Establishing a Clearance Level

[jstipanovich]

One of our architects would like to create a defined line at the underside of a structure that indicates that the area below that point must remain clear of obstructions.

She said she was going to use a level to do this but we try to avoid creating levels for anything other than floor slabs and roofs.

Is there a way to set a level so elements can't be associated to it?  Or another element that would establish a horizontal plane across all linked models?  I don't think a Reference Plane would be a great solution because most users typically don't have reference planes turned on in most views.

[barthbradley]

Work Plane-Based Elements.  Face Based Elements.  They can host to a Named Ref. Plane Work Plane.  What are the Elements you want to put on this RP? 

...wait a minute. Why don't you like the Ref. Plane idea?  The RP Work Plane still exists, even when it's hidden in the View. 

[jstipanovich]

Well that's the thing, we want to avoid anything being built or associated with the level but rather just have a horizontal plane that can be identified across all disciplines that they must not model anything below this plane.

I'm trying to convince the team to drop this idea, pointing out that other disciplines will have their levels hidden anyway.  Same with reference planes in most cases.  So regardless of how we establish this plane, all the disciplines will need to "do something" in order to see it.  So I'm pushing for the team to handle it through good ole communication and making sure everyone understands where this clearance is.

If they insist, I'm thinking that they create a workset for that specific level so it can be opened and closed independently of all other levels. 

[barthbradley]

So you have an entire space that you want to demarcate and prevent access to?  

[jstipanovich]

Yes.  It's a bus maintenance garage.  So where the busses pull in for service, we must maintain a certain clearance height.

[jstipanovich]

Here's an idea, create a mass to represent the clear space and then set up a Model Coordination space on the cloud to detect clashes between the mass and anything that conflicts with it.

[barthbradley]

Interference checking. I thought about that, but it's not fool-proof.  

[barthbradley · Accepted solution]

I like your "good ole communication" solution.  

[hmunsell]

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@jstipanovich wrote:

She said she was going to use a level to do this but we try to avoid creating levels for anything other than floor slabs and roofs.

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levels have 2 check boxes, one for Structural and one for Building Story. in our models i have built in filters to turn on/off levels based on their use selection. structure levels are always check with Structural, Architectural levels are always checked Building Story. If our MEP needs to place a level to distinguish something unique for them, they Uncheck both. 

then in our VT's they can have the filters on or off depending on the need.

[jstipanovich]

Yes I was playing with those options when running some tests.

But regardless of whether those boxes are checked or not, a user can still use that level as a associative datum which can lead to elements being accidentally modeled in association with it instead of the floor levels.   So I really push for architecture to not create levels for t/o steel, stair landings, frost depth, etc.

[hmunsell]

True, good point. visible or not, it is still in the "List".

[barthbradley]

"DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE" might work, but that isn't fool-proof either.    

😉