Forums >> General Discussion >> Revit Project Management >> Multiple Projects/Phases within Master Central File

nicholesap

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We are working on a hospital renovation/addtion that has several areas in various stages of design & construction. The team has developed a single central file to coordinate all of these various projects. The struggle they are running into is how to document area 1 (in CD's with a specific project number) from area 2 (in SD's with a different project number). Titleblocks don't allow for differing project name/number, nor are sheets with the same name/number possible.

 Has anyone tried, and preferrably succeeded, in using a single central file to design and document multiple projects in varying stages of design?

Thanks,

Adam, DGL Revit Guru-in-Utero

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Adam P. Nicholes

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WWHub

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evandermaarel

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Similarly, we have a major project with multiple project numbers and building permit applications.  Each small project is a new tenant and a new project number.

Our dilema is that we cannot view / print the master floor plan ie. with all the Suites at the end of each project because the information is part of the preious project  ie. fire separations, text descriptions, dimensions etc.

Is what you are describing still the way to go. ? We are having great difficulty making this work.

'Why would you use a single central file if these are multiple projects with different names?  This would be a nightmare to manage and work in.  Use seperate central files and link in the other projects where appropriate.   Also use worksets in a manner that will enable you to seperate out those items you really need to share '

Your help is muchly appreicated.

Ed

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WWHub

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You have to determine what you want / need to show and when.  The overall project can be a shell with the individual projects linking the shell and the overall linking the links. 

So in the individual projects, you have your background shell and you add your tennant improvements with 2D documentation.

And in the main model, when you want an overall plan, it shows all modeled elements but not the notes, tags and other 2D annotations associated with each tennant improvement.  You can dimension to linked elements though if you need to.

Really, this is handled no differently than the traditional Arch/MEP/Struct process.  Each discipline (in your case tennant improvement) links the other discipline's model (overall model) as required to show that portion of the work.

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thetabest

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To simplify, you MUST use phasing for this, and consider your main file as a CAMPUS.  Each of the smaller projects each occur in a given order, i.e.- the O.R. Remodel might be done prior to the Endoscopy Remodel, which is finished prior to the Cafeteria Overhall.  Each of these different "projects" should be completely within their own phase of construction, and thus, if you are printing out the plans for the Cafeteria Overhall (which finishes last in my example) you would see the prior 2 jobs completed and showing as existing.  If you went to the Endoscopy plans, it would show the O.R. Remodel as completed, but would show NOTHING about the Cafeteria Overhall.

The toughies for this though, are that you have to map all your linked files to the correct phases, so this increases your setup time a little bit (like 20 minutes).

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Trent Best

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WWHub

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thetabest,

I don't think phases are necessary here.  Each buildout is a stand-alone project with the shell linked in.  Linked files should always be put in a seperate workset and as such, their visibility can be controlled.  So for the buildout drawing, the shell elements could all be half toned / dashed or whatever you choose (just like phases).  Then in the main model, each buildout would be a seperate link in it's own workset and as such, could be shown however you want. In addition, because this model could get quite large, you can use reduced workset loading if necessary.

Phases are a good tool but are hard to use for beginners and using worksets may be a better option in cases like this.

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kashifafzal

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I am sure someone would have tried or suggested this in your team, here is what i think, Do not use revit Project Information to show up in the Title Blocks, and use different title blocks for different projects, this will require manually selecting different title blocks for relavent projects drawings, but it will solve one problem of how to have One central file showing different project names on different title blocks.

Oops i did not notice, the orignal message was posted on Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 9:28:40 PM

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WWHub

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kash,

The trouble with your solution is that there is only one set of sheet numbers in the project.  So only one sheet A1 - no matter how many title blocks you are using.  ... unless of course this is a dumb number - but then all your view reference numbers don't work. 

... Your working at solutions and that's good. 

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thetabest

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@wwhub -> If I was setting this project up, I'd create a central model, with all the different projects being in different phases.  I'd then create a sheet file for each project, and link in our model, etc.  Map the phases correctly, then we would annotate in the sheets, Model in the model...  The reason I don't like the multiple different files, albeit simpler, how would you deal with the next project?  Also, thanks for your method, I didn't realize we can make items in a workset appear different, i.e.- hidden lines, etc. 

From my experience, we did a massive hostpital (Stanford), and it was a nightmare, because the Arch (we were MEP) broke the model into different files, Core and Shell, 4-7, B-3, etc.  We spent a lot of time wasted due to their having several files, and the difficulty of controlling them and how they display (especially since we were relying on the Arch's room names to show up, because our guys didn't want the performance hit that spaces caused...).  Anyway, I'm just saying I know it works because I've done it, but until your suggestion, hadn't come up with any alternative work arounds. I just wonder though, how do you deal with phasing then?  If they are doing a remodel, that means stuff will be demolished, so if you are in project c, and the projects are slated to be completed in order, A, B, C, ... Project C would expect A and B to be completed, and anything that was demolished would not be visible... How are you dealing with this demo, if not via phasing?

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WWHub

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So you might have 50 or more phases? --- come on - how you gonna manage that?

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thetabest

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Isn't that kinda the concept behind BIM?  Have the entire lifecycle and all its related information within the Model?  If you ever wanted to know when that door was put in, you could click on it and see which construction project it was put in under... As to managing the phases, you click create new phase, name it to the project for that phase, then click new for the next one, and so forth... Then in your working views and in your sheets, you set the current phase to the current project you are working on... Fairly simple and straightforward if you ask me, no having to override any additional worksets, or controlling the links, etc.  Only difficulty is that you have to map the phases, which is actually quite easy, because you map the current phase for this project to the linked file's appropriate phase, then put all the prior phases as existing... (in your sheet file).  Downside to this is that your model and sheets are separated, but you get one complete model, not a bunch of scattered bits and pieces.  But hey, in the end, people will take the path of least resistance, I'm just offering another way of doing it, AND asking about how you do it, because in the end, I also want to take the path of least resistance, so please, I'm not criticizing your method, just trying to understand it along with any limitations/advantages it might have...

Thanks

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Trent Best

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marchpfa

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If I make a Master Central and link all my seperate projects to their correct phases and everything works out the way that it should, How do I do the next project that spans two or more of the projects that I have in the master central. To take it further, If we were to work on a single floor in a hospital for the lifespan of the building I would think that we would get to a point that each wall would eventually turn into its own project.? Maybe not to this extreme. 

Maybe there is a check box for these sitations! Hopefully and Patiently Waiting for it to be so.

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WWHub

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This is when you link in a file then bind it to create a new combined project.

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thetabest

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If you separate your sheets and model file, even though this isn't the natural way to work in Revit, you will get what you want.  So, each project would share the same master central file, and they would link in this master file into each of the projects.  Each project is nothing more than sheets and views with annotations of the model.  Either method, you will have to scrub a project clean to start a new one...  Like this, if you have project denoted as a phase A, then B, and C.  You cannot do all of these in the same project, at least not and have the same numbering scheme.  So you could add a phase designator to the sheet number (remember, Revit will NOT allow duplicate sheet numbers).  Otherwise, you will have to delete all the annotation and sheets from within the central file, and then save it as a new central file, and at this point, especially if there is construction or possible changes going on from a prior phase of construction, you'll have to manage those changes...  Now, remove the sheets from the model file, as I mentioned above, and you can have each project directly mapping to the same central file (or set of central files) and as such, if some change order in phase A would be seen in phase B, it will... The only management that needs be done is your initial setup is a little tiny bit more complex, AND of course there is the annoyance of having to jump back and forth from model to sheet file... 

hopefully this might help you

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Trent Best

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