I've noticed, working with several engineering firms, that they have migrated from AutoCAD to Revit because it is the "next thing", but they are using Revit as a drafting tool. Using Revit to only produce PDF or printed documents is like driving a race car to work - you're going to use a lot of gas, but you're still going to be stuck in traffic.
The models I've looked at are a mix of Revit and AutoCAD cobbled together to produce PDF drawings. Families are incomplete, schedules are imported from AutoCAD because needed information is not present in the model, details are old AutoCAD files they've been dropping on sheets for decades. You get the picture.
Revit is a robust information modeling program, not a drafting tool. Sure, you draw in Revit, but what you draw should have real world data. If your families are complete and your drawing is accurate, then Revit produces schedules and details which reflect what is actually in the model. The purpose of Revit is to collect all relevant design data into one file, not simply draft a blueprint.
As mentioned, if all you want or need is a PDF blueprint you are wasteing time and resources using Revit as a drafting tool. I could ink a set of MEP drawings faster using Bluebeam and an Architect's PDF. But the idea of the "next thing" is correct. Construction is moving away from paper drawings and toward 3D models. Revit is the future.
So how do you effectively implement Revit?
You need to rethink design. The beauty of Revit is the ability to collect all information into one model. You are not producing "drawings" with Revit you are documenting the entire design. Pipes, ducts, circuits, are all "real" in Revit. They have real world properties. From your "drawing" Revit can calculate flows, populate schedules, produce material lists, create cost estimates - the list is only limited by your imagination.
But to do all those amazing things Revit needs data. Input the cost of a plumbing fixture and Revit can produce project wide cost estimates. Change that fixture in one place and change it, and associated cost, throughout the model - all sheets, all schedules, etc. The more information Revit has the more it can do for you. A lot of that information is standard. Most of the rest require only a simple entry by the designer. And many of those field that need user input can be migrated from project to project if they are standard to your projects.
Revit is a Building Information Modeling platform, not drafting software.
Revit gives you the capability to incorporate all of the information pertaining to a project into one file. You can incorporate vendor cut sheets, material and labor costs, warranties, parts lists, whatever you need, into families and find that information with a click. Granted, that takes a big upfront investment of time creating a robust model.
What are the benefits?
Contractors want a well developed model because it places everything they need to know in one searchable file - far more than can exist in 2D space on paper. But how does it help the designer?
Imagine an RFI asking a question about a plumbing fixture. The engineer opens the model, clicks on the referenced sheet, clicks on the item in question, and has all the information needed from cut sheets, to approved submittals, to spec references. And if the contractor had the model, and it was a good representation of the design intent, then the RFI wouldn't have been produced to start with.
The power of Revit is placing the entirety of the engineer's design intent into one file where it is available to everyone throughout the process - from design development through owner maintenance.
Migrating to Revit is a good idea, but we need to also adapt our process and design procedures. But most important to successful implementation is changing our mindset.
