Multiple Buildings/ Multiple Construction Docs/ Shared Details

[tmiller682525]

Ive been doing extensive reading on the topic of multiple building workflow in Revit Architecture. In our case each will need their own set of construction documents however the buildings will be sharing details and notes. I cant seem to find a "best practices" or general consensus on a "recommended approach". Everything I read seems to be that this is a PAIN in Revit no matter what. And that for multiple buildings, there is no way around duplicate notes, details, sections etc. thus causing double, or triple the work depending on the amount of buildings you may have.

Here's my firms situation. Recently we are running into numerous projects which have multiple buildings on a single site. We have been trying numerous methods for CDs but all seem to have issues. Our intent based on what we used to do in Autocad Architecture, would be to have a separate set of construction documents for each building all under a overall cover sheet with items such as general notes, key notes, details, sections being shared accross all the buildings.

What is the simplest solution to achieve our desired results? We have experimented with linking all buildings into a common file but running into issues with not being able to modify schedules for linked files, as well as if we cut a section on one building and place it on a sheet we cant reuse that section on another buildings sheet (i.e. same section used for two sets of construction documents). We also have tried doing each buildings CDs as its own project file but then we have duplicate work in that general notes, key notes, details, sections are being copied from project file to project file. Which means if a standard note or detail is revised we have to revise it x times how many buildings we have.

In Autocad we would have drawn the general notes, key notes, details, sections in an Xref base file and then Xrefed it into each set of CDs thereby only drawing it once and only revising it once if there were revisions. PLEASE HELP!!

-TM

[kstalk]

While I don't like mixing AutoCAD and Revit too much, it might be a good idea in your case to draw the typical details in AutoCAD and then link them into all of your building's files. That way, if something changes, you just have to update the AutoCAD drawing and reload the link.

Another option would be to have a Revit Container file with all of your details. You could "Insert from File" the details you need into your separate buildings. The only downside, is that if you change something, you would need to back through all of your buildings individually to re-insert the detail. Personally, I like this option more because it keeps everything in Revit and removes the need any linked AutoCAD files. You could even use this container file as the "Front End" of your drawing package.

Hope this helps a little.

-Kirk

[david_peterson]

We're just finishing up an 11 combined building, 1.4mil sqft project. About 90 models all in all. We produced one set of Common Details. We created a smart dumb section/detail/elevation family. You can choose the graphic and the detail reference number. We used a catalog to hold all of the detail and sheet numbers. Create a new type for each detail reference you need. If it changes, change the family and reload into all projects files. It's a little bit of work, but the only method I've seen work for referencing details/sections outside a project model.
Create a shared project parameter that you can use to help sort stuff so you can schedule things from a linked models. Say Project Package or something like that. Assign all elements in that model to it. Then in your combined file you have the option to filter by it as well as family and type. Think doors. You'll need to split them out for each building. Or you could create that schedule in the individual file.
The only major hang up your have is coming up with a sheet number system. On our project we used a letter designator for each building as a prefix. Then numbers for discipline and plan type. Worked rather slick. We've got about 8000 sheets in the set. Everything been running smooth.