What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
- What do they need?
- What do they care about most?
I think the primary goal is to assure clear communication between all players involved in the construction of the building. These players include, architect, structural engineer, builders on site, MEP, owner, inspector of record, contractor, etc.
A good building model ensures that all these stakeholders can effectively communicate with each other to limit construction errors.
How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?
- As you develop your initial design?
- As you continue to iterate and develop on your design?
- What are the key stages?
- And how much detail should you include at each stage?
I think you should include as much detail as needed. If you get a bunch of questions from the builders on site, it could mean that certain things are not as clear as you thought and more detail is needed.
For me, I would try to get it as detailed as possible prior to starting construction, to avoid running into issues later on as deadlines become more stringent.
How much detail should you include about the composition (layers, materials, thicknesses) of your wall, floor, and roof assemblies at different stages of your design process?
- Conceptual design
- Preliminary design
- Design development
- Construction documentation
Many door and window manufacturers provide Revit families for doors and windows that you can specify for your building design.
- What is the advantage to manufacturers for providing these families? (it's not free to create and provide them...)
- What is the benefit to you as the designer of using these manufacturer-provided families? Is there an advantage to using them versus the families provided in the Revit library?
I believe the advantage of manufacturers providing families is that it makes it very clear which type of window or door you want to use in your building. As a result, there is less room for miscommunication.
Also, as a designer, you get to preview how your building is going to look with the manufacturer’s product. This could aid your decision-making process. Additionally, I would hope that dimensions of the products would be more precise as they come directly from the manufacturer.