MEMO: BIM MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION, No. 72

To: All Regional BIM Managers

Hi, All.

My name is Lee D. Technician. I currently serve as a regional BIM Coordinator. Ambit (from our corporate office) asked me to pass on this bit of information and to encourage you to implement this subtle but important process when managing your Revit data. Here is a better way to manage reference lines.

Ambit wanted to add this to a ‘YBRE.’ I vetoed it. You’re welcome!

As you are accustomed, our company’s best-practice is that we periodically maintain our files by managing reference lines such that only named references (implying important to the model) remain while others are removed (i.e., unnamed references imply they are temporary or not integral to the BIM).

This activity can be a chore to find and remove all unnecessary references. As you know, leaving this to users has proven to be largely ineffective. This new process will eliminate the “remove as-you-go” mindset and can roll this into your weekly, bi-weekly or monthly BIM maintenance sessions.

Here are the steps:

Select and reference line.
Launch the Parameter Report Tool ‘By Category.’
Find the “Name” column/parameter then sort so that unnamed fields/cells group.
Select the all fields cells in “Name” column that are unnamed.
Then click on “Select in Project,” then click “OK.”
Returning to model/drawing window with all unnamed references selected hit the “Delete” key.
DONE: All unnamed references no longer exist in your BIM file.

These steps take seconds to complete. One could make the case that since it is so quick, that this cleanup should be more frequent.

Per usual, ensure that users are notified of this maintenance in advance thereby giving them the opportunity to name/keep what is necessary.

If you have any questions, call Ambit on his home line between at 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM EST; here is his home phone number: 555-246-2378. If you are bold enough to call in the early morning, be certain your question is some mundane BIM or office related item. Something like “hey are you busy; do you think I should make this component faced-based or host-based” or “hey did you get my email – the one I just sent, yes just now.”

For all other questions, you can email or call me during business hours.

Your BIM Pal,

Lee

CC: Ambit A. Architect