On Thursday night, our facility engineer showed me an as-built AutoCAD sketch for his toilet room renovation project in our Ohio manufacturing facility.

He asked if I could enhance the sketch with Revit for his Tuesday meeting with the contractor and facility engineers.

Starting Friday morning, it took 4 hours using Revit to create a fully coordinated construction doc set of

• floor plan,

• interior sections,

• interior elevations,

• reflected ceiling plan,

• plumbing fixture and washroom accessory schedules,

• 3D plan and 3D interior views.

AutoCAD Plan File Underlay

I linked his AutoCAD sketch of field measurements into the Revit file for tracing and as a reference for his ADA-toilet partition proposal.

Using the View Visibility (VV) settings, I set the Imported Category (Linked CAD file) to Half-Tone to make it less pronounced in the views.

Fully Coordinated Views & Document Set

Our interior designer provided a spreadsheet of components with their respective materials and model numbers for each room.

While she didn't specify the location of components; interior elevations and sections displayed product locations and heights for her review.

Using Bradley's pre-built Revit Family Library, the interior views and schedules immediately updated as the Revit components (lavatories, toilet partitions, accessories) were added to floor plans.

--- Key Costs for Building Revit Families | 1000 Bradley Revit Family Library ---

Cost Estimating

We added a Revit COST parameter to another plumbing fixture\accessory schedule (not printed). We exported the schedules to a spreadsheet to assist with the contractor's quoting process.

Revit Room Objects accurately reported each room's square footage for the floor finish renovation of each room. Additional face-to-face dimensions were added to field verify clearances between existing walls.

Sections & Reflected Ceiling Plan

Cross sections were created to field-verify clearances between the ceiling and structure.

It took 2 minutes to create a 'blank", correctly oriented reflected ceiling-tile plan from facility engineer's photos. He wanted to enhance the discussion of ceiling fixture placement (lights, vents, diffuser) with the lighting and HVAC engineering contractors.

Printing & Export to AutoCAD

The project was printed to scale on C-size PDFs; that are easily viewed or printed. Revit annotations (hatch, text, dimensions) automatically re-size and updated as we "played with each view's scale" to fit them on C-Size title block.

This plant facility is still managed in AutoCAD. However, we can export the Revit views to AutoCAD for inclusion into the facility's existing AutoCAD master file.

--- Revit for Restaurant Prototypes | Core Business-Design Values ---

Revit delivered these bottom line results;

The Best of BradleyBIM.com

BradleyBIM.com was launched in February 2011. It's initial goal was to serve as an online technical support tool for Revit professionals using the Bradley Revit Family Library. (1,000 families)  

Now totaling over 350 articles; Revit-BIM educational topics include LOD, prefabrication, staff training, software implementation, industry-market trends, winning new business, production tips, architecture, engineering, construction, facility management and so much more.

Averaging 50,000 visitors per year, we've listed our visitors' most viewed and shared articles from our Revit-BIM Article Library. 

Articles are sorted and listed below in the following 5 categories:

Revit-BIM for Design Reviews\Client Presentations
McGraw-Hill SmartMarket BIM Studies, Surveys & Reports
Architectural, Design & Specifications
Engineering, Design & Construction
Revit Implementation, Training & Management

Revit-BIM for Design Reviews\Client Presentations

 BIM for Virtual & Augmented Reality. Game On! (video gallery)

5 Revit Presentation Tips | Architect Steven Shell

Revit 10-Step Guide to Setup Lights for Interior Renderings

Owner Design Reviews | Expedite Multiple Revit Walkthrough Videos

Free Downloads of McGraw-Hill SmartMarket BIM Reports

(Download Reports from 2009 - Present)

Architectural, Design & Specifications

 BIM for Toilet Room Design | Construction Specifier AIA Convention Issue

Download Pre-built Revit Accessible Toilet Room Sample Model

4 Revit Fixture-Room Layout Tips | ADA-Universal Design Review

4 Bradley Revit Lavatories for ADA Compliant Toilet Room Renovations

BradleyBIM e-SPECS-for-Revit Begins 5th Year Commitment

Download Bradley Visual MasterFormat Specification Product Guide

Compact Accessible Green Toilet Room Design | Advocate Revit Library

5 Sustainable-Quality Benefits of Powder Coat Paint Partitions Revit Library

4 Hours | 2D AutoCAD to Visually Data-Rich Revit Documentation

Bradley Solid Plastic Revit Lockers | Easter-Egg Parameter Options

Bradley Molded Shapes | Solid-Surface Lavatory Systems - Revit Library (videos\product images)

Engineering, Design & Construction

 BIM Means Business | Plumbing Engineer Magazine - ASPE

BIM Means Business | Plumbing Heating-Cooling Contractors-WI

Skanska Revit-MEP Prefabrication | New Assembly Line Efficiency

Keltech Tankless Water Heater with Revit Type Catalog | Clearance Box

SysQue Provides Bradley Revit MEP \ Autodesk Fabrication Model Library

Revit-BIM Manages Construction Site Assets and Safety

Mayo Clinic BIM Manager - Project Model Development Specification (LOD)

 BradleyBIM for Design-Build \ Integrated Project Delivery \ EPC

BIM Process Improving Construction Site Safety | Turner Construction

5 Sustainable Features of Keltech Commercial Tankless Water Heaters - Revit Library

Revit Implementation, Training & Management

 Revit Implementation Puzzle - 5 Basic Planned Investments

Low-Cost Revit Implementation Strategy That Wins Business

Revit Implementation Secrets - 10 Best Revit Process Features

The Bradley Virtual Design Tool (VDT) provides architects and designers self-service, photo-realistic product selection tools, within several pre-built restroom environments:

[ High Traffic ] - [ Institutional ] - [ Corporate ] - [ Hospitality ]

1) The Bradley VDT DESIGN tool offers to answer the most frequent client concern,

[ How will this lavatory-sink model appear within a space using my color selections? ]

2) The Bradley VDT COLLABORATION tool provides the answer to the next most important question,

[ How can I capture and share my design option decisions with my team and owner? ]

1) DESIGN Menu

 Designers choose a project environment (Location) for visualizing Bradley's Natural Quartz and/or Solid-surface lavatory basins, toilet partitions with wall and floor materials.

Designers select the Bradley Sinks, Faucet & Soap Dispenser Options and Toilet Partition Materials from the 'Left Margin Menu'.

Several Wall and Flooring Material Options are available with a choice of Camera positions.

2) COLLABORATION Menu

 As designers select product models and materials for review; they need tools to share and obtain feedback from BOTH the Design Team and Facility Owner.

Designers can Download the configured image, Print, Email and/ or Share to Social Media using the Menu in the Lower Right Margin.

3) SPECIFICATION Menu

The Designers' selected products and materials are listed in the upper right corner menu.

Selecting a product in the menu, pops-up a rendered product image with the selected material.

ZOOM the image by 'Rolling' the Mouse Wheel or Use the + / - buttons.

HOLD DOWN the Mouse Pick button to spin a 360 Rendered View of the product.

Since 2009, the Bradley Revit Library has served the visualization needs of architects & interior designers.

'Test Drive' the Bradley Virtual Design Tool

 Share Your Thoughts on What Future Enhancements Would be Helpful to Your Design Efforts.

- Visit the Bradley Virtual Design Tool -

Transitioning your design, engineering, and construction processes from CAD to BIM processes - requires a BIM Implementation Plan; that budgets for technology and process training.

For those that have implemented BIM; this is an obvious, logical process for success.

--- Revit Implementation Puzzle – 5 Basic Planned Investments ---

However; for newcomers to the BIM process -- its hard to ask the planning questions when you either don't know the questions to ask OR why you are asking those questions.

A series of BIM Prep classes may be the answer. During my Baltimore visit with a prominent construction company's BIM\VDC Manager, he described a series of classes; that has been helpful to educate owners on 4 topic areas of asking for BIM on their projects.

Nationally, he's seen design and engineering principals attend these same classes; as a prerequisite to 'road mapping' BIM Process Initiatives within their firms.

I've highlighted these classes during my national BIM education classes and workshops. Attending owners, designers and contractors have provided their positive experiences from attending these classes.

Here's the AGC page with links to the Original CM-BIM Candidate Guide and the Revised CM-BIM Candidate Guide.

AGC Certificate of Management — Building Information Modeling Page

It also includes links to the Exam Calendar, Application Form, Retake Form, Renewal Form and Testing Center Locations. The Original Guide provides the course and unit descriptions that are outlined below.

The AGC Certificate of Management-Building Information Modeling (CM-BIM) is an assessment-based certificate credential; that denotes knowledge and understanding of concepts related to BIM adoption, practice and process transformation outlined in the AGC BIM Education Program. Successful candidates will carry the CM-BIM designation.

--- Navisworks | Contractors Revit – BIM Model Viewer ---

BIM Unit 1: Introduction to Building Information Modeling (8 Hours)

BIM Unit 1 provides an overview of BIM terminology and practices while introducing important concepts necessary to understand how BIM is changing the construction process.

It is developed for those who have had minimal exposure to BIM. This course relies on a highly participatory learning environment including case studies, classroom discussion, in-class exercises and instructor-led discussions.

Course Learning Objectives

Following successful completion of this course, participants will have the ability to:

• Recognize the importance of BIM

• Define common BIM terminology

• Discuss how BIM can be used as a communication and collaboration tool

• Explain the benefits of BIM

• Explain the federated model process

• Compare examples of successful BIM usage

• Discuss issues associated with starting BIM

• Create a company BIM assessment

--- Download BIMFORUM LOD Specifications | AGC-AIA | AU2015 ---

BIM Unit 2: BIM Technology (8 Hours)

BIM Unit 2 provides a neutral introduction to BIM tools. Throughout the course, tools are
introduced as they relate to the functions they perform, as well as particular phases in a project where they have the strongest capabilities.

By understanding these differences, it is possible for each attendee to determine what questions need to be asked prior to making an investment in technology.

Course Learning Objectives

Following successful completion of this course, participants will have the ability to:

• Explain the phased structure of a BIM project;

• Discuss the classes of BIM tools;

• List the more common BIM applications;

• Describe how the use of BIM tools needs to be planned and organized;

• Explain the need to embed tools into processes; and

• Develop a process for identifying and selecting BIM tools.

--- Mayo Clinic BIM Manager – Contractual Project Model Development Specification ---

BIM Unit 3: BIM Contract Negotiation and Contract Allocation

BIM Unit 3 allows the participant to examine BIM and contract terminology to determine
best practices for integrating BIM use into project contracts, as well as hot-button issues such as standard of care, intellectual property rights, and insurance and surety bonding coverage to help participants become BIM champions within their organizations.

It is assumed that all participants have had exposure to basic BIM concepts and terminology through attendance BIM 101.

Course Learning Objectives

Following successful completion of this course, participants will have the ability to:

• Explain contract liability and standards of care related to BIM

• Negotiate BIM Addendum terms for BIM Execution Plan development

• Use BIM contract negotiation to establish proactive collaborative BIM

• Identify intellectual property rights and licensing issues related to Model use

• Recognize BIM coverage limitations in existing insurance and bond products

• Devise fair risk allocation and management responsibility provisions on BIM projects

--- Download McGraw-Hill – Business Value of BIM for Construction Report ---

BIM Unit 4: BIM Process, Adoption and Integration

BIM Unit 4 provides a foundation for participants to establish and execute the BIM process, facilitate its adoption, and achieve integration on a single project and at a company level to execute multiple BIM projects simultaneously.

Course Learning Objectives

Following successful completion of this course, participants will have the ability to:

• Define process, adoption and integration as related to BIM implementation

• Describe why BIM is a disruptive practice today

• Identify reactive and proactive BIM outcomes

• Evaluate and select process options for a specific BIM project

• Describe the roles and responsibilities of participants in the BIM process

• Identify consistent factors influencing BIM Return on Investment (ROI) at the project and the company levels

• Communicate the BIM process to management, colleagues, and project stakeholders

• Outline a process for BIM adoption and implementation at the project and the company levels

Download 50-page BIM Report:

Download Building a Safety Culture SmartMarket BIM for Safety Report

Examples on the use of BIM processes to enhance construction worker & site safety are highlighted by contractors in the report.

BIM provides the value of visually simulating construction safety situations. Turner Construction and Skanska Construction discuss their use of BIM for Safety in two separate areas of this 50-page report:

1) Emerging Uses of Technology to Advance Safety

The continued adoption of digital tools such as Building information Modeling (BIM), has prompted some construction firms to explore the potential uses of these tools for safety planning and training. 

1. Site Safety Plans  
2. Code Checking 
3. Safety Planning, Training and Evaluation

2) Wearable Devices and Onsite Safety

Technologies that attach to—or are incorporated in—standard safety equipment such as vests and helmets can be part of a system that warns workers and/or supervisors when risks arise and can also provide data for analysis after incidents occur. 

1. Identifying Worker Skills,
2. Training and Locations 
3. Warning Systems Augmented and Virtual Reality

Additional McGraw-Hill SmartMarket BIM Reports reference the use of BIM for Safety and are available for free download on Bradley BIM Portal.

Bradley Articles with These McGraw-Hill SmartMarket BIM Reports:

• Measuring the Impact of BIM on Complex Buildings SmartMarket Report

• Download McGraw-Hill Construction Safety Management BIM Report

Additional Bradley BIM for Construction Safety Articles

• Revit-BIM Manages Construction Site Assets and Safety 
• BIM for Virtual & Augmented Reality. Game On! 
• BIM Process Improving Construction Site Safety | Turner Construction

Download 60-page BIM Report:

McGraw-Hill Construction Business Value of BIM for Owners Report

Facility owners currently using BIM, plan to actively increase their use of BIM on more than three quarters of their projects over the next two years.

Top BIM benefits perceived by owners include:

• BIM visualization to enable better understanding of design.

• Fewer problems during construction from deficient documents or coordination.

• More well-reasoned design due to BIM analysis and simulation.

• Beneficial impact on the project schedule.

   - Taking the Mystery Out of BIM for Owners & Principals | CM-BIM Classes -

Excerpt: As owners expand their BIM involvement, there is a growing need for them to understand how best to enable their project teams to provide them with he greatest BIM value. In other words, what makes a good "BIM owner"? Several experienced AEC firms offer perspectives on that question.

- Mayo Clinic BIM Manager – Project Model Development Specification (MDS) -

Excerpt: Owners who adopt BIM for facilities management are viewing numerous potential benefits, but they face a range of cultural and technological challenges along the way. In order to achieve integration, are pursuing a variety of these strategies.

Three Winning Advantages of BIM Software Rental Licensing

My April Sourcceable.net article highlights three financial situations; where current BIM-CAD software licensing; became an extreme financial liability. It recently affected hundreds of firms and thousands of design, engineering and construction professionals.

BIM and CAD software licensing has been transitioning toward subscription-only programs. These programs are best described as pay-as-you-go, software rental, subscription or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) programs.

In 2016, Autodesk Subscription Licensing Programs begin a major transition to BIM-CAD software rental or pay-as-you-go licensing programs. As new licensing is incrementally rolled out, this model will eventually become the standard software delivery-access process for design professionals.

If Revit-AutoCAD software rental licensing had been available prior to 2009 --the financial and employment impact on the AECO market would have been different.

These 3 perpetual license situations affected hundreds of my clients, colleagues and my career.

1. Firms Had More Revit \ BIM Software Licenses Than Employed Staff

2. Firms Assumed Long-term License Costs (Ownership) for Short-Term Team Projects

3. Firms' Revit \ BIM Software Start-Up Costs and ROI Payback Time Were Painfully Long

After I highlight the affects of perpetual licensing of these 3 situations, I review how the availability of Rental \ Subscription Licensing could have avoided the financial chaos:

Three Winning Advantages of BIM Software Rental Licensing

Daniel Hughes April BIM Article for Sourceable.net

Autodesk Licensing Over 30 Years - It's Time for a Transition

My first PC CAD software license was AutoCAD 1.x (1984) and my first BIM software license was Revit 4.0 (2002) The AutoCAD software was a perpetual license but the Revit license was an annual subscription (rental) license.

The AutoCAD perpetual license worked 24\7\365 --and allowed us to choose when or if we upgraded to the next software version. The Revit subscription (rental) license worked for 12 months and then required payment to run for another 12 months.

There was the infamous AutoCAD 2.5x software license; that included a hardware lock (licensing) device. The device connected to the computer’s parallel port (printer) to verify that it was a legal license. Without the hardware lock, the CAD software license would not to run. Eventually, Autodesk issued authentication codes with software licenses; that needed to be entered at the time of installation.

--- Revit 2016 – AutoCAD 2016 Software Licensing | Reducing Cost of Ownership ---

My Revit subscription (rental) license periodically “pinged” the Revit Corporate web license server to authenticate my laptop license. However, a few times when Revit tried to authenticate the license; I was not connected to the internet.

I authored two articles for an Australian design + construction news site; that demonstrate Revit-BIM Level-Of-Detail (LOD) standards are not very new and how they’re driving business.

Revit-BIM Level-Of-Development (LOD) standards integrated our initial BIM Level-Of-Detail standards; which now has LOD functioning as a lightweight project management tool.

--- Design – Construction Processes Trending BIM-Dependent ---

 LOD is measuring\monitoring the projects'design + construction progress and completion deadlines. LOD is becoming a functional ingredient to Owners' BIM Execution Plans; while improving the model-building communications between project team members.

LOD is demonstrating its potential to measure Return-On-Investment (ROI) for individual Revit and/or BIM processes.

Here are the links to both articles:

Article #1:

Early Level-of-Detail Transitions to BIM Level-of-Development

Article #2:

BIM Level-of-Development (LOD) Driving BIM ROI

McGraw-Hill Construction Press Release (Jan 08 2014) announced the download availability of their new BIM for Construction SmartMarket Report:

This sixty page report reveals the value contractors find in their use of BIM in nine of the largest global construction markets: Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, U.S. and U.K. It offers insights, both overall and by market, into the profile of contractors using BIM, the benefits and ROI derived from their BIM investments and the critical activities and practices for which they are using BIM. Specific snapshots of the contractor responses by region also provide additional understanding of the current use and future potential of BIM globally.

This link takes you to the McGraw-Hill site to obtain the free download thru their e-store.

 The Business Value of BIM for Construction in Major Global Markets SmartMarket Report

If you prefer, you can download the report from Bradley BIM site:

The Business Value of BIM for Construction in Major Global Markets SmartMarket Report

Recent (2013) and additional McGraw-Hill SmartMarket BIM Reports can be downloaded from the Bradley BIM Industry Links Page.

"Lean Construction" and "Information Mobility" SmartMarket BIM Reports were both released in 2013.

Forty videos and PDF downloads are posted on the Fall 2015 BIMForum Presentations Page from their October event in Orlando, Florida.

Hours of video and dozens of PDF presentation-class documents are available for your BIM Manager monthly BIM-Revit Lunch-N-Learns.

Visit The BIMForum YouTube Video Channel to access hundreds of hours of video content for business, project and BIM standards planning and training.

BIM Level-Of-Development (LOD) was highlighted within several presentations. Those presentations providing LOD are bold-faced in the list below. I admit, I haven't listened to all the presentations on this list --as they were released 2 weeks ago. I'll update the boldfaced list of LOD presentations once I review them all.

 2015 Fall BIMForum Class Presentation Topics | Videos and PDFs

1. BIM/VDC for Precon at Ledcor

2. Optimizing Project Decision Making with VDC

3. Designers Taking Back Control of BIM Design Coordination

4. How BIM Impacts the Structural Steel Fabrication Business

5. A PDF Does Not Equal Paper How the PDF Revolution is Advancing BIM Workflows

6. BIM before BIM’s

7. Owner Actions to Define Transparency in the Model-based Design Process

8. BIM Utilization Effectiveness – How We Became Effective BIM Producers While Driving Innovation Forward

9. Organizational Modules: Studying the Effects of Organizational Repetitions Using QCA

10. Taking Control of the Game – An Exploration of Virtual Reality and Gaming Workflows

11. Building Blocks in your BXP: BIM-M Initiative

12. Pre-engineered Metal Building Systems

13. Precast and BIM

14. Laser focus on accuracy in BXP: USIBD LOA & LOD

15. BIM Legal and Insurance Issues

16. Raising the Roof with your BXP: Steel Joist and Deck

17. Building Quality in your BXP: NISD CM-BIM by David Merrifield (NISD)

18. AEC Supply Chain Optimization – Building Information Modeling for Improved Productivity and Content Management for Off-Site Prefabrication in a Semi-Conductor Manufacturing Facility Retrofit Environment

19. 4D > 3D Model + Schedule

20. Preconstruction in Construction: Managing Change in a Billion Dollar Hospital

21. LOD Update

22. Live Cost Modeling & Production Analytics with BIM

23. Constructible Design: Merging Design, Detailing and Coordination to Mitigate Risk and Create Predictable Outcomes

24. Managing Design as an Information Supply Chain