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newSchoolWorks.com › VoTechWorks › Manufacturing & Marine › Drafting / CAD / BIM › BIM Workflows for Manufacturing and Marine Drafting › Lesson 12
MFG-DRAF17-06 · Lesson 12 · 14 clock hours · lab

Integrated BIM Workflow Capstone Simulation

Objective. Students will complete a compressed end-to-end BIM workflow—model setup, multi-discipline modeling, clash detection, sheet production, and QC review—for a small industrial structure delivered as a timed simulation.

⚠ Pending professional review

This lesson, its worked examples and its practice questions has not yet been verified by a licensed engineer or certified journey-level tradesperson or by a certification or approval body. It is a study draft and may contain errors. Do not use it as instructions for work on a job site or on live equipment. Always follow your instructor, your supervising professional, and current official references and regulations.

VoTechWorks program approval and accreditation are still in progress. Credentials are issued only by the certifying bodies named in each program, after their own exams.

Integrated BIM Workflow Capstone Simulation

This lab brings together every major skill you have built in this course. You will work through a compressed but complete BIM workflow—project setup, multi-discipline modeling, clash detection, sheet production, and quality-control review—for a small marine equipment room. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for real project delivery.

Why an End-to-End Simulation Matters

On a real job site, mistakes caught in the model cost nothing to fix. Mistakes caught after fabrication or installation can cost thousands of dollars and days of schedule. The BIM workflow exists to find those problems early. Employers hiring Autodesk Certified Professionals expect you to move smoothly from a blank project to a coordinated, documented deliverable. This capstone proves you can do that under time pressure, which mirrors professional deadlines.

Phase 1 – Project Setup

Begin by reading the project brief completely before touching the software. Note the room dimensions, structural grid spacing, floor-to-floor height, and MEP system requirements. Rushing into modeling without understanding the scope is one of the most common causes of rework.

In Revit, create a new project from the appropriate template (Architectural or Mechanical/Structural as directed). Set levels, grids, and project units before drawing a single wall. Units in a marine or industrial project are typically set to feet and fractional inches for US work, or millimeters for metric—confirm the brief. Name your Revit file according to the naming convention on the rubric; file naming is part of your scored setup.

Link external files (structural model, MEP model) using the Revit Link function with shared coordinates so all disciplines align. Mismatched coordinates are the single most common cause of false clash results and wasted coordination time.

Phase 2 – Multi-Discipline Modeling

Model the shell first: exterior walls, interior partition, floor slab, and roof or ceiling as specified. Then model MEP elements—ductwork, pipe runs, cable trays, or equipment pads described in the brief. Keep each discipline on its own workset or in its own linked model as directed, because clean file structure makes clash detection reliable.

Model to the correct level of detail for the deliverables. A door must have the correct width and swing direction because it feeds the door schedule. A duct must have the correct diameter and elevation because Navisworks will check it against the structural beams.

Phase 3 – Clash Detection in Navisworks

Export your Revit files to NWC (Navisworks Cache) format using the Navisworks exporter built into Revit. Open Navisworks Manage and append each NWC file to build the combined federated model.

In the Clash Detective tool, create a test between your MEP elements and your structural elements. Run Hard clash detection first—this finds objects that physically occupy the same space. Review each clash result. A real clash requires you to return to Revit, move the offending element (for example, lower a duct run or re-route a pipe), save, re-export to NWC, reload in Navisworks, and re-run the test. You must resolve at least two clashes and show the before-and-after clash reports. Document the clash count before and after resolution; this is evidence of your coordination work.

Do not simply hide elements in Navisworks to make clashes disappear—that changes nothing in the real model and will be visible to the instructor reviewing your Revit file and your clash reports side by side.

Phase 4 – Sheet Production

Create four sheets in Revit:

1. Floor Plan – annotated with dimensions, room names, and grid bubbles.

2. Building Section – showing floor-to-ceiling height, structural members, and at least one MEP element.

3. MEP Plan – showing duct or pipe layout with system tags.

4. Door Schedule – a Revit schedule view placed on a sheet, listing door mark, width, height, and material.

All sheets must use the title block specified in the brief, carry your name and the project name, and be exported to PDF at a standard sheet size (typically 24×36 or 11×17 as directed). Incomplete or blank sheets score zero on that rubric item, so check each view before submitting.

Quality Control Before Submission

Before you submit, run a self-check against the rubric:

Save a final Revit backup, export final PDFs, and organize your submission folder as instructed. A disorganized submission that requires the instructor to hunt for files will cost you points under the setup category.

Workstation Safety

Although this is a computer lab, follow standard workstation safety: adjust your chair and monitor to reduce neck and wrist strain during the timed session. Report any hardware malfunction to the instructor immediately rather than losing time troubleshooting on your own. Do not open, modify, or delete any shared network files outside your own project folder—doing so can corrupt another student's work and is treated as an academic integrity issue.

Key terms8

Federated ModelA combined model in Navisworks made by appending multiple linked files (structural, architectural, MEP) so that clash detection can run across all disciplines simultaneously.
NWC FileA Navisworks Cache file exported from Revit or other authoring software; it is a read-only snapshot of the model geometry used for coordination and clash detection in Navisworks.
Clash DetectiveThe Navisworks Manage tool that compares selected sets of objects and reports locations where elements intersect (hard clash) or come closer than a set tolerance (clearance clash).
Hard ClashA clash condition where two elements physically occupy the same space—for example, a duct running through a structural beam—requiring relocation of one element to resolve.
Shared CoordinatesA Revit setting that aligns the survey and project base points across linked files so that all disciplines occupy the same real-world position in the federated model.
WorksetA named subset of model elements in a Revit worksharing environment used to organize and control access to elements by discipline or building system.
Title BlockA standardized border and information panel placed on every drawing sheet that displays the project name, sheet number, revision, drafter's name, and other required fields.
Door ScheduleA Revit schedule view that automatically extracts and lists properties of every door instance in the model, such as mark number, width, height, and material, placed on a sheet as part of the drawing package.
In class: Students receive a project brief describing a small marine equipment room (dimensions, MEP requirements, structural grid) and independently set up a new Revit project, model the shell and MEP systems, and link files within a set time block. · Students run Navisworks clash detection on their combined model, resolve at least two clashes by moving elements in Revit, and re-run the test to confirm resolution. · Students produce a four-sheet drawing package (floor plan, section, MEP plan, and door schedule) and submit both the Revit model and PDF sheets for instructor evaluation against the course rubric.
Materials: Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Navisworks Manage, student workstations, instructor-prepared project brief, course rubric.
Check: Instructor evaluates model, clash report, and sheet package against a 20-point rubric covering setup, model accuracy, clash resolution, and sheet completeness; 80% (16/20 points) required to pass.

Practice check8

Answer each question, then check it. Nothing is recorded; this is your own practice.

Autodesk Certified User – Revit project setup
1. Before modeling any walls in your capstone Revit project, what should you configure first?
Autodesk Certified Professional – file linking and coordination
2. When linking the structural and MEP Revit models together, which coordinate method ensures all disciplines align in the same real-world position?
Autodesk Certified Professional – clash detection and resolution
3. A student exports their Revit model to Navisworks and runs a hard clash test between MEP and structural sets. The report shows eight clashes. After returning to Revit and re-routing two ducts, re-exporting to NWC, and re-running the test, the report shows six clashes. What does this confirm?
Autodesk Certified Professional – BIM coordination
4. Which of the following actions is NOT an acceptable way to resolve a clash found in Navisworks Clash Detective?
Autodesk Certified User – sheet production
5. The capstone rubric requires four sheets. Which combination is correct?
Autodesk Certified User – Revit schedules and documentation
6. In the context of this capstone, what is the primary purpose of a Revit door schedule placed on a sheet?
Autodesk Certified Professional – project documentation
7. A student's capstone submission includes the Revit model and clash reports but the PDF sheet package is missing the MEP plan sheet. Under the 20-point rubric with an 80% passing threshold, what is the maximum score the student can receive if the missing sheet results in zero points for that rubric item worth 4 points?
Professional practice – workstation and data safety
8. When working in a timed capstone simulation on a shared lab network, a student notices their workstation is writing files to another student's project folder. What is the correct response?
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