As a follow up to my previous post on the key steps for building a quality Revit content library, I thought I would write something similar on the process for setting up successful Revit projects.

Now, a lot of what I’ll cover here may seem remedial for experienced BIM Managers who’ve already managed numerous projects before. That said, in my experience running Revit projects and training and managing BIM professionals, I've seen the same avoidable problems come up over and over.

Firms that have the right processes in place before a project starts will benefit from the smoothest experience for everyone involved. Getting technical details clear before a project kicks off will help prevent unnecessary work and wasted resources.

Whether you’re an experienced BIM Manager or someone who’s new to managing Revit projects, this post offers useful guidelines to follow for every new project your firm undertakes. Let's take a look at how BIM Managers can help ensure that the earliest stages of a Revit project set up everyone for success.

Typical Revit project setup.

When looking at the roles that an architecture and engineering firm needs when working on Revit projects, there is normally at least one person required in a BIM-focused role to help coordinate and manage the technical side of things.

Typical tasks for a BIM Manager towards the start of a project could include:

• Setting up Revit project files by using templates and creating views.
• Facilitating the team's design work by making sure they all have easy access to the right content.
• Keeping Revit running smoothly by frequently cleaning models.

But going straight to these hands-on tasks is a mistake, as there is a lot that the BIM Manager should be doing ahead of time to ensure a successful start.

Clarify key technical requirements with the client and project partners.

There can be a tendency to skip over technical details prior to project kickoff. But it's worth asking tough questions to the right people early on in the process. This will ultimately lead to the best results for everyone involved.

Below are four things to get clear on with clients and partners before work begins.

1. Agree on how to exchange data. Which formats are required? How do you manage the exchange of Revit models between different teams? Failing to set up the right processes here can lead to a lot of frustration and wasted time when confusion hits about how teams are expected to collaborate on a project. It isn't a problem you want to discover after everybody has started work.

2. Decide which technology to use. While it's theoretically possible to do a BIM project with AutoCAD, most projects will need to use more focused tools such as Revit. Does your whole team have access? Will you need to adapt processes to accommodate contractors or clients that need to use different tools? This is important to get clear before a project starts.

   Which versions of Revit people use is one example of a technical detail that you need to clarify. The versions of Revit being used on a project makes a difference to compatibility and what's possible. There is a risk that this gets skipped over and then it’s too late when people find out there's a mismatch.

3. Agree on deliverables at the very start. This saves time and money. Clients may have very specific requests, and senior team members engaged in negotiations would benefit from speaking with people that work in BIM-focused roles to make sure that it's possible to meet those requirements.

   You should flag any concerns about additional resources that may be required to deliver projects the way that a client wants. The more heavily you work with data, the more risk there is of something going wrong, especially when lots of different types of data are involved.

   File formats are also useful to clarify. They should be practical while still giving the best customer experience. For example, a client may want to use COBie for facilities management. If you don't speak with the facilities team to make sure that this is the right system, then you may be wasting time.

4. Help senior stakeholders have an educated position in negotiations. Technical specifics must be discussed early, as this reduces the risk of a mismatch between the way a firm works and the expectations of the client. Getting this wrong can lead to working backward to fill in gaps left at previous phases of a project. Make sure business leaders understand what clients are asking for and if it is something that can be agreed upon.

   Don't fall into the trap of promising more than you can deliver, and then disappointing clients by not meeting their expectations while stressing out your team in the process.

Communicate within your firm.

In addition to agreeing on the technical deliverables with the client, you also need to agree on them with your team and help them get set up accordingly. Internal communication is so important, and BIM Managers have a big role to play in this.

Revit users know how to use the tool to do their jobs, but this doesn't mean they have the knowledge to set up their environment for each project. Leaving this to them could cause slowdowns. So having a BIM Manager set up the environment for the team saves time, helps to make sure it works correctly, and ensures the output will fit the customer requirements.

It's useful to define, set up and then share these basics with your team. While there is more to it, these will get you most of the way there.

• The types of views you will use. Have your view templates sorted and ideally all your sheets set up. The view templates should include filters, and additional filters should be ready for people to see what they need when working on the project.
• The project’s model split. Add all the relevant links between models and share this with the team.
• Worksets. Less is more here. See if you can get away with less than five worksets, without counting those used for links. If you cannot, you might be using worksets for visibility, which you shouldn’t.

Conclusion

BIM Managers can set up Revit projects for success before anyone else on the team gets to work. Everything flows much smoother when ambiguity is eliminated, technical requirements are clearly defined, and everyone has the same information and understanding of how to model in Revit. Aside from supporting team members working in Revit, the most successful BIM Managers also focus on connecting the right people across a business to help make sure that everyone is on the same page and the Revit project environment is set up for success from the start.