Workset Names

Via email I was asked,

"We are probably all familiar with names like Core, Shell; or Core-Wing1, Shell-Wing1 for example. We have been discussing using the Omni-class table 21 with 7 categories and 3 levels. For example a workset name would look like this: 01 10 00 Foundations. Would you agree with taking this approach?"

My fear, whenever we start talking about using coded naming, is that we are going to have too many worksets and create additional bureaucracy. I wrote a post called How Many Worksets do I Need. I described one warning sign as having to scroll the list of worksets.

I don't have any objection to being organized. I do caution against creating extra work for each of us by getting too granular with worksets. Using OmniClass numbering might work well if the highest levels are sufficiently distinct to be useful.

My measure is, "Are we are better off for taking the trouble to do it?" That's a vague answer I suppose. I know enough to know I don't know everything. That means there probably are projects that would benefit from using that approach.

I'd know it is the right choice if we are going to be better off afterward.

Omniclass and Uniformat Selection

It would be nice if we could search for keywords when attempting to assign the parameters for both Omniclass and Uniformat. Sometimes the best category to use in Revit isn't necessarily the correct category in these classification systems. This means a fair bit of time wasted hunting for an appropriate value. I search the source files to find keywords first which isn't the most straightforward.

OmniClass as Criteria

I heard mention of Omniclass during Autodesk University a few times last week. Each component (loadable) family in Revit has a pair of parameters built for OmniClass. What is that you say?

Lifted directly from their web site:

The OmniClass Construction Classification System (known as OmniClass™ or OCCS) is a classification system for the construction industry. OmniClass is useful for many applications, from organizing library materials, product literature, and project information, to providing a classification structure for electronic databases. It incorporates other extant systems currently in use as the basis of many of its Tables – MasterFormat™ for work results, UniFormat for elements, and EPIC (Electronic Product Information Cooperation) for structuring products.

Revit supplies the OmniClass Number and the related OmniClass Title for each family category.

It hasn't quite reached full citizenship in Revit because system families do not yet offer an option for assigning them OmniClass values, neither do rooms or spaces. You can certainly add your own shared parameters to do it but there won't be any linkage to the same table of values as provided in the image above, that's only for component families.

Revit has also always offered the UniFormat Assembly Code and Description, not for rooms or spaces either though. These two systems both provide a way to classify the essence of an element in the model, like the Dewey Decimal system helps to organize books in a library to some degree. If we are careful to assign appropriate values to the content we create we'll find we can harness them to enhance our experience with using schedules and filters. That's completely apart from the downstream possibilities of using it to help define specifications with tools like e-SPECS or BSD LinkMan.

Try hard to remember to assign a value for OmniClass and the Assembly Code so you and others can take advantage of them later.