I often hear the comment that Revit is not set up in a friendly fashion as far as Architects are concerned. This is a valid comment, but it does seem to miss the point a little. Revit is much more than just a drafting tool: it also sets up the Information model. I have worked through the UK Protocol and I applied all the settings recommended in it. The lesson I learned: if you want Revit to be like you want it, you must go through the motions and do the work to set it up properly. And hopefully, document exactly how in a Corporate BIM Protocol.

Revit does not ship with anything close to the Line-styles that are required by the UK BIM Protocol. Shown on the left below is the line-widths of the UK BIM Protocol for enumerations 1-10. Contrast that for the same enumerations for the templates that ship with Revit for the UK on the right. This is the same for the templates that ship with Revit for South Africa. Clearly, there is a massive difference with important consequences that affect many aspects of a template file.

One needs to take into consideration linestyle definitions, each of which has one of the line weight enumerations applied. Please remember that enumeration 1 is “reserved” for hatches. Clearly the line weights applied by the UK protocol give one much more finer control at the lower end of the spectrum, which is where most of the drawing elements will be impacted. Set the template up once, then simply upgrade it each year.

If you need help applying BIM protocols in your company, please contact Micrographics so we may be of assistance to you.