How to clean your Revit model.

Steps for cleaning your Revit model.

Every Revit project should undergo regular maintenance to keep the model healthy and clean. This will help reduce the file size and the potential for data corruption. Listed here are a series of steps to follow to ensure your project is properly maintained. Revit is more than just 3D geometry and drafting lines. Revit is a database. We have to keep the database clean from excess data. Each one of the following sets will help reduce the excess data and in return will shrink, simplify and speed up the model.

Step one.

Get rid of old unused views - This is probably the easiest to do because it is the easiest to verify. Once a week take 10-15 minutes and clean up after yourself. If you made temporary view get rid of them when you are done. Just after each major milestone delete working views also.

Step Two,

Purge - Purging helps remove unused families, views, and objects from a project. The model should be purged after every submittal and milestone to remove the surplus objects that have accumulated in the project. To purge the model, go to the manage tab, select the setting panel, and choose purge unused. Revit’s automated purging only removes certain types of objects. After running the purge, you still need to go through your models and manually remove any unwanted area schemes, views, groups, and design options. You should also replace in-place families with regular component families to further reduce the file size.

Step Three, 

Auditing - An audit helps to identify problematic and potentially corrupt model elements. The audit can’t be done while the model is open, so get everyone to save to central and relinquish their worksets. You can then open the project and in the open dialogue box select “audit.” Wait a few minutes and the audited model should be ready to save again. Generally the project should be audited on a bi-weekly schedule.

Step Four, 

Compacting - Compact the central and local files regularly to reduce disk space (this is done through the save and sync dialog box). Compacting the model removes superfluous code accumulated during previous file saves. Performance is not improved through compacting, but it does allow for quicker copying and easier storage, and gives you a better idea of the true size of the model. Compaction should occur at least once a week, preferably more if the schedule allows it.

Step Five, 

Warnings -  Revit produces a list of potential problems in the project. These can be seen by opening the Manage tab, going to the Inquiry panel and selecting Warnings. You should prioritize warnings that pertain to model accuracy and geometry over warnings that are view specific. If there are a lot of warnings, some people find it easiest to export them as HTML and print them off. Try to review the warnings weekly since unattended warnings slow Revit down. A frequent review also allows you to see if there are any recurring modeling problems that you need to address with the design team.

Step Six, 

Ungroup Model Groups: During the early design phase of a project model groups may be used quite extensively. But once a project moves into DD phase and a project’s deign layout is a little more stable, you will need to ungroup and purge model groups. Model groups can be the cause of major model bloating. Model groups can add as much as 50% to the model size.

Step Seven, 

In-Place Families -  These should be used very sparingly, if at all. Modeling in an outside family is actually easier than using the family editor. Also, when you copy an in-place family, it makes another family. Before you know it you could have Special Casework 1 ,2, 3, ... 25.... Only use an in-place family if it's something you can't model outside of the project in the family editor.