Worksets - Modelical

Worksets - Revit settings

Objectives

1. Understanding the structure of a workshare file.
2. Understanding how collaborative work runs in Revit. Be able to work confidently and without hesitation, ensuring that the work is being saved correctly and that there is no interference with other users’ work.
3. Understanding the need for better team coordination, by distributing the work in an effective way so that there are no inconsistencies or overlaps.

Prerequisites

1. Userknows how to work in Revit.
2. User can browse through Revit files
3. Userknows how to work with central models and local models.
4. User has basic knowledge of BIM modeling using Revit software and understands the language used.

Overview / Introduction

Worksets are one of the most powerful and, at the same time, most unknown tools that Revit offers us. The basis of the BIM methodology is collaborative work, and worksets allow us to manage and share the model information in a much more intelligent and fluid way.

When we talk about working collaboratively in Revit, we are referring to the software's ability to allow multiple users to work on the same file at the same time, making changes in real time and eliminating the need to generate multiple versions of the same file. As we know, with great power comes great responsibility, so we need to be aware of how the model information is being handled.

Let's take a look at some thoughts on how best to work with Revit worksets.

About Worksets

We can understand worksets as parts of a Revit model. When collaborative work is enabled, all the elements that make up the model are automatically placed in a workset.

This applies to all elements, whether they are constructive elements (such as walls, doors, floors, stairs, etc.) or graphical elements (such as views or sheets) of the project.

When the file is enabled for worksharing, each element in the project will be stored in only one workset.

There are two types of worksets:

• Model Worksets (User-Created): contain mainly the constructive elements and, in general, the 3D elements of the model. In our daily work in Revit, these are the worksets that are important to us and that we can make conscious decisions about.
• System Worksets: affect families, views and project rules. They are created automatically when any of these elements are created and are more complex to manage. They don't affect the user's day-to-day work, so there shouldn't be any concern about their existence, other than knowing that they exist and are managed automatically.

Revit files

Enabling Worksharing

The first time we enable collaborative work on a file, the following worksets are automatically created:

Model Worksets (user editable):

• Shared Levels and Grids: initially contains the levels and grids that exist when the file is set up for worksharing. We can change its name when we create it. We can also delete it, but this is not recommended, as it is always good practice to have a workset containing all the Datums (planes and grids) of the project.
• Workset1: initially contains everything that has not been included in the Shared Levels and Grids workset. That is, every object contained in the model up to the point at which the file is enabled for collaborative work. As several worksets will usually be created in addition to the Shared Levels and Grids workset, it is recommended that this workset be renamed with a sufficiently descriptive coding system once it has been created. In any case, this workset cannot be deleted, as at least one workset must always remain active.

System Worksets (not user editable):

• View Workset: a view workset is created for each view in the file. It automatically contains the information that defines the view and its specific elements, such as text annotations, dimensions or labels. View-specific objects cannot be moved to other worksets.
• Family Worksets: one for each loaded family in the project.
• Project Standards Worksets: one for each type of Materials, Line Styles, Project Location etc.

Subsequent changes to Worksets

After the initial creation of a workset, new worksets can be added. Typically, new worksets will be created in addition to Workset1, which contains the model elements that make up the project:

Model Worksets (User-Created):

We can create, modify and delete as many worksets as we like, as long as we leave at least one in the model. Two things can happen when we try to delete a workset:

• If the workset is empty, it is simply deleted.
• If the workset contains items, a pop-up window will appear giving us the option of deleting the items in the workset or moving them to another existing workset.

System Worksets:

They are created automatically and cannot be renamed or deleted except with their source element.

• Views Worksets: a new one for each view that is created. They cannot be renamed, as they have the same name as the corresponding view. They are removed when the view is deleted.
• Family Worksets: one for each loaded family. They cannot be renamed, as they have the same name as the corresponding family. They are removed when the family is deleted.
• Project Standards Worksets: one for each type of project setting. They cannot be renamed or deleted.

Worksets uses

It is important to note that splitting the file into worksets is only available when we enable collaborative work in the file, otherwise we cannot use this tool.

These are some of its main applications:

Prevent sensitive items from being edited > Single-owner editable workset

When a user owns a workset, it means that no one else can edit any item in that workset. To take control of a workset, we need to set the 'Editable' option in the workset dialogue. This can be useful for certain sensitive items that should not be changed without further review, such as the project Datum. While it is true that workset ownership used to be more encouraged, and even recommended in some workflows, to create a work workset for each user, this practice is not very common nowadays. The 'Owner' option within worksets is reserved for very specific elements, such as the one mentioned above. In any case, the BIM Manager must always maintain control over which worksets are editable and which are not.

Workflow optimization

On the other hand, we have the “Borrowers” option: this means that when a user works with an element in Revit, this element is automatically locked for editing by other users and the user will appear as a borrower of the workset in which that element is located. This applies to both a Model Worksets and a System Worksets (such as a view). By being a workset borrower, the user locks only the elements he edits, but not the workset as a whole, which can have multiple borrowers at the same time. To return the borrowed elements, the model must be synchronized again. This is to prevent two users from working on the same element at the same time, creating inconsistencies in the model. In any case, for a better understanding of this workflow, we recommend visiting Modelical's guideline on Worksharing.

Data segmentation

This is one of the most useful uses of worksets. For example, we can have different links in different worksets, arranged by disciplines or by zones. We can also organize the different MEP disciplines we are modeling into worksets. Remember that each discipline (e.g. plumbing) can contain hundreds of pipes, pipe joints, systems, mechanical equipment, etc., so being able to organize them into worksets is a powerful tool. You will find more information about this in section 3 of this guide.

Additional display options

Once we have organized all the elements into worksets, we can turn them on and off at will. Either in the whole model or in a specific view. This can be useful for coordination views, where the structure models or the facility models appear according to our needs. Or, on the other hand, to visualize specific MEP disciplines in an installation plan. We can also create filters in the views. See section 2.2 of this guide for a more detailed explanation of how to do this.

Workflow

1. Create Worksets

1.1. Creation

Once collaborative work is enabled and the initial worksets have been created, users can add new worksets to organize the model according to the agreed model breakdown. The model should be organized according to the established project workflow, not the other way around.

Based on initial project decisions and as the project evolves, it may be necessary to add new worksets to allow maximum flexibility in using and working with the models.

It is recommended that the list of worksets to be used in each model is defined in the project's BEP. This will reduce the number of changes in the future, and all worksets will have the same code naming. Section 3 of this guide provides some useful guidelines for dividing the model into worksets.

Worksets can be created at any time using the “New” button in the worksets dialog box. These new ones will be available to the team project as soon as the user who created them “Synchronize” with the central model.

To create a new Workset:

Collaborate tab > Manage Collaboration panel >Worksets > New

1.2. Management and settings

The Worksets dialogue box displays a list of existing workset models. It contains the following fields:

• Name: the workset name must follow the office standards and/or the BIM Execution Plan.
• Editable, Owner and Borrowers.

• Editable Workset: it has an owner and only that owner can edit the items within that particular workset. Each workset can only be owned by one user at a time. Workset ownership is not assigned, but can be acquired by any user from their local file. When a user makes a workset Editable, their username will automatically appear in the “Owner” tab.

To no longer be 'Owner' you can mark the workset as Not editable or through the Collaboration tab > Synchronize > Relinquish All mine.

• Non-Editable: non-editable worksets have no 'owner', but the items they contain have successive 'borrowers' who can edit them by simply selecting them. Worksets can have more than one borrower.

A borrower can return the borrowed items by synchronizing the model or through the Collaboration tab > Synchronize > Relinquish All mine.

• Open: this option allows you to open or close the unused worksets. When a workset is closed, its elements are not loaded and the file works with less information. This not only affects the visibility of the elements, but they do not appear in the schedule, i.e. they are not physically present in the model. This tool is very useful when working on files with many links. If you open the file with the worksets of the links that do not need to be displayed closed, it will open much faster. But beware, if we have the project rooms in one file and the architecture in another, we must be careful, because if we close the architecture link, the rooms will no longer have a container and will appear as 'Not Closed' in the schedules and plans.
• Visible in all views: is the default setting for whether or not worksets are visible in existing or new model views. When enabling collaborative work, a new tab appears in the dialog box for Visibility / Graphic Overrides by View.

• Rename: user-created worksets can be renamed. This can only be done if the workset is “Editable” and the name is specifically changed by the “Owner”.
• Delete: worksets created by users can be deleted, except for the original Workset1. They can only be deleted by their “Owner”, which means that they must be “Editable”. When a workset is deleted, all its contents can either be deleted or moved to another existing workset.

Best practices:

It is recommended to keep worksets ownership only for specific cases, such as for sensitive elements like levels, grids or links that shouldn't be moved unintentionally.

The element property assignment is now clear and is automatically assigned to a user when editing the object. Once synchronized with the central file, the edited elements are available again to all model users.

Although the ability to own a workset is still active and used in certain circumstances, in general the best practice is to use the ability to borrow the item rather than to block all worksets.

2. Working with worksets

2.1. Assigning objects to worksets

When working on a collaborative file, an Active workset must be specified. There is always one active workset, so it is better to know which one we are working on.

This can be done in the tab 'Collaborate > Manage Collaboration Panel > Active workset' :

Or from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the Revit screen:

On the other hand, when we create one or more worksets, Revit will ask you if you want to make the most recently created workset the active one.

The active workset is the one in which each new element is placed by default. It is wise to select a workset to be the active one by default and avoid any doubt about this aspect.

• Model elements: new model elements are placed in the active workset by default. Each element in the model has a property called 'Workset'. Changing this will change the workset assigned to that element.

This parameter is locked when we select an element within a group, as the workset assigned to the group applies to all items in that group.

• View-specific elements such as annotations, dimensions or tags are automatically assigned to the workset of the view in which they are created and cannot be moved to another workset.

2.2. Worksets display

When collaborative work is enabled, visibility options related to worksets are added:

Visibility in views:

In the dialog box for Visibility / Graphic Overrides by View there will be a new Worksets tab. Here we can change the settings to show or hide each workset in this view. If the workset is set to 'Visible in all views' it will be visible by default and vice versa.

If we have links in the Revit model, and these have the same worksets as the working file, setting the visibility of each workset in this tab will affect the links in the same way. However, there are some considerations to keep in mind:

• Only those worksets that have exactly the same names as those in the open file will be mapped. It is therefore a good practice to update the list of worksets in the BEP so that all agents know the correct names.
• Let's say we have a link file containing architectural elements. Within this link the elements are in the worksets 'ARC_General' and 'ARC_Façade'. Finally, the link in the active model is in the 'LINK_Architecture' workset. These 3 worksets are defined in the active Revit model.

• All three worksets must be open for all elements to be displayed correctly.
• If 'LINK_Architecture' is open, we will see all the elements of the link that are in open worksets.
• If 'LINK_Architecture' is closed, we won't see the link, and therefore, none of the elements in the other two worksets, regardless of whether they are open or not.

• If we want to configure a workset link differently from the configuration we have in the active view, or if we have worksets in the link that are not in the open file, we have two options for managing their display:
• In the active view we can go to the dialog box for Visibility / Graphic Overrides >Revit links. By selecting the “Custom” view mode, we can select the specific worksets of this link that we want to see or not see in the active view or in all the views affected by a specific view template.

• From the box “Manage links>Revit” we can select the Revit link we want and click on the 'Manage Worksets' button. This allows us to manage the visibility of the worksets of that particular link, regardless of which view we are in. This means that if we close a project in this window, we won't be able to see it in any view unless we reopen it in this window.

Sharing display:

These are functions to temporarily display “Worksets”, “Owners”, “Updates” in the view to give some control over the elements and information related to worksets.

When one of these states is activated, we can hover the mouse over any element in the view and a floating window will pop up with useful information such as the name of the workset to which the element belongs, who created the element or who last modified it.

• Checkout Status: allows us to identify on screen,

• The elements that we own, either because we have edited them or because we own a workset.
• The elements that belong to other users and those that have no owner.

• Owners: allows us to identify the owner of each element in the view.

• Model updates: identifies if there are items within the model that need to be updated. For example, if a user of a local file has deleted or modified the element we are selecting.

• Worksets: this is probably the most useful tab of all. It allows us to see what workset each element on the screen has.

• Sharing display disabled: click this option if you want to disable the display option you have enabled on the screen.
• Worksharing Display Settings: allows us to define the color code that identifies the status of each element in the view. It allows us to configure the colors of each of the categories displayed.

2.3. Open worksets in every session

When we open a Revit project with collaborative work activated, we have the option of selecting which worksets we want to open. To do this we need to click on the arrow next to the 'Open' button. This will give us four options:

• All: opens all worksets that have been configured in the file.
• Editable: only opens worksets that have been defined as 'Editable' by the user.
• Last viewed: uses the workset visibility settings defined by the user the last time the file was opened.
• Specify...: when this option is selected, a pop-up window is displayed with the complete list of worksheets, allowing the user to select which worksheets to open and which not to open

These options mainly affect the time it takes to open the file. It should be noted that loading multiple links causes the longest delay in opening a file, so as a general approach we will use the 'All' option in those cases where the file with all the links and information is not very heavy. We can also use this option if we need to open the whole file, but don't mind if it takes a while.

In all other cases, we can use the 'Specify' option to disable worksets that contain links and/or those that we know we won't be using. Don't switch off the 'Levels and Grids' workset, as it contains vital project information and practically doesn't delay the opening of the model. Once the model is open, we can always re-open closed worksets.

2.4. System worksets

The Worksets window allows us to manage the display of all existing worksets, both model and system worksets. By default, the configuration only shows model worksets. In the Show section we can enable any of the other categories.

However, one must be very careful when changing these settings. As mentioned above, the average Revit user will probably not even be aware that system worksets exist, as they do not affect their daily work. It is recommended that you do not use this option unless you have advanced knowledge of Revit and worksets.

3. Model breakdown

Decisions made when sharing a project and setting up its worksets can have long-lasting effects on the development of the project. In general, there are several aspects to consider when setting up worksets:

• Project size
• Project typology
• Default workset visibility
• Disciplines

It is recommended that worksets are used to separate conceptual project areas, with additional worksets for external elements. The segmentation of model elements will depend on the project. In general, a generic segmentation would be as follows:

• Levels and grids
• Separate buildings
• Communication core / Building envelope
• Architecture
• Structure
• MEP (Separate worksets for each discipline or sub-discipline)

• Plumbing
• Heating
• Drainage
• HVAC
• Electrical
• Telecommunications
• Fire protection

• One workset for each linked RVT file.
• One workset for external CAD links.
• Workset for grouping rooms and room separator

Bottom line

• Project division into worksets is the basis for collaborative working in Revit.
• A good model breakdown helps the success of collaborative work in Revit BIM models.
• The structure and definition of the project's worksets must be defined in the BEP by the BIM Manager and agreed with the various collaborators. Under no circumstances should it be changed without the supervision of the BIM Manager.

Tips & Tricks

• To control the correct placement of all elements in their assigned workset, it is recommended to have a 3D view per workset with active visibility only for the corresponding workset. To ease this task, the Dynamo Modelical package has a node that performs this task automatically. The node is called 'CreateForEachWorkset' and is located in the Modelical>Views>View3D section.

• Until Revit version 2022, the “Workset” parameter was not available to be used in the schedules and as a filter. Fortunately, this option has been enabled in the latest versions.
• A very useful feature is the use of worksets to create visibility filters in views and view templates. This gives us an extra layer for filtering elements in Revit. The same criteria can be used to filter elements in Navisworks.

• When linking files that have worksets enabled, worksets that share a name (have exactly the same name) with a workset in the open file are automatically linked. If there is a typo in the name of one of the worksets, change it and reload the link so that they are mapped correctly. This way, when you set the visibility of these worksets in a view, the link will be affected. To change the visibility of the other worksets of a link, we can go to the Manage Links dialogue box.
• The use of worksets is recommended in all project disciplines, but in the case of MEP it is almost mandatory. It is the perfect tool to separate the elements that make up each of the different disciplines into tight compartments, as each discipline may contain different categories (pipes, pipe joints, sanitary fittings, etc.), different systems (domestic cold water, domestic hot water, etc.) and these elements are distributed throughout the model, not in a specific area.
• Groups cannot be created with elements from different worksets. The workset in which the group is located is the workset of its elements.
• Worksets cannot be created in project templates, as they do not have collaborative working enabled. For this reason, many companies prefer to use a central file as a 'project template', which they simply re-centralise for each new project. This allows them to include a number of basic worksets in their template.
• The project BEP should indicate which worksets are common to all files and which are specific to a particular discipline. In this way, even if each discipline has its own specific worksets, all files will share a common set of worksets (such as Datum or Links), which will facilitate team work.
• Knowing that each Revit element has a workset associated with it, we can use this feature in Dynamo to search and select elements. For example, all instances of annotation elements in a floor plan share the 'Workset' parameter, whose value is the name of that floor plan.

References

Worksharing Guide