General question: Extents of centralized modeling in Revit

[Anonymous]

Hi,

to which extent can a central Revit model be used as a reference to all ones involved in design and engineering? 

Can the structural HVAC Electrical etc. work directly wihtin a central model, so that whethever amendments they must do, will be directly exhibited within the architectural model?

or how is it done?

when a specialist must change an architectural feature, how do I know as an architect?

this team-work system is not quite clear for me. this was ignited by the note that our structural engineer re-builds a whole separate model based on the architectural one, which I did not expect.

Thanks,

[L.Maas]

How you set up things depends on how the different parties/disciplines work together and for what they are responsible. In general we normally only model the things we as a party are responsible for. So for instance as a HVAC engineer I only model my system and am not going to place walls or make holes in walls. I communicate to the responsible party where I need a wall or a hole in the wall.

So as a HVAC engineer I would link in the files from other disciplines (e.g electrical, architectural, structural) so that I can see what the situation is and where/how I should model my system.

As you mention it is a possible to work together with different disciplines in a single (central) file. This happens more often when the disciplines are within the same company. In that case you can change/model things that are in that single central file. The other disciplines from externals you will link in again and can only be changed when you open them separately. However in general it remains the case that you only work on things that you are responsible for.

Also when the project is larger then you tend to split out the files to keep it manageable.

[RDAOU]

@Anonymous 

Divide and conquer is the best way to go regardless of the size of the project and whether it is shared with internal or external parties. All projects will have eventually 3rd parties joining in at one point or the other. Best would be to have the workflow standardized and the setup ready.

This will also provide you wider options in managing, monitoring and comparing the various disciplines/models to. And will also contribute to better model performance.

Your last question is a good example...what if the MEP wants to change an architectural feature..If he is working in the same model, there is no practical way to prevent him from doing so. When they are working in their own model with yours linked in, they would use copy/monitor. 

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

....

this team-work system is not quite clear for me. this was ignited by the note that our structural engineer re-builds a whole separate model based on the architectural one, which I did not expect.

Thanks,

Why would the structural engineer rebuilt a whole new model...he models only the structural/load bearing elements. Similarly for the architect, models the architectural elements...both models are cross linked and each discipline borrows elements from the other using copy monitor (if deemed necessary!)

[Simon_Weel]

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to which extent can a central Revit model be used as a reference to all ones involved in design and engineering? 

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It's possible, requiring all disciplines to use Revit. My experience is, disciplines like HVAC and Electrical use different packages all together. In which case you have to rely on IFC files supplied by those disciplines and link them into you model. As the others say, the models made by other parties are models on their own, including only the part for which they are responsible. For a project, you need to have a BIM director (or whatever you want to call it) to link all those different files together and spot the bottlenecks. In my experience; where different disciplines meet in a model, there will be issues, like who creates them openings for pipes etc. The bigger the project, the more coordination you need...

[syman2000]

It is doable. However the backend such as project number, naming, revision, project name, drawing packages, design options, workset and other Revit display will conflict with each discipline. These can be manage if the project is small in nature. Once you get bigger and complex project, this is where conflict will occur.

[RSomppi]

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@syman2000 wrote:

It is doable. However the backend such as project number, naming, revision, project name, drawing packages, design options, workset and other Revit display will conflict with each discipline.

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With proper coordination and model management, this is easily avoided.