wondering how others handle casework families in practice

[mar_zan]

I'm looking for advice on recommended detail level of casework families for those in an architectural/interior office. 

In the firm I work at, they have somewhat recently switched to Revit. Now, I understand that different firms do drawings differently. But I want to direct this firm to handle drawings in a way that melds well with Revit. 

I will be showing sections of the kitchen casework in separate drawings at 1" = 1' or 1-1/2" = 1'. These will be detailed shop drawings. 

My question is, in interior views where the kitchen casework is cut at around 1/2" = 1', how much detail would you recommend showing? In the image attached I show a casework family that has a combination of shared families that I can use in other families as well:

• base cabinet family (not shared)
  • shared base cabinet
  • shared pull out shelf family
  • shared shelf family
  • shared handle family
  • shared door panel family

However I'm questioning if this is the best way. 

Would others here - in your experience - recommend families that are more simple? Such as more similar to the Revit provided casework families? And only show detail in the callouts?

[barthbradley]

Sounds like you asking about Level of Development (LOD).  What LOD is required?  

[L.Maas]

In my opinion there is no fixed way of doing this. If this is the most efficient way for your firm then perfectly fine.

Simpler families get important when you are doing/participating in large projects. Then too much detail might have a  impact on performance. Nesting can be quite useful to keep control of more complex families and to reuse elements. Shared nested families I only use if I have requirements to schediule them separately from th emain item.

Depending on the size of your library and the repetition of elements it might also be a consideration to have 2D details drawn and then keep the 3D families simpler.

[mar_zan]

Well. As an architectural office we send detailed shop drawings to a millworker who then revises and whatnot. That's all fine. But in terms of interior elevations, I'm wondering how much detail the casework should have. 

For the interior elevations, our office prefers to show a level of detail similar to the image I provided. However, since we also have shop drawings I'm questioning if this level of detail is needed for interior elevations. Perhaps we can change our ways a bit. 

So idk if I'm answering your question but. The LOD is enough because we show shop drawings in addition to interior elevations. I don't think the interior elevations require so much detail because we show these zoomed in shop drawings. But this I'm uncertain about so I am asking community.

[mar_zan]

Hmm. I thought shared made more sense because if I make changes to a shared family it would automatically update in all the other families that use it.

But not all my shared families I need to call out. I was mainly doing it as a way to simplify the problem below ↓

I find that if I don't make it shared, I need to now manually re-upload it to all the families that use it every time I make a change.

[mar_zan]

Well, showing them simpler would be most efficient for us. But it seems they do prefer to show more detail, so I guess dealing with making more complex families is (perhaps) the way I need to go. 🥲
I'm still curious what others do though.

We don't work on large projects. Mostly residential houses.

[ToanDN]

I would do the same approach (shared components) if I were to model casework with that level of details.

Speaking of the level of details, it is per your firm standards and what information needs to be conveyed.  We don't show that level of details for modular casework as they are taken care of by typical casework schedule and details.  We are however very clear on casework types, dimensions, and any special finishes. 

[barthbradley]

You say that you are working in a firm that has recently switched to Revit and that you want to direct this firm to handle drawings in a way that "melds" well with Revit.  In order to direct, you need a direction.  What direction do you want to lead them?  Sounds like you want to move them from one place to another by the shortest way without changing direction or stopping. How are they getting there now?     

[mar_zan]

I've clarified it with my team a bit and helped myself understand direction.

I was a bit wrong in my post and it turns out we don't provide shop drawings, and that the interior elevations are what show the necessary amount of detail for the millworker. Thus, the families do need to be reasonably detailed.

However, if we were to show shop drawings with more detail we could definitely show simpler sections in the smaller scale drawings (interiors). I personally think this is better, as it eliminates the need for complex Revit families that may give a headache.

So this is a question for my firm/team now.

My discussion is valuable here as I also wanted to see what others have done. It's helped clarify what processes are viable.

[mar_zan]

Very helpful information.
I've spoken with my team and I am pushing them in the direction of simpler Revit families, where details can be shown in separate drawings.

[Mike.FORM]

We use the NAAWS standard millwork series revit families found here and then for anything that might be custom we modify one of the standard series. As for detailing, we only provide overall unit dimensions by elevation and then identify the units with a type mark and schedule it. 

The millwork/cabinet maker will provide shop drawings detailing all the intricacies.

[mar_zan]

@Mike.FORM This is a great resource thanks!
Small question though. If you were to cut a cabinet with pull out drawers in an interior view. Would you also draw in the pull out drawers or leave the area blank like the family already has. I'm curious how custom you make them.

[Mike.FORM · Accepted solution]

Our office does not model interior bits of millwork that is not visible in 3D as it can add a lot of unnecessary file size especially since we don't have cut sections through every cabinet.

If we do have a section that happens to cut through some millwork and we want to show all the parts we usually just add it with detail items. Also you can detail the millwork in a section in the family then in project when you cut through the millwork the detailing will show.

If we are doing custom millwork then that is a whole different story as in that case we show everything and make our own "cut sheet" per se so that the manufacturer knows exactly the intent.