Recently I came across a request to filter walls based on their bottom and top constraints, since some of the wall’s tops were past their intended levels. This was part of a QA/QC process that needed to happen. In this instance, the issue with Revit is that the view filters are very limited in terms of available properties, so using a filter is not an option. In addition, there are other properties that a user might be interested in, such as the top offset and whether a wall is attached to a floor or not. To show everyone how easy and powerful Ideate Explorer is, I wanted to take a moment and show you how you can take a wall selection and filter them by their base & top levels, top offset, and top extension distance so you can have a granular look at how your walls have been placed. Let’s review some of the results of using Ideate Query to determine how the walls were placed and constrained.
As the architecture, engineering, construction and owner (AECO) industries continue to develop data standards and deliverables, we must continually be aware of how we input data into our BIM models. I always remind folks that garbage in is also garbage out - if the inputs are incorrect, so will be the outputs.
For this example, I decided to look at the walls that are referencing Floor 1. The wall tops can go to any level. I created a 3D View and assigned the Section Box to a Scope Box that spans from Floor 1 to Floor 2 to isolate what I am viewing. This is completely optional.
With Ideate Explorer launched, I set the Display to Entire Project (1), then sorted by Level (2) and then expanded Level 1 (3). Since my focus is on Wall elements, I selected all Walls on Level 1 (4). From the graphic on the left, you can see all the walls that have been selected. I can also confirm the element count by looking at the lower right corner of Ideate Explorer (5). From there, I need to Query my walls to filter them by my criteria. This will allow me to have a granular look and further filter my Walls down to the ones that need a closer look. With that in mind, I selected the Ideate Query Option (6).
Once the Ideate Query button has been selected, we can confirm the element categories and count on the left side of the dialog box (1). For the first round of selection filters, I looked for the base and top constraint parameters by typing in the search field (2). Optionally, you can scroll through the list if you so choose. I always recommend scrolling through the list a few times to become familiar with the Parameters that you can use within Ideate Query. For the base and top parameters, I will look for Base Constraint: Name (3) and Top Constraint: Name (4). For both to populate, you will have to CTRL + click to select both. You can see them populate on the right side of the dialog box. Since I am interested in looking at the walls from Level 1 to Level 2, I will select only the walls that meet this criterion. In this case, the original selection of 289 walls will be filtered to 234 walls (5). Once selected, I will click on the Select button (6) to confirm the selection.
After the filter selection has been made, we can confirm the Wall elements that meet the criteria of Base Constraint: Level 1 and Top Constraint: Level 2 (1), however this selection only shows walls from Level 1 to Level 2 and does not reflect any of the top of wall conditions that we are interested in investigating. We will need to further query the selection. To do so, I will select the Ideate Query button (2) again to further filter the selection.
Once back in the Ideate Query dialog box, I can further refine my selection by some of the top constraints parameters. In this case, I am interested in investigating the Top offset and whether the top of the wall is attached or not. Under the Select Property area, I CTRL + Select two parameters: Instance: Top Offset (1) and Instance: Top is Attached (2). This will give me a good idea as to how the top of walls are behaving. Looking at (3), we have 7 walls that are attached at the top but with a wall offset of -6”. This indicates that the wall was (or was not) intended to be 6” below the floor above, but it is also attached to the floor above. This warrants further investigation. Looking at (4), we see 6 walls with a strange Top Offset. In addition, the walls are not attached to the floors above. We need to investigate these walls to see if the top offset is correct. Finally, looking at (5), we have some walls whose top offset is above Level 2. We should select these walls and further investigate from there.
With the granular selection in place, we can see the results in Ideate Explorer’s tree view (1). From here, we can take the selection and isolate the selection by clicking on the sunglasses (2). Once isolated, we can investigate the walls and correct their properties, if necessary. If you are interested in saving any selection as a Selection Set, you can use the Save Selection Set menu in Ideate Explorer (3).
At Ideate Software, we cannot stress enough the importance of auditing your Revit models and running them through a QA/QC process. In this example, we were able to look at wall constraints to determine if walls were referencing the correct levels, and if the tops of the walls were below or above a level and attached to a floor or not. From there, we were able to determine which walls needed further investigation and corrections.
For related blog posts on Ideate Query, visit:
Determine Flipped Elements with the Query Feature to Avoid Change Orders
Determine Revit Wall Location Lines with the Query Feature
For more information on Ideate Explorer and Ideate Query, be sure to check out our online help file and search feature.
For implementation services or to learn more about how Ideate Explorer can help your business, please contact [email protected]
About the Author
Sash Kazeminejad - AIA, LEED AP, BCI, BCC - Customer Success Manager
Sash earned his Master of Architecture from Montana State University and is a California registered architect, LEED Accredited Professional, and a Bluebeam Certified Instructor. He has extensive experience in project management; BIM management; design for architectural firms in California, Montana, and Oregon; and leading classroom and online BIM training. He provides consulting, sales, support, and training solutions to AECO customers around the globe. Find Sash on LinkedIn.