Topic: Projectwise and the CAD/BIM library

[jonesy]

The company I work for has offices spread all over the country, and we are moving to Projectwise for our EDMS/collaboration tool.
As with many large companies there are a large variation in standards (every office seems to have at least one of its own) so we are looking at creating (over time) a BIM/details/block library to be stored on the projectwise server.
I would be interested in knowing if anyone else has gone down this route, and any positives and/or negatives they found from doing so.  Any help or advice would be very much appreciated as we take our first tentative steps in creating this library.

Many thanks
T

[mjfarrell]

there will need to be a team of trainers that ensure everyone KNOWS

HOW

WHAT

WHY

otherwise  you will wind up right back where you are
with everyone doing their own thing just to get work done.

[jonesy]

It is intended that everyone will have the right amount of training, AND a how to use guide, and a list of the latest additions to the library

I should have tried to word the question a little better in so far as the technical side of things.
1. How to control the submission/checking/approval process.
2. As we are a multi-disciplinary company, how to split the library - Do we do it first by software (Revit, Acad/C3D, Microstation, then discipline, or do we do it by disc, then software?
3. How to build the best "searchability" into the library to make it easier for the users to find what they are looking for.

There will be more questions as my mind tries to settle on working on this

[mjfarrell]

where possible...

ACAD - Tool Palettes   

REVIT - Template files

Microstation - Seed Files


build as much into the default files as to remove any user input

I would suggest
Region or Country/Discipline/Software organization -this to allow for varied permissible construction or building standards within a country or region

[JohnK]

I don't have any useful advice but I am very interested in how you do. Please keep us updated!

I like the "Region or Country/Discipline/Software" organization suggestion if that helps you decide, jonesy.

...
build as much into the default files as to remove any user input
...

I wouldn't do that for Revit templates or my coworkers (and I doubt you'd want to do that for Microstation Seed files as well). I'm not going to divert this thread so...jonesy, here is a link to a thread that attempts to discuss some of the views of "Revit Template file types".
https://www.theswamp.org/index.php?topic=49185.0

[jonesy]

I don't have any useful advice but I am very interested in how you do. Please keep us updated!

I like the "Region or Country/Discipline/Software" organization suggestion if that helps you decide, jonesy.

Thanks for that, it seems to make sense that Mech will always look in mech folder first, then look at the software

...
build as much into the default files as to remove any user input
...

I wouldn't do that for Revit templates or my coworkers (and I doubt you'd want to do that for Microstation Seed files as well). I'm not going to divert this thread so...jonesy, here is a link to a thread that attempts to discuss some of the views of "Revit Template file types".
https://www.theswamp.org/index.php?topic=49185.0

Building as much as we can into the templates has been poo-poo'd by the user groups, as having too many layers and blocks(in acad) and too many families will bloat the projects.
I don't know enough about Revit to supervise the templates, I am leaving that to the BIM managers.

It will be my job to be the data manager/overall Projectwise manager for all this data, and I want to make it as easy to use as possible, so I am looking for ideas on a few things...

• folder structure (which John and Michael have mentioned so thank you both)
• how to control the data (who can upload blocks and families, who checks the blocks and families
• possibly a folder for "old"/superseded blocks and families which might no longer be current, but may be used for historical drawings at a later date) 
• who would have read or write access to any particular folder
• a process of how a modeller or CAD person might submit a file to be considered for this library.

I was hoping someone here had built a catalog/library that was successful in a multiple office, multi-discipline and multiple software environment, and they might be able to offer some advice

[cadtag]

The last time I was involved in building a detail library we focused on using CSI spec sections as the driving organizational element.  That was using the old 16 section system,   The current April 2014 scheme uses 49 divisions, with a number of those reserved for future expansion.

That company was primarily water/wastewater focused, treatment plans and associated buildings/civil work.  But it worked fairly well.  And it's handy IMO to have details and specs marching along together.

[Tortiz]

we've created workspaces for each client. when the project is created a workspace is assigned to that project that has all the layer/levels, block/sells, etc.