What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
The primary goal of creating building models is communicating the construction plan with all important stakeholders and making sure the correct/necessary information is present for each stakeholder. For instance, a construction contractor would not need to see the same information that a potential client/buyer would need to see, but the designer must include both other stakeholders in the process, so both must be accommodated in the building model.
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
- At this stage, all that’s really necessary is getting the feel for the design, so no detail is really necessary here except general dimensions.
- Preliminary design
- At this stage, the dimensions should start to be set in place, as well as an idea for roof properties (slope, overhang, etc).
- Design development
- At this stage, it would be good to start figuring out what materials and thicknesses are to be used for aesthetic purposes, as well as confirming the structural feasibility of the project.
- Construction documentation
- At this stage, everything needs to be finalized. Materials, thicknesses, dimensions, layers must all be clearly documented in fine detail so that construction goes exactly as planned.
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?
When the components come directly from the manufacturer, you know that you are getting the exact specifications of the actual product that you will be building with. As amazing as these online component sharing websites are, there’s a chance that the component is not exactly the same as the manufacturer’s component and could mess up your design (both aesthetically and functionally).