I was recently asked what my "Golden Rules" were for Revit.
Thank you for the opportunity to share some of what I’ve learned using Revit! For those of you who work in Revit, I hope these items are familiar to you and you can find some value in a review or even a new tip. For those with other specialties, I hope it doesn’t all sound like Latin! Let’s dive in!
My focus when working in Revit is speed and accuracy. Once an organization has defined the purpose of its model – whether to fulfill specific requirements or to pull the maximum amount of data from it – the goal of a BIM tech should be model integrity and excellent customer service.
Why are these important?
Because they all set you up to work efficiently. My greatest experienced headache has been rework because of a setup misstep or a detail that was overlooked. Just like in cooking, if you take the mise en place approach, your work has a greater chance of smooth success with fewer fires to put out.
Check your active workset!
In case you don't know, a workset allows you to group many items of different categories for further coordination or visibility control. Check the workset before you start working and periodically as you work. With the goal of efficiency and model integrity in mind, you definitely don’t want to have to search back through your progress to adjust any settings you missed.
Make sure you have the latest model update
“I can’t make bricks without clay!”
Seek to gather the latest versions of any and all files you may need to properly perform your work. Why put fresh design onto old plans?
In project setup, start with project base point and elevations
Every object you put into a Revit model has a relationship to the project’s base point in the x, y, and z axes. If you don’t make sure you start in the right place, you could be creating a lot of fix-it work or even have to start over.
Monitor your work for repetitive action
Stay alert to opportunities for automation and innovation. The industry is only getting faster and more demanding.