Module 2 - Point to Ponder

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

The primary goals of creating a Revit model include: having everyone involved in the design and construction process be on the same page; identify instances where building components may interfere with each other early in the design process rather than during construction; providing images and plans for the stakeholders; and creating a quality model that can continue to be used as a digital twin after construction is complete.

• What do they need?
• Key stakeholders include:
• Owner: images and renderings that portray what he/she is paying for and will receive at the end of construction
• Architect: be able to portray to the other stakeholders his/her vision
• Contractor & subcontractors: plans for construction
• Consultants and regulatory agencies: plans for review, to use for design of any special components, and for ensuring they meet regulatory standards.
• What do they care about most?
• In general, I consider that the key stakeholders care most about being well coordinated with other stakeholders so that there aren't any unexpected surprises and the work or vision of one stakeholder clashes with the work of a different stakeholder.

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
• 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...)
• A big benefit is that if these components are readily modeled and available in Revit, they are more likely to be used by architects and specified for use in their projects.
• 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?
• Using manufacturer-provided families gives me the peace of mind as a designer that the components I am including in my design are modeled accurately in scale, finishings, etc. It also guarantees that the components in my design CAN be manufactured, and even better, that they have been manufactured and do not need to be custom ordered. Other families provided in the Revit Library can be more generic and, when a contractor sees them in the construction drawings, the team might realize that those generic components require modifications.

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?

• Individual designers (like me) can create elaborate, attractive, beautiful components and share them with others online, but this does not guarantee that the components have been made using Revit best practices or that they are constructible. Using components from an online sharing website may result in additional work on your part to polish the model if the original creator performed sloppy work, didn't use standard practices, or made assumptions that make the component difficult or impractical to build.