesk - BIM UX
Manchester, NH


wrote in message news:6299085@discussion.autodesk.com...
Jeff, thanks for the reply. I hope I am interpreting a conversation that I
just had with REED Construction Data. I just got off the phone with one of
their experts in this subject matter. She informed me that Autodesks RS
means format is outdated and that they have tried to align their data
Autodesk's. Apparently they are currently working on a way to integrate
their assembly data with Revit for cost estimating purposes. For some
reason, I was under the impression that these items have been ironed out. I
guess there is no such thing as a Level 5. It appears that the outdated
Revit uniformatclassifications.txt file is in a Level 4 format, it's just
outdated. According to a 2005 RS Means book, a B1010 is a level 3; a
B1010222 is a level 4. A B1010222 1700 is a level 4 with a Means individual
line number. Please bear in mind that I am no expert in this area so I may
have misspoken a little here.

[Anonymous]

"Jeff Hanson (Autodesk)" wrote in message
news:6299033@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Attached is a spreadsheet

Jeff,

No attachment?

and while we have your ear (thank you for taking the time to respond!)
what can you tell us about Adesk's intentions for integrating Omniclass into
the RVT software?
I noticed that this popped-up after recently upgrading to 2010.
I'm seeing Omniclass designations in the Window Family template in Family
Parameters, for example.
This is new, correct?

The reason I ask, is that I tend to organize and name things Bim, based upon
these standards for classifying.
I would hate to do a lot of work based upon adesk's customized "level 5"
Uniformat,
only for it to be abandoned in favor of Omniclass in a later release.

FWIW, I think that Omniclass might be a very good way to go.
It is a *very robust* classification system, that handles Assemblies similar
to Uniformat,
and Components similar to CSI MF2004. Best of both worlds...

PS I believe that there is no official "Level5" for Uniformat. Published
Documentation from Adesk on this would be very helpful to the user base...

[Anonymous]

"caLayton" wrote in message
news:6299077@discussion.autodesk.com...
> No attachment?

whoops. my apologies. It's there.

still getting used to Windows Live Newsreader...

[bmwm3owner]

I see. Thanks for the Excel file. It is quite cool. Now only if I knew how all the coding worked in some of the cells. Looks like a handy file to start working with.

[Anonymous]

"caLayton" wrote in message
news:6299077@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Published
> Documentation from Adesk on this would be very helpful to the user base...

this excel spreadsheet is very helpful Jeff!
even if it is "unofficial"

Thanks!

[bmwm3owner]

Well said caLayton. Hopefully this thread will open up some more discussion. I am going to research the Omniclass since I know nothing about it. I have only seen it recently in Revit 2010. I am hoping that one day, the world will be on one, simple system for keynotes, assembly codes, etc. It is too confusing and messy at times.

[Anonymous]

No attachment???? I am seeing it via Outlook Express. Are you accessing
form the webside, maybe it did not come through there? I will check and try
to attach again. Either way I will get the document to you. 😉

As for Omniclass, I don't have any visibility into plans for this. Sorry.
:-( It is part of the requirements for content being posted to SEEK. You
can search the help file for a little more info on how Omniclass is being
used.

Once you get the spreadsheet I attempted to post you will have the Level 5
Uniformat codes used when this was undertaken back in 2001.

--
Jeff Hanson
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Autodesk - BIM UX
Manchester, NH


"caLayton" wrote in message
news:6299077@discussion.autodesk.com...
"Jeff Hanson (Autodesk)" wrote in message
news:6299033@discussion.autodesk.com...
> Attached is a spreadsheet

Jeff,

No attachment?

and while we have your ear (thank you for taking the time to respond!)
what can you tell us about Adesk's intentions for integrating Omniclass into
the RVT software?
I noticed that this popped-up after recently upgrading to 2010.
I'm seeing Omniclass designations in the Window Family template in Family
Parameters, for example.
This is new, correct?

The reason I ask, is that I tend to organize and name things Bim, based upon
these standards for classifying.
I would hate to do a lot of work based upon adesk's customized "level 5"
Uniformat,
only for it to be abandoned in favor of Omniclass in a later release.

FWIW, I think that Omniclass might be a very good way to go.
It is a *very robust* classification system, that handles Assemblies similar
to Uniformat,
and Components similar to CSI MF2004. Best of both worlds...

PS I believe that there is no official "Level5" for Uniformat. Published
Documentation from Adesk on this would be very helpful to the user base...

[Anonymous]

"sashk" wrote in message news:6299126@discussion.autodesk.com...
> simple system for keynotes,

*cough*, *spit*, ...

that'll be the day!
wouldn't it?

[Anonymous]

"Jeff Hanson (Autodesk)" wrote in message
news:6299113@discussion.autodesk.com...
> No attachment????

yeah, it was there all along.
see my posts above...


thanks!

[Anonymous]

e-SPECS also utilizes the Uniformat assembly code and description in Revit and has a manager to read/write assemblies. We've greatly extended the list of available Uniformat assemblies. If you are planning on creating specifications from Revit, you'll have these available with e-SPECS. If you are not familiar with e-SPECS, more info and demos are at www.e-SPECS.com

[Anonymous]

wrote in message
news:6299543@discussion.autodesk.com...
>We've greatly extended the list of available Uniformat assemblies.

Hello Seamus!

Question: What have you based your "extensions" to the Uniformat
classification system on?
Are your "Level 5" (and beyond?) extensions of your own devise?
Or based on something published from ASTM, CSI, RS Means, etc?

Just curious....

[bmwm3owner]

Thanks for the hint on the e-specs. It looks quite interesting and well organized. I noticed that you are based on the AIA system, which I believe (im no expert on specs) is a little different than say Speclink, which is something that we use.

I have a couple of questions:

What Uniformat II did you base your system off of? Is it RS means or some other organization? What level is it taken to?
What about keynotes? I have mapped mine to the Revit keynotes system. Is yours different?
How does your system integrate the assembly codes and keynotes to my Revit model? Do you have a text file similar to Revit? That is the part Im a little confused on based on the demo videos.

If I have a standard system, I will be a happy man. I'm just trying to explore the simple options of being able to use my model for specifications and cost estimating. The minute I have to purchase a bunch of different software with proprietary information because everyone has a different system is the day that I may start my own country on some remote island. Thanks.