How to perform periodic Maintenance on a Revit Project File
To ensure a file has minimal errors and is stable (does not crash Revit and cause instability), the below list of maintenance items should be performed periodically.
Maintenance Tasks
Delete Excessive / Unused Views not required for the documentation ► Plans, Elevations, Sections, 3D Views, Schedules. These are almost always views that are not on sheets.
Systematically try to resolve your Review Warnings. You won’t usually be able to resolve them all. Find these in Manage ► Inquiry ► Review Warnings.
Please try and keep this under a maximum of 50 warnings if possible.
Please try and keep this under a maximum of 50 warnings if possible.
Compact the file when saving to keep the file size down (options when saving - complete once a week).
Do it 3 times in a row, this helps it stick.
Do it 3 times in a row, this helps it stick.
Once documentation has reached a fairly resolved level, do a Purge Unused to reduce the file size. DO NOT purge curtain wall mullions, the Curtain Panel ► Empty System Panel, or Purge All.
Instead, check through the list and explicitly define what you want to purge, some items are difficult to return if purged.
Instead, check through the list and explicitly define what you want to purge, some items are difficult to return if purged.
Have someone else Audit the file (ideally the Revit Manager / Model Manager) to ensure things are being done the most efficient way – Using the best Modelling & Documentation techniques.
Check for any duplicate Families in the Project Browser. IE: Family.rfa vs Family1.rfa.
These can sometimes occur when there is a conflict from multiple users saving to central who have both created a new “Type” of that Family in the same session. Identify which one you will keep, and create any missing types under the correct Family, then swap out all the duplicate types to the non-duplicate one, and then finally delete the duplicate family from the project.
These can sometimes occur when there is a conflict from multiple users saving to central who have both created a new “Type” of that Family in the same session. Identify which one you will keep, and create any missing types under the correct Family, then swap out all the duplicate types to the non-duplicate one, and then finally delete the duplicate family from the project.
Use the open with “Audit” to check files for errors once a month.
Review your Projects once you’ve finished them to see if there are standard details that can be added to your library or things that can become part of the Template or the Standard Details Library. Be careful when copying these in to avoid bringing any unwanted garbage with the elements.
When copying these elements, duplicates of Level Types, Materials, Fill Patterns and Line Patterns are notorious for being created in this process. Instead, its recommended using an intermediate “clean” project to copy the files into first, perform any clean-ups, then copy from there to the Template or Standard Detail Library file. A “Clean” project is a brand-new file using the current Template as a basis.
When copying these elements, duplicates of Level Types, Materials, Fill Patterns and Line Patterns are notorious for being created in this process. Instead, its recommended using an intermediate “clean” project to copy the files into first, perform any clean-ups, then copy from there to the Template or Standard Detail Library file. A “Clean” project is a brand-new file using the current Template as a basis.
Ensure excessive images or large image files have not been imported.
Always scale images to suit the quality requirements of the Project.
Always scale images to suit the quality requirements of the Project.
Ensure DWG files have not been exploded in the Revit Project.
If they have, you will need to go through a process of cleaning out all the imported rubbish such as Line Styles, Materials, Assets, Line Patterns, Fill Patterns, Text Types, Dimension Styles, Arrowhead Types and Filled Regions.
If they have, you will need to go through a process of cleaning out all the imported rubbish such as Line Styles, Materials, Assets, Line Patterns, Fill Patterns, Text Types, Dimension Styles, Arrowhead Types and Filled Regions.
Remove unused reference DWG’s after they have served their purpose.
Check that DWG’s are linked as a preference to importing them as they are easier to track.
Ensure DWG’s were cleaned prior to import and do not exceed Revit’s 20 mile sphere coordinate limitation.
Check the file for in-place families and replace with loadable content if possible.
In-Place families should never be duplicated, as unlike loadable families a new instance is actually a new Family. That is, changing one will not update the other.
In-Place families should never be duplicated, as unlike loadable families a new instance is actually a new Family. That is, changing one will not update the other.
Swap out non-Standard content for Standard Content if it exists.
Ensure all elements are on the appropriate Worksets.
You can do this by switching to a 3D View with all elements visible, then use the Worksharing Display mode “Worksets” option, which will colour code elements by Workset. Alternatively, you can use your Visibility/Graphics Settings of the View to isolate particular Worksets. Move any incorrectly located elements to the appropriate Workset. It is best to do this when no-one else is in the model.
You can do this by switching to a 3D View with all elements visible, then use the Worksharing Display mode “Worksets” option, which will colour code elements by Workset. Alternatively, you can use your Visibility/Graphics Settings of the View to isolate particular Worksets. Move any incorrectly located elements to the appropriate Workset. It is best to do this when no-one else is in the model.
Remove incorrect or excessive levels.
When removing levels, any Family elements or Views hosted to these levels will also be deleted. As such, first identify elements hosted to the level and re-host them. Views will need to be recreated with the correct level hosting. Elements can be identified using 3rd party addons or using a 3D in wireframe, and deleting the level whilst watching this view and looking for any changes (undo the action if elements disappear).
When removing levels, any Family elements or Views hosted to these levels will also be deleted. As such, first identify elements hosted to the level and re-host them. Views will need to be recreated with the correct level hosting. Elements can be identified using 3rd party addons or using a 3D in wireframe, and deleting the level whilst watching this view and looking for any changes (undo the action if elements disappear).
Check Design Option Sets and Design Options to ensure they are clearly named.
Remove any Design Options no longer required to reduce file size.
If no more Design Options are required, use “Make Primary” to consolidate and remove the unwanted options.
Check for and resolve any Split Face command uses. Instead split the wall, and paint any differing materials that way.
Split Face should be avoided, because if the wall extents are later edited, there is a good chance the split face will fail and your materials will be incorrectly applied. Only use them when there is no other way.
Split Face should be avoided, because if the wall extents are later edited, there is a good chance the split face will fail and your materials will be incorrectly applied. Only use them when there is no other way.
Check for and resolve any large Edited Profiles of Walls. Ideally use attachments, reference planes or openings to create the desired profile.
Manually edited sketches effect wall join clean-ups and slow down the model.
Manually edited sketches effect wall join clean-ups and slow down the model.
Review the use of “Override Element in View” and “Hide in View” and minimise.
This is a very inefficient method for controlling the visibility of elements and can lead to confusion. Instead use a filter or Visibility/Graphics. Elements that have been modified using either of these methods can quickly be identified use the “Reveal Hidden Elements” command or by 3rd party add-ins and Dynamo scripts.
This is a very inefficient method for controlling the visibility of elements and can lead to confusion. Instead use a filter or Visibility/Graphics. Elements that have been modified using either of these methods can quickly be identified use the “Reveal Hidden Elements” command or by 3rd party add-ins and Dynamo scripts.
Check and ensure all dimension set-out values are rational values.
If not, please correct the model. Do not simply change the dimension style to round to the nearest 5mm. This can cause the sum of dimensions not to add up correctly and cause set-out issues on site.
If not, please correct the model. Do not simply change the dimension style to round to the nearest 5mm. This can cause the sum of dimensions not to add up correctly and cause set-out issues on site.
Check and remove any non-standard elements from the file including, Level Types, Materials, Grid Types, Elevation Types, Section Types, Fill Patterns, Line Patterns, Line Styles, Text Types, Dimension Types, Arrowhead Types, duplicate families (ones with a number added to them).
These elements can be created because of synchronisation conflicts, copy/pasting from other files, loading of non-standard content and importing / exploding of DWG files.
These elements can be created because of synchronisation conflicts, copy/pasting from other files, loading of non-standard content and importing / exploding of DWG files.
Review Model and Detail Group usage, ensuring they are all Named descriptively. Purge any unused groups and ungroup any that are not required to be a group. That is, there is only ever going to be one instance.
Ensure the file size is manageable for the Computer Hardware its being used on. If it cannot be reduced below the following thresholds, you may need to look at splitting the model or users will need to optimise performance by only opening portions of the model at a time.
32GB RAM - 250MB maximum
64GB RAM - 400MB maximum
32GB RAM - 250MB maximum
64GB RAM - 400MB maximum
Use tools like the Autodesk BIM Interoperability Tools Model Health Check to quickly identify issues requiring further investigation:
Use tools like BIMBeats to passively audit and report on all models, staff usage/skills, and hardware performance.