Proven 10 Step Strategy for Large Group Revit Training

Since 2002, I’ve used variations of this strategy to assist 150 organizations (architects, engineers, contractors, & facility owners to implement Revit. This is a scalable approach that I’ve successfully used for training the staff of small-medium sized and very large organizations.

Refer to my Client Revit Training Success Stories Page.

01) Group 1 | Provide comprehensive Basic – Intermediate training onsite for a core group of individuals from each department.

02) Group 1 helps the trainer(s) to create relevant custom course content for their respective departments.

03) Training course content has a two-fold purpose; create custom training content, create and document company & department specific graphics & BIM standards.

04) The next set of trainees (Group 2) will train only on company & department specific content; thereby reducing their training time & budget by learning only what they need to know for their roles-positions.

05) Group 1 trains in 1 day increments; with a minimum of 1 day off between classes. This team needs time to try what they’ve learned and is collaborating their recommendations with the trainer. A Expert Revit consultant can use this process to minimize their initial consulting-assessment time to kick off the Revit implementation. Think of it as a “design-build” implementation-training process; with a recognized description as “Process Education” or “Process Training”.

06) Group 2 trainees is much larger and is trained in 4 hour increments; also onsite. I typically train departments separately using the training content developed from the first group of trainees. For example, I may train the Interiors/Fixtures group in the morning (8:00-Noon); and train the Construction Department / PMs in the afternoon. (1:00-5:00pm).

07) Group 2 is learning Revit in “smaller bites”, so I’ve trained this group using either consecutive or non-consecutive days.

08) I ask the folks from the 1st group to visit and “sit in” on their departmental training. They see the results of their training content recommendations. They can offer company-department insight on trainees questions, review revised procedures and course content that was selected for their staff training.

09) No one takes training unless they have dedicated training exercises and/or practice work during AND after their training. It’s financially wasteful to train, billable professionals without having ongoing Revit-based tasks for them “to use what they’ve learned”.

10) These are just a few steps I take to insure client independence and create a self-sustaining Revit Implementation process. They now have custom training materials with a great start with documented “how to” standards. An Expert Revit Trainer-Consultant always has this as their ultimate deliverable for their Revit trainees.

Please visit my Client Revit Training Success Stories Page, where clients have shared their experiences using my training process.

The Revit Clinic provides an ordered list (hierarchy) of 10 Revit visibility controls.

They provide graphical examples of those controls defined as the Revit Visibility Hierarchy.

10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest using walls as an example:

1. Line Work Tool
2. Override Graphics in View > By Element > Halftone
3. Graphic Display Options – Silhouette Edges
4. Override Graphics in View > By Element
5. View Filters
6. View Depth – “Beyond” Line Style
7. Phasing Graphic Overrides
8. Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Override Host Layers > Cut Line Styles
9. Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Projection \ Cut Lines
10. Project Object Styles

Continue Reading and viewing the graphical examples from the complete article; Revit Visibility Hierarchy.

I attended the Ecobuild America 2011- National BIM Conference in Washington DC the week of December 5th.

“What is your BIM Score?”

“How are you measuring the success of your BIM projects and processes?”

Dr. Calvin Kam asked these questions to open his AIA-TAP BIM process review presentation.

Dr. Kam’s research focuses on identifying “Good Practice” for Virtual Design and Construction projects.

• His research & metrics are documented here: http://vdcscorecard.stanford.edu

The VDC Scorecard evaluates the maturity of Virtual Design & Construction (VDC) in practice based on an industry performance rating framework, and measures the degree of VDC innovation in planning, adoption, technology, and performance. AEC professionals can use the evaluation framework to track and assess VDC performances of their projects.

He will be launching the BIMSCORE.com website in early 2012.

Register to receive an email notice when the site goes live, register at http://bimscore.com

BIMSCORE.com may be defined as a “cloud site” for measuring users’ BIM project processes against “Good BIM Practice” metrics.

Users can enter a BIM project’s data into BIMSCORE.com to review areas of success and areas that require improvement.

Calvin Kam, PhD, AIA, PE, LEED AP

LinkedIn Profile Link:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/calvin-kam/0/a43/a50

2011 Co-Chair, Center for Integrated Practice at AIA

Senior Program Expert, National 3D-4D-BIM Program at GSA

2010 Co-Chair & 2011 Chair, Technology in Architectural Practice, National Knowledge Community at AIA

I spent Monday in Baltimore providing a morning Revit technical presentation and a noon Revit Family Best Practices Lunch and Learn.

The Revit learning sessions featured a series of short Revit Family training videos I created.

They demonstrated the Revit family design procedures from the Bradley Revit Family Design Guidelines. A few of these are documented in this article or on BradleyBIM.com.

Since March 2010, I’ve been guiding Bradley Corporation with the creation of the Bradley Revit Family Library.

In October 2011, we achieved a milestone of creating 900+ Bradley Revit families; representing 10s of thousands of Bradley plumbing fixtures and washroom accessory products.

• We still have another 110 Revit families that are nearing completion. I can then begin the next phase of Bradley Revit family parameter & version upgrades.

Related Article:
11 Revit Family Technical Support Tips -Training Articles | Best Practices
In January 2012, Bradley is launching a series of AIA-CES accredited webinars featuring; Sustainable Design (1), Accessibility-ADA (1),  and three BIM Webinars (3).

Watch for future announcements regarding this project that I will post on BradleyBIM.com Blog

Related Article

• 11 Revit Family Technical Support Tips -Training Articles | Best Practices

Thank You Veterans for Your Service & Sacrifice

What Is A Veteran?

A Veteran — whether active duty, honorably discharged, retired, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America, for an amount of up to, and including their life.

Wounded Warrior Project

http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

877.TEAM.WWP (832.6997)
t: 904.296.7350 | f: 904.296.7347

4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300
Jacksonville, Florida 32256
CFC #11425

Fisher House Foundation

http://www.fisherhouse.org/home/

Providing a “home away from home” for military families to be close to a loved one during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.

Thank you veterans for your service and sacrifice to preserve our freedom.

I spent last week with my client at their Texas production company. We outlined 5 AIA-CES accredited webinars education courses for 2012.

Here are the Bradley BIM Blog articles I created:

• Bradley BIM Expands AIA-CES Courses-Webinars: BIM | Sustainable | Accessible Design

• Engineers Receive PDH Credit for Bradley AIA-CES Webinar

The production company will begin launching our collaborative AIA-CES webinars courses in March 2012.

The 5 AIA-CES accredited learning outlines we assembled; feature these highly requested topics in the 2012:

• ADA | Accessible Design  / Universal Design Course

• Sustainable Design Course

• 3 BIM Process Courses (HSW)

I will serve several roles on these AIA-CES projects; online presenter, co-author and curriculum developer.

Watch for future news releases and updates as we will announce the launch date for the first March 2012 webinar series in February and March 2012.

Unemployed Architects and Architectural Students

A central theme of these AIA-CES educational events, is to help the unemployed & newly rehired architects to stay current with their certifications and skill sets.

Architectural students will find the content of these AIA-CES events helpful to their career development.

As Bradley’s Revit-BIM Consulting Expert, I will be attending the Ecobuild America 2011 and National BIM Conference in Washington DC from December 5-9th 2011.

I will be representing the Bradley BIM Initiative, sharing how Bradley Revit Family Library has met and dramatically exceeded the Revit-BIM requirements for their global design, engineering, construction & facility owner clients.

Bradley BIM will be displaying Bradley’s 900+ Revit family library in a Demonstration Kiosk at the Ecobuild America 2011 and National BIM Conference in Washington DC from December 5-9th 2011.

The Bradley BIM Demonstration Kiosk will be located in the AEC Interoperability Center; Bradley BIM is Booth (Kiosk) 337

The Ecobuild / National BIM Conferences are featuring exhibits, presentations, lectures and learning sessions from the world’s most expert organizations; that are supporting technology and BIM processes for the built environment.

Michael Vickery, Bradley Government / Architect Sales Manager for Bradley Corporation will be discussing how Bradley Products are meeting the design, sustainable and low-maintenance needs of Bradley global clients’ government & commercial projects. (Michael Vickery 800.272.3539)

Bradley Revit Toilet Partitions-Showers- Lockers-Lavatories

Related Article(s):

• Visit Bradley Revit-BIM | US Army Corps of Engineers-ISC | Atlanta June 14-17

• Join Me | US Army Corps of Engineers-ISC Conference | June 14-17

• Army Corps of Engineers-ISC | Revit-BIM Process Focus

The Intro to Chemistry Assignment

My daughter received an Introduction to Chemistry assignment to calculate the volume (in cubic centimeters) of her irregularly-shaped Chemistry classroom, which has a sloped ceiling.

She was willing to learn how to solve this problem by using Revit.

So she took the “steering wheel”…Two hours later; she not only discovered the answer; but enjoyed the “test drive” of her first Revit class project.

Here’s a summary of her Revit tasks

She and her chemistry partner field verified the classroom measurements earlier that day.

• She started a new Revit project; by selecting an architectural commercial Revit template

• Set the project units to centimeters

• Using the wall command, created the floor plan and dimensioned the inside faces of the room.

• Inserted doors, windows while adding several new family types to match her field measurements

• Add a section mark

• Add a room object and room tag to display area in square centimeters.

• From section view, add a room tag to display volume of room in cubic centimeters

•  Place plan symbols for fire extinguisher, emergency eye wash & fire alarm.

• A Levels was added and an existing level was modified to set the sloped ceiling heights.

• Created a sloped ceiling.

• A room schedule was created, displaying room area and volume

• By now, the Revit model yielded the room volume answer in cubic centimeters.

•  A B-size title block was added to the sheets. She edited the title block family; adding & deleting content specific to her class. Then reloaded the edited title block back into her Revit project.

• After adding a few more B-size sheets, she placed Plan, Section and Room Schedule views on their individual sheets.

• She pressed the Print button, selected the sheets for printing and created a PDF file.

• A quick “attach” to email and her print out was on its way to her Chemistry teacher.

Over the last 6 months, I have been co-authoring the Bradley Revit-BIM Technical Blog; (bradleybim.com)

Since March 2010, I have served as Bradley Corporation’s Revit-BIM consultant for their Engineering, Marketing & Sales departments.

The Bradley Revit Family Library now exceeds 900 Revit families; representing 10s of thousands of Bradley plumbing & specialty equipment products.

When Bradley’s, Revit-based design-construction clients call into Bradley Customer Service, I many times will field the call or respond to the client email.

Here are 7 Bradley BIM and 4 Revit Playbook articles that I’ve authored in response to client Revit Family questions.

1. Bradley BIM Team Targets Biggest Revit Family Quality Concerns

2. Bradley Revit-BIM Family Quality Standards | Top 10 FAQs

3. Your Revit Family File Size is Too Big | How Big is TOO BIG?

4. Revit Project Performance | Revit Family File Size vs Family Visibility Settings

05. How do I load a Revit family that has a Revit family catalog?

06. How to Insert a Face-Based Revit Family Into a Project | 3 Options

07. Why Revit Family File Content Looks Different in a Revit Project

Related Revit Family Strategies-Training Tips | Revit Playbook

08. Smaller Revit Family File Sizes | Modeling Strategies

09. Revit Family File Size Strategies | Project Management

10. Strategies for Smaller Revit Family File Sizes | Maintenance

11. Revit Family Components Create Successful Branding | Building Product Manufacturers

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) several years ago introduced a series of “digital practice documents” as part of its suite of contractual agreements.

The documents include licensing agreements and protocol exhibits intended to better define the responsibilities of designers using BIM on different types of projects.

AIA Document E 202 “Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit,” establishes a framework for managing BIM requirements for different phases of a project using a “model element table” that is filled out by each designer.

The CASE National Guidelines Committee, together with the joint CASE/SEI BIM committee, has developed a white paper (available at www.acec.org/case) that explores the implications of the AIA “digital practice documents” for the structural engineer of record (SER).

Continue reading the complete article from Structural Engineer Magazine

Andrew Rauch, P.E., S.E. is a principal with BKBM Engineers in Minneapolis and CASE’s chair-elect and current chair of CASE’s National Guidelines Committee. He can be reached at arauch@bkbm.com.

In the movie “Field of Dreams“, the main character Ray, a novice Iowa farmer  hears “a voice” in his field that says;

“If you build it, they will come”.

Ray plows under a portion of his corn crop and builds a baseball field in response to the message from “the voice”.

He then waits to see what his act of faith will provide him…to his dismay, nothing happens.

Building Product Manufacturers, “hear voices” on the “Must Have”…Revit-BIM models of their products?

“If you build it (Revit-BIM Models), they (customers) will come.”

Since March 2010, I’ve served as Revit-BIM Consultant for the Building Product Manufacturer (BPM); Bradley Corporation.

As Bradley’s Corporate Revit-BIM Consultant, I work with engineering, product development, marketing, sales, quality control, client services, etc… helping Bradley to

• define the Revit value of their Revit families for design-construction organizations,
• define & document best modeling practices,
• create marketing case studies & sales training videos
• generate BIM SOP documentation,
• train their manufacturing engineers to use Revit,
• provide telephone customer support,
• build many of Bradley’s Revit models internally within the Bradly BIM Team.

Ray, the Iowa farmer heard “the voice” again;

“Go the Distance”

So Ray exerted stronger efforts that yielded incredible results (ROI) for his baseball field investment.

Bradley Corporation heard “that same voice” 16 months ago.

Bradley planned and exerted the correct financial, engineering & business leadership efforts (sample list above) to “Go the Distance“.

The Bradley BIM Team, has built more than 900 Revit Families; representing thousands and thousands of Bradley Plumbing Fixtures and Specialty Equipment products.

My customer service calls to Bradley US Revit-BIM clients; acknowledge and confirm the value of Bradley’s efforts to minimize their clients’ Revit-BIM modeling costs.

What Not To Do…

Please don’t build your Revit models and post them to your company website; without expending the business planning efforts listed above.

Without this planning, I can guarantee you will achieve disappointing and mediocre Return On Investment results.

We have posted a few of our strategies publicly, on the Bradley BIM Blog.

I author many of the Bradley BIM Blog articles; including their Bradley BIM FAQ Page.

The blog reveals a snapshot of technical & business planning decisions we used to ensure the ultimate quality of the Bradley Revit-BIM Library.

Related Article:

11 Revit Family Technical Support Tips -Training Articles | Best Practices

Building Product Manufacturers

Are you ready to target a successful plan to turn your Building Products into Revit content?

Introduce the value of your products and help your architectural, engineering, contracting and facility owner clients to cut their Revit modeling costs?

Get in the game!

I can help you create your Revit Playbook to recognize your organization, your products and sales teams as viable, partnering resources for Revit BIM-based projects.

Contact me using the form below.

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Pfister Hotel | Milwaukee Wisconsin

Pfister Hotel, Milwaukee Wisconsin used Excel Engineering’s 3D Laser Scanning Services to obtain an estimated cost for repairing the exterior surface of the hotel.

Pfister Hotel | Milwaukee Wisconsin | 3D Laser Scan Point Cloud

3D laser scanning provided a more accurate method to field verify and then estimate the repair costs.

• A previous estimate based on another review method, from another firm; came in dramatically higher for the repair costs.

Pfister Hotel | 3D Laser Scan Provides Gray Scale Surface Review

A 3D laser scanner can scan a surface and capture a gray scale image to be reviewed by an engineer.

Pfister Hotel Intensity Scan of Wall Surface

A 3D laser scanner can scan a surface and capture an intensity image; assisting the engineer that is reviewing the masonry surfaces for cracks and splits.

3D Laser Scanner | Pfister Hotel Project

Contact Us today to learn how 3D Laser Scanning Services can provide you with more accurate renovation and repair cost estimates.

Request Information

Request Form | Fields with " * " are required fields. Thank You.

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Briefly Describe How We May Help You, Thank You.*

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