BIM Standard Documents

Revit sometimes its what NOT to do

Revit differs from AutoCAD in many ways; if youre new to Revit and want to look at a project to
see what its all about, your first impulse might be to simply navigate to a project, go to the BIM
folder, and open the first Revit file you see there.
Please dont do this unless your goal is to become that guy/gal who caused everyone to have
to do a lot of extra work. Rule Number One, therefore, is:

1. Never open a Revit project Central file on the server once it has had
worksharing enabled. (If you dont know what worksharing or a Central
File is and how it works, this is even more important.)
Why? The default method Revit uses to manage multiple users of a single file is for
each user to have his/her own local copy, which is where the work gets done. These
local files are synchronized with the Central file as changes are made. Editing (or even
looking around in) the Central file (the master file residing in the project folder) can
create problems for this process and potentially render the file unusable for other users.

Best Practice: The first time you open a workshared project, Revit assumes you want
to create a local copy. (Make sure this box is checked on the dialog.) It doesnt matter
where you put it, except that it should be on your local computer hard drive. From then
on, always edit this file. If it becomes corrupted, create a new one.
Contol/Click HERE for a short video about creating local files.

Associated cautions and suggestions:

a. When working in your local file, synchronize often. This frees up objects you may
have taken ownership of during your editing session, so that others can access them.
b. If you decide to close a file and dump some changes you have made, always choose
the relinquish option when exiting the file. Otherwise, you will retain ownership
of objects and views you have touched during the session, and others wont be able
to edit them.
c. When opening a local file after not working on it for some time, select the load
latest button, or synchronize immediately to be sure you have the latest and
greatest version of the model.

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2. Never explode an AutoCAD object in a Revit model.
Why? CAD objects typically contain large amounts of information, such as layer
definitions, colors, etc. in addition to the geometry of the object, that, once the object is
exploded, is added to the object styles in the Revit model, cluttering things up beyond
all hope of comprehension to the average user. Short of manually deleting each
reference, this cant be reversed.

Best Practice: Its not considered ideal practice to insert AutoCAD stuff into Revit, but
there are situations in which its advantageous. If you have to do this, the preferred
method is to link the file rather than inserting it. Its most often used for bringing things
in to trace, and so on. This is acceptable as long as you be sure to delete the imported
object or link.
Control/Click HERE for more information on linking CAD files to Revit projects. Note that
in the linked article, exploding CAD objects is talked about as though its good practice. Very few
non-Autodesk-affiliated sources agree with this point of view. At PSC we simply dont do it.

Associated cautions and suggestions:

a. If you have to insert a CAD object into a Revit model, be sure its set to insert only
into the current view. Otherwise it will appear in all kinds of inconvenient places
remember that its an object even though it may not have thickness.

3. Never delete anything in a Revit model unless you are absolutely sure you
know what it is, and is safe to delete
Why? Occasionally you will see what looks like a line running across a view you are
working on. You may be tempted to delete it. More often than not, this line is not a
line at all but the edge of some 3d object such as a floor, or possibly a Revit model or
CAD object that has been linked in. Deleting these objects might be a source of great
inconvenience for other users, particularly if it is host to families that have been placed
into the model.

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Best Practice: Select the object and look at the Properties window to make sure you
are picking what you think you are picking. Using Selection Filters is a great way to
make sure youre only selecting certain categories of objects.
Contol/Click HERE for information on selection filters. For a short video, visit
www.psc.cadlearning.com and sign up for the Revit Architecture 2011 Courses.

4. Do not, unless with permission and certain knowledge that you know
what you are doing, open a model from another PSC discipline.
Why? The interfaces and object categories found in the various discipline-specific
versions of Revit differ enough that you could foul things up without even realizing it.
Common courtesy and respect for others work dictates that we should generally not
take chances with their work product.

Best Practice: Ask the other disciplines model manager to do this for you.
5. Never open a Revit file by double-clicking on its icon in Windows.
Why? Its just a bad habit to get into because you might navigate to the Central File
without thinking, double-click on it and open it. See item 1 For why this is not good.

Best Practice: Use Revits File Menu or Recent Files window to navigate to the
desired file. If its a Central File you will have the opportunity to check the create local
file box, which you should always select, but cant do if you just double click an icon.

6. Dont use third-party format 3D elements in Revit models (with some

exceptions)
Why? Although there may be rare situations when this is advantageous, most of the
time you will find that Revit can create the geometry you need without resorting to
third-party formats such as Sketch-Up. You will have much more control over the object
and can make it parametric if you need to. Also, material takeoffs wont include such
objects.

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Best Practice:

Create Revit families using Revit native geometric modeling tools. Avoid
imported objects in families where possible.
Designate correct materials to ensure the object is picked up in Material
Takeoffs.
Make them parametric if you know how, which will make the family
much more usable by everyone.
If you need some type of geometry that Revit cant create, such as a
variable-radius fillet, use Inventor and convert the object to a Revit
family.

7. Never use an object category such as Wall or Roof to model anything

other than its intended purpose.

Why? Using wall elements for things like toilet compartments may seem like a good
way to get material information into the model, but it also complicates the extraction of
Material and Element Quantities, and results in undesirable consequences if someone
edits the wall definition.

Best Practice: Create family geometry using Revits native modeling objects such as
extrusions and sweeps.

8. When making structure changes to walls in a model (changing interior

partitions from studs to CMU for example) dont simply change the
structure of the wall type that is in place to show what you want to see.
Why?

The wall type might be used elsewhere in the model that will change also.
All wall definitions contain parameters used for material takeoffs that must
updated to their correct settings to get meaningful output.

Best Practice: Change wall types by assigning new types to the walls currently in the
model. If the wall type doesnt exist, create it from the closest wall type you have or

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bring one in from another model. This will avoid the possibility of inadvertently
changing something that has been placed previously.

9. Dont be shy about asking for help!

Why? PSC has numerous people with enough experience that most questions can be
answered fairly quickly. If you spend half an hour struggling with something without
asking for help you are likely to be wasting time and money.

Best Practice: Call Brandon Hartley at 3684 he is the repository of all worthwhile
Revit information.

10. Dont use the PURGE UNUSED tool globally unless you are archiving after
all work has been done.
Why? Its true that purging is a way to ensure the model is not carrying around a
bunch of extraneous data, and can be very effective at reducing model size. However,
be aware that global purging also deletes unused TYPES within families that may be in
use in the model. These cant be reloaded without deleting the family and reloading it,
which also deletes all instances of that family. So, you may encounter a situation where
youve purged a door size, for example, that you now decide you need. It also deletes
unused GROUPS (by default) that others may be planning to use but arent placed yet.

Best Practice: Be very careful when using Purge; it is powerful and potentially very
destructive. Its far less dangerous when purging to click check none and then
manually check the things you are sure you want to get rid of.

11. Dont use third-party content (such as vendor-supplied families) without

testing it first for excessive detail.
Why? It may seem like a great time savings to just download something such as a
piece of equipment and pop it into your model, but be aware that much third-party
content is derived from manufacturing models and may contain unwarranted levels of
detail. This can inflate the size (in data terms) of your model. Also, all that detail
requires CPU cycles to regenerate the model, so beware.

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Best Practice: There are two main things to watch out for with vendor content.
Family size in KB or MB, and geometric complexity. Generally you can expect the family
to increase the size of your model by an amount corresponding to its own size; further
instances are very economical and dont really add much. If you compare data size of
various families, youll see that its not often you see one under about 2KB, no matter
how simple it is, and they can get fairly complex before this number starts going up very
much. Check the size, and unless its just outlandish its probably ok.
More problematic, as you add more instances of a complex object, is the amount of CPU
time expended on each object as the model regenerates. Ambitious modeling such as
showing all the keys on a computer keyboard sitting on a desk (and there are 200 of
them in the model!) may give your model a more realistic appearance, but it comes at a
serious cost as you work with the model.
One thing that can be done is to simply substitute simpler models for complex objects; if
the family needs to show detail such as for a rendering, it can be reloaded as such until
the rendering is done, and swapped back out afterward. Another good practice is to
create furniture models as separate projects that are linked rather than just placing the
furnishings in the Architectural model.