Long term on-going projects

[DaveP]

We do a lot of Medical work. Hospitals are constantly doing small remodels to existing buildings. What's the best process for working on on-going projects?
I'm talking about remodeling one part of a building - say the 4th floor, and then, after that project is complete, doing another remodel on the 2nd floor.

Here's a couple of methods we've used, but I'm not happy with any of them.

1.) Copy the Central file to the new project & blow away all the old views & Sheets

2.) Start a new project, Link in the old, and then Bind the Link.

3.) Export (shudder) to IFC or ACAD & bring it back in to a new project.

Method #1 seems the simplest, but takes a lot of cleanup & drags along any sludge from the old project.

Method # 2 took me a couple of days to set up on the last project I tried. First I had to clean up a bunch of errors before I could Bind, and then - worst of all - it brought in ALL of my phases from the old project. Including Demo. It took a lot of cleanup to make that one usable, too.

I haven't even had the nerve to try #3. I'm afraid we'll lose too much. Like all our custom Door Parameters.

Any recommendations?

[gbrowne]

You couldn't just copy paste the items you want from the old project into a new file? And then start over? I do that when I have something somewhere that I can use again, like a wall type, plan layout or omething. A hospital sounds complex, but it might be easier than effectively starting from scratch.

Also I find it important to keep the source file open when pasting, for some reason it doesn't like when you shut the source file down before the pasting occurs..

[SCShell]

Hey there,

The method that I have been using for the last several years has been working really well for me; however, it is a bit of work.

Similar to hospital work, I have a few open ended Tenant Improvement contracts for fairly large multi-story office buildings. I keep a "Master Building" project very current with every build out in it so that I can furnish the Owner's and Leasing Agents with an up to date Rent & Lease Plan Exhibit for each floor. In addition, this provides me with a current floor plate for each floor so that I am prepared for the next upcoming suite remodel project.

This "Master Building" project is not a fully detailed set of CD plans, but rather just a current layout which only shows walls, demising locations, doors, windows and the building cores and shell of course. I always looked at it this way.....when I start a new project (which is always a remodel at this point) of any suite, all I want is an accurate and current layout of what is existing at that particular point in time.

I then start my new project by copying the existing floor plate into my new project's "Existing Plan" view and then proceed to design the new layout. (Graphic overides for phasing is very important in order to show existing walls differently than new ones.) The important thing to keep straight is how you copy and paste into the new project.

Then, when the project is done, and built......I just take my project, select all walls, doors and windows etc, and copy/paste align back into the "Master Building" project (which is set to an "Existing Plan" view so that all of my project's new walls are now all correctly shown as existing in the "Master Building" project.

I know this sounds a bit "Long way around the barn-ish"; however, it works for me.

Hope this offered some help.
Steve

[mzabritski]

Steve,

Thanks for the great post. We are getting ready to start on a very similar experience. We just finished a 4 story medical office building and we are now getting ready for multiple TI projects within the building. I've been trying to figure out how to set up all of these other jobs, which may range from an entire floor to only several hundred square feet.

Your method sounds like it might be what we are looking for. A couple of questions and concerns:

1. How exactly do you copy a floor plate into your new project? Are you just cutting and pasting? Our perimeter walls extend multiple floors. Are you grabbing whatever you need to make it look right in plan?

2. We just finished the Core Shell portion. I'm sure there will be changes during construction and revisions made down the line. What do you recommend get these changes into the TI projects? Make the change in the original Core Shell job, then cut and paste again? or make the change twice?

3. Any other hints or ideas you might have would be great.

Thanks
Michael

[SCShell]

Hi Michael,

Sorry to take so long to to get back to you; however, it has been a mad house around here lately.

1. Yes, copy/paste; however, I always use "paste align" so that I can move things back and forth easily. The one thing that I did was to model the building core as a single floor and then stacked them, so that I can copy out one single floor plate; however, it is not necessary. For T.I. projects, I would still leave the perimeter walls in, only use crop boxes to limit what shows. (Also, to keep file sizes reasonable.)

2. As far as revisions go, I have only had to do this a few times. I changed the Master Building file and then re-pasted it back into the T.I. project.

3. The only other tips I can offer to really pay attention to your phase settings when starting out....I have had to go back and change new items to existing items on more than one occasion when learning.

Also, be very consistent and logical with your door, window, wall and other building specific families and types and how you save them and use them for various buildings. I have various door families which really only apply to one building, usually because they were there when I took the building over and now I have to match them.

Same with Templates. I have only one main project template; however, when doing a particular building, I save that out as a building specific template. This way, my door,window and wall schedules, cover sheet info and other (typical to only that building type sheets) are there, ready for use in each new T.I. project.

And, don't forget to paste the T.I. back into the Master Building Plan when you're done.

Good luck
Steve

[hbristol]

Dave (or anyone) -

Thanks so much for your detailed responses. This was pretty much what I was thinking we would need to do for one of our buildings we're contracted to complete test-fits for multiple clients in. I do have a few questions for you though.

1). Is there any way possible to work with links or groups so that ALL items could be reflected in the master Revit project file should we choose to?

The scenario: We have one client being test fit into suite 200. We do a 'save as' on the building master shell/core/existing conditions file and demo what we need to. Add our new walls/doors/windows and we go to pricing. Pricing is approved - Construction happens - now we need to update our building master file. I can see grouping out the new suite items and pasting the group into the floor - but I can't figure out if there's a way to avoid re-demolishing the walls again. Make sense - is there a way to only have to do this once?

2). Is there any way for two people to test fit in two different clients into neighboring suites?

The scenario: Broker wants us to test fit client A into suite 104 but also requires a test fit for client B into suite 105. Both clients are larger than existing suites and thus will require demolish/relocation of demsing wall to fit them in. Is it possible for one designer to see where the other designer is moving the demising wall - to see what is left on the floorplate for the second test fit?

Thanks
Holly