Purchasing Revit

Hello all,

 

I do work for several Mechanical Engineering companies and some have asked if I can work with Revit. I have never used it but read up about it and it seems to be the way forward, especially as BIM will be required from 2016 for some projects.

 

I've been looking around at costs and it seems the only way to get Revit (Not LT as is doesn't support MEP) is to buy the building design suite at circa £6000 + VAT.

 

I've seen a website for a company is the US claiming to sell the ultimate suite for $399.00. Sounds too good to be true.

 

Anyone have any other suggested retail outlets for Revit or the suite if I have to go that route?

 

Many Thanks

 

Mike

I think that it will be too good to be true. We've just invested in 3 copies of the BDS premium for a trial and we've been told that from Feb 2015 you have to sign up for subscription or every upgrade will have to be purchased at full price and with Revit there is no backwards compatibility i.e. you all have to work from the same version so you'd have to upgrade yearly if you work as a subby (you are allowed to keep and download older softwares on subs, so if one of your employers doesn't upgrade you aren't so stuffed.)

Wow, sounds a bit harsh. So if I purchase 2015 and lets say a contractor has 2016 in the future, they can't "save as" version 2015 so I can open it?

Wow, sounds a bit harsh. So if I purchase 2015 and lets say a contractor has 2016 in the future, they can't "save as" version 2015 so I can open it?

When you "purchase" the software you are technically purchasing a subscription license so you'll get the version 2016 when the contractor does too, so there's nothing to worry about. The days of backwards compatibility are gone with Revit, which is a good thing. Nobody can sit around and use the same old version for a decade like the AutoCAD community. It constantly pushes the industry forward and nobody stays stagnant.

 

*EDIT*

Yeah, Revit for $399 is a total spam. You need to buy from authorized resellers only. The Building Design Suite is $6k in the US but you can get much cheaper monthly lease options, where it would be $2k annually. Look into these options if first starting out.

Thanks. Better start saving my pennies or putting my prices up!!

Well, Autodesk also allows leasing programs for however long you need. So if you're going to do a job that will last three months, then bid that into your price, and then if/when you get the job Autodesk will give you a license that expires after the three months is up. You can still keep the software installed but it can't be used unless you have an active key. This is a really good option I think and it allows you to bid into your price.

 

Just one other option anyways.