Is anyone here dealing with office politics?
I have been Reviting for 4 years now. MEP guy. My skills have risen over the years along with the software improvements and the resulting newfound capabilities. I tell these guys to use the functions!! Use multiple 3D views and go light on the systems so we can avoid lag. I tell them to use design options!! All the designers are always switching back and forth from one option to another. Why are we continually deleting and re-drawing???
No one seems to be able to draw a straight run of duct or pipe!!! Much of the drainage is not sloping!!! And then they pass through shear walls. Are these people on drugs?? Their models look like sh*t because the shear wall penetration point is much lower than where they are showing it with their UNSLOPED DRAINAGE.
Then when it gets corrected voila! Now we're colliding with ductwork.
When my models go out for coordination with structure and architectural there are very few conflicts. Usually these conflicts are the result of the general contractor using old models where we were still in design development.
But when I tell them it's an old model. Click here and here and here for the newest one. When I tell them to update the mechanical model, all the problems melt away.
In addition I find myself project managing more and more. I use multiple 3D views via dual screen and a third one for AutoCAD / Navis works. They don't do this. It's always one view maximized to fit both of their screens.
But here's the messed up part.
Everytime there is a full scale project that comes in, the other major Revit guy gets the lead, totally destroys it and the errors perpetuate with all our shared underlings. This other major Revit guy is NOT USELESS. He built our library of families so that they conformed with the existing company standards. I am the one who developed our modeling strategy so as to avoid any lag.
Incorrect use of worksets. Terrible terrible terrible. Why have a workset called HVAC and put all ducts, pipes, and equipment on it? This is stoopid. My worksets are separated by level, room/zone, and mechanical discipline. If I have multiple people working with me I separate my worksets into regions. L1 MECH ROOM. PH MECH ROOM. B1 MECH ROOM. Everyone is responsible for their own room. Don't tell me you don't do plumbing. You're going to do everything in YOUR ZONE.
Shear wall opening families are ALWAYS improperly sized and never really coordinated.
Looks fine on paper, but the minute it gets into the GC's hands it goes to the dogs.
?????
I am currently doing mark-ups for their project so they can go out for construction soon. But the more I do this dirty work the more I see how futile it is. We're never going to get everything resolved in time. There are too many curse designers revising each others work. There are too many drafters doing mark ups and not advising the designer of what he can/cannot do. That's what Revit was made for. To make the designer more of a drafter and the drafter more of a designer. Am I off the mark here?
At the same time, the guys mean well, are nice people, but the office I work at has an aging population and there is a well established hierarchy.
We've butted heads before over territory. Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a cardboard box covered and surrounded by matresses.
Plain facts are, these guys have poor skills and no inclination to learn. Sorry I hate to say it like that, but I'm seriously upset at the Partners for misallocating resources and giving the high profile jobs to the other major Revit guy who's been with them for 20 years. The only time I can shine is when I am working on a model ALONE. But then since I don't like tooting my own horn, no one spreads the word how awesome my models are. I know that sounds terrible for me to say about myself. But seriously, when the designer's problems melt away because of MY FORESIGHT and interdisciplinary communication, when the partners can sleep at night knowing the i's are dotted and the t's crossed, hey that's worth a pretty penny, no??
Fact is I feel my skills are worth piles of money but I need to showcase them on a high profile job. Or just take my existing work and do a show and tell. I don't know.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
MAYBE I'M JUST RANTING...but it would be good to hear any suggestions. Anyone who's gone it alone? Freelancing Revit? Sorry I'm just sick and tired of the red tape and egg shells.
|
Search
