Instructions

What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?

• What do they need?
• Owner: what the space visually will feel like to live in.
• Architect: every design detail needed for it to be exactly reproduced physically.
• GC and subs: a single source of truth for the building design.
• What do they care about most?
• Owner: delight in living in this space
• Architect: meet every need of the owner
• GC and subs: fulfilling every design detail of the architect faithfully

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?

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 - the big picture parts of the home, like a garage or patio.
• Preliminary design - sizing of these big picture parts and how they come together.
• Design development - finishing details, like the type of granite to put on, and iterations on the big picture aesthetic design, like room layouts.
• Construction documentation - part specifications for ordering.

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...)
• Manufacturers can get owners to like and choose their product more convincingly when it sits in their building’s design.
• 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?
• A designer can look for product families that enhance the aesthetic preference of the owner, such as rustic colors or antique inscribed finishes. This makes the owner feel like designed home is more like theirs.

What are the advantages of getting the Revit component families (for furniture, equipment, and fittings) directly from the manufacturer versus from an online sharing website like RevitCity.com?

Directly from the manufacturer, all the specifications are exactly as they’ll arrive on the construction site. The builder can follow the design as is exactly, rather than manually adjust or delay waiting for a change order.