Errors and Omissions

This is a repost from September 2009 based on having this conversation a couple times recently.

Every now and then I read an article pumping BIM or Revit. It used to be few and far between but new articles pop up daily. All too often the words, never, perfect, automatic, press-of-a-button and many more show up in the text. These words are used to compare Revit with other software and are often meant to highlight the strengths that Revit has. The fact that we can generate elevations and sections easily and that they are derived from the model without drawing them completely from scratch is wonderful. Many examples can use a little dose of reality.

There is an Urban Legend where a person bought a Winnebago and thought the cruise control didn't require someone behind the wheel. Most people laugh or at least chuckle at the notion that someone would set cruise control and get up to make a sandwich (the version I've heard the most) and think that the vehicle could safely navigate on its own.

Let's be clear - we can make mistakes in Revit too.

I used the image above a few days ago regarding interference detection but each of these things can be done easily in Revit.

Revit coordinates information much better and makes it more obvious that things are wrong too, like the things in the image. When things are working well, if it is correct it is correct everywhere. With Revit, when it is wrong, it is wrong EVERYWHERE too. This is an important distinction. When comparing Revit to other software the thing that is wrong in other software may be correct elsewhere because there is no connection to the other drawing or representation of the building. The distinction here is that documents are derived from the modeling process in Revit and embellished to create a finished document, with documents as the deliverable or focus for now.

Schedules are never wrong! I read this one every now and then, unfortunately this is incorrect. A schedule that does not use sorting/filtering, design options or phases as criteria will not report incorrect information. A schedule will NOT misrepresent data though. For example, a single panel door will not magically become a double panel door unless someone swaps a single for a double in the model. A schedule CAN misrepresent the whole story though by excluding information because of criteria applied by the user. User Error CAN and WILL creep into a Revit model. You can't blindly accept the results you get.

If we can make mistakes in cad and in Revit then what's the difference?

The difference is in how many of the mistakes are easily prevented or eliminated. Revit does a great job of managing the annotation related to views, sections, elevations, details and enlarged views etc. So much of the hassle of checking these is greatly reduced. When mistakes are made in Revit a team is much more likely to bump into them because they are working on the same data set or model. With the separate file process used by cad a team can be quite isolated from one another. How do I know if someone is making mistakes in their drawing if I really only see their work when it is printed out? Even then I have to visually compare their work with mine. Digitally I can reference their files and check them on the computer. All of this is so much easier, or at least more fluid, and we are always in the context of the building with Revit.

So much of quality assurance is the rigorous studying of printed drawings for inconsistencies. Much of it is based on years of experience and even intuition. I know that this and this are likely conflicts so I'm hunting for them. Most firms have checklists that go on for days.

It is my observation that teams using Revit know more about each others work and the whole building than teams who use other software. How can you avoid being more aware of what someone on your team has been up to when you see and walk by their work in the model each day? I've also observed many times that two users will have a conflict because they both observed a problem and set out to fix it at the nearly the same time, which generates a permission warning.

With my Revit bias you won't likely find me telling you Revit isn't the correct choice for you. I do want you to have realistic expectations though. The Staples EASY Button is a great fun thing to think of but what we do in this AEC business is rarely truly easy.

Mistakes can and will be made using Revit. Revit does give you a much better chance to catch and minimize mistakes as well as the opportunity to focus on making good decisions, and doing so as early as is practical so that the costs associated with those decisions can be managed well. Said another way, a past client once said to me in language more colorful than I'll write here, "My staff are making mistakes in cad all day long, at least in Revit they will be better coordinated!". Perhaps a bit too practical or not a lofty enough goal, but focused and realistic!

What is Revit and BIM Resource

Alex Gore and his firm F9 Productions have created, as part of their company website, a resource for people that are just getting started with Revit and BIM or those who are still trying to decide what to do.

The site offers these items of interest:

• A brief description of important modeling concepts
• A PDF example of a complete Construction Documentation set
• The Revit file of the above mentioned PDF
• A 2012 Revit Residential Template to start your own creations
• Links to tutorials for further help

A skeptic might read this and regard it as purely a marketing move. Alex's primary motive is to share the wealth with the community so to speak. For example a frequent question or concern people have is being able to see a completed set of documents. This is based on their fear, uncertainty or doubt that another software application, that is so intrinsically tied to how they make money, will truly be able to do what they need to do. So at the very least being able to examine their sample project and set may be useful, and if it is then the rest is "gravy". Have a look, see if you find something useful.

Revit Technology Conferences 2013

If you read this blog (regularly) then I think/hope that RTC is no surprise to you. I'm writing this as a reminder to those who already know about it as well as to introduce them to anyone who hasn't already heard about them. After all May and RTC AUS isn't far away now...

These are the events in the order that they occur this year:

RTC Australasia - May 16-18, 2013 - Auckland, NZ
RTC North America - July 11-13, 2013 - Vancouver, Canada
RTC Europe - September 27-28, 2013 - Delft, Holland

Each event gives you an opportunity to listen, learn, talk and mingle with many of the best and brightest people that our planet has to offer, seriously!

I attended my first RTC in 2006 in Australia, where it all started (in 2005). I've been a fan ever since and even became a committee member to help start the first RTC in North America in 2011. It isn't any single thing that made me a fan. It was the whole of the experience.

For example, I knew that every person I saw around me was like me, fascinated by Revit, just Revit then and now by what it has expanded into. I knew that no matter who I listened to, talked with or saw in a hallway that I'd see them again...in a session, in a few minutes or during a break or during dinner and drinks. The value of the social side of the event can't be overstated. People have cultivated great friendships, formed at each event, and these last and prove mutually satisfying for years to come. I can vouch for this personally.

If you struggle with getting your firm to support sending you, or if you are the firm, or if you are trying to justify sending your staff consider just the classes alone. If you or someone in your firm was charged with putting together a class of equal quality, compared with any you'll find at RTC, you can reasonably expect a 10-20 hour commitment. That's time spent preparing themselves, making sure they've covered every angle of Revit knowledge they need, then organizing it all, preparing to share it with other staff and finally actually sharing it with them. It might take longer if it is the first time they've had to do something like this, or they might not be knowledgeable enough yet to tackle it all themselves. If this same person attends RTC and returns home not only with the material from the dozens of sessions they attend but access to all the material for each and every class offered at RTC you'll have a wealth of material for FAR less cash outlay than devoting them to developing the same material in-house.

It isn't just the classes either. It's the interaction, the setting, the focus, the passion and excitement expressed by others and witnessed by everyone. You can't help but feel reinvigorated. You'll recharge your batteries so to speak. When you leave RTC you leave ready, ready for anything and eager to take it all back to the office. It's just a shame that you can't bring your whole office along to experience it for themselves...well you can...just not many offices will dare to. There are a few firms that do send as many as 10-15 staff as they see it as their annual training for key people. Do your best to attend the nearest conference, you and your firm won't regret it!

P.S. If you represent a Local User Group focused on Revit I'd like to help you get the word out to your members. Get in touch with me so I can pass along information that you can use to make it easier to talk about it at your next meeting.

Autodesk AEC Marketing - Revit 2011 Customer Examples

I was contacted by Kyle Herring, he is a Solutions Marketing Manager with Autodesk. They have recently initiated a search for customer data sets that can be used to create marketing materials to support the 2011 release of Revit platform. He wanted to assure me, and you, that "we’re not selling anything here, we simply see this as a great opportunity for Revit users to display the work that they do to a large audience in the AEC community."

If you and your firm are interested in being part of this effort you can contact Kyle directly via EMAIL.