MEP BIM Modelling & Clash Detection for Plant Rooms
Industry : BIM Consultants Location : Australia
Technology & software used
- This Revit family creation project — 150 plumbing product families delivered inside an MEP plant room programme — shows the approach. Australian Design and Drafting Services is a specialist firm providing engineering solutions to organizations across the globe. We have extensive experience in providing concept to manufacturing and post-manufacturing solutions to clients with a team of expert design engineers, CAD professionals and simulation analysts. We are based in Australia, serving 24×6, with a world-class infrastructure, hardware and software capabilities to address complex engineering problems with least turn around time.
The solution we delivered
- A detailed plant room with all the spatial information, equipment and connections had to be developed from general arrangement drawings and a set of pdf files with manufacturing details of the MEP equipment.
- The process henceforth involved clash detection, reporting and resolutions. Finally clash free models, rendered images and shop drawings had to be delivered in a time span of 3 Months.
Outcome & benefits
- The project was successfully executed and handed over within the specified time frame of 3 months.
- Initially the contract was on project basis. As client was satisfied with the quality produced, he has opted for full time resource business model and a long term partnership was built.
Related services
This case study draws on ASTCAD’s MEP design. We also deliver:
- Bim modelling — for related project requirements
- Plumbing drafting — for complementary deliverables
Need a similar project delivered?
ASTCAD is Australia’s trusted CAD design and drafting partner since 2010. We deliver to AS 1100, AS 4100, AS 3600 and AS/NZS 3000 across mechanical, structural, civil, architectural and electrical disciplines.
How we handle Revit family creation at scale
Revit family creation at the scale of a full catalogue — this project delivered 150 families — is a production engineering problem, not just a modelling one. We begin with a schema: naming conventions, shared parameters, level-of-detail rules and connector standards agreed before the first family is built. Families are then produced in batches against that schema, with templated QA at each batch so drift never creeps in. The result is a library that behaves consistently, which is what design firms actually notice when they adopt a manufacturer’s content.
Batch production and quality control
Each batch passes flex testing, connector verification, file-size checks and in-project scheduling tests before release. Type catalogues carry the product variants so a single family serves an entire size range without duplication. We document the schema and hand it over with the library, so future additions — whether we build them or the client’s team does — stay consistent with the existing content.
If your product catalogue needs BIM representation and the numbers run past a few dozen items, the schema-first approach is the difference between a library and a folder of files. We can pilot a product group first so the standard is proven before the full catalogue is committed.
The schema-first discipline also future-proofs the investment: when Revit versions change or the client’s product range extends, the documented standard means new content slots in beside the old without visual or behavioural mismatch. Libraries built ad hoc, by contrast, accumulate inconsistencies that eventually force a rebuild. For a catalogue of this size the schema documentation took two days and will save its cost many times over across the library’s life.
If your firm or product catalogue is heading into a content build of fifty families or more, talk to us before the first family is modelled — the schema conversation costs nothing and determines whether you end up with a library or a liability.