SAA84 Posted July 15, 2013 Posted July 15, 2013 Hello, Just looking for some advice really regarding Electrical Design in BIM. On some of our projects we are given Navisworks files that pull together multi-discipline dwgs into a 3D model. We have all our MCCs, JBs, motors, tray work, etc in the model but no cabling. My question is is there any special software we can use to put in the cable? Ideally the software would be able to spit out cable schedules/termination schedules/quantities, etc? Also, we would like the cabling to be able to be included in the Navisworks file. What software do people use to do this? Thanks. Quote
SAA84 Posted July 17, 2013 Author Posted July 17, 2013 I have been doing a bit more reading around over the last couple of days and it would appear that BIM is not quite as advanced in electrical design as it is in other disciplines. Does anyone have any experience using the following packages (I assume Autodesk MEP will have been used by a few) and if so can you suggest any pros & cons: Autodesk MEP Bentley Building Electrical Systems Design Master Electrical FineElec. Much appreciated. Quote
tzframpton Posted July 17, 2013 Posted July 17, 2013 AutoCAD MEP or Revit MEP. My personal preference is the Revit platform all the way. I would imagine AutoCAD MEP to be phased out eventually so I would be very cautious to invest the time and money into this aged platform. As for cabling... I just cannot see why running the physical wire would ever be of interest. Cable Tray and Conduit take place for things like this. Even so... BIM has its thresholds and usually anything below 1-1/2" to 2" in diameter is left out. Wires are usually not exposed unless it's low voltage communications wire anyways, but even then it's housed in Cable Trays. And the reason why BIM isn't as far along for the electrical guys is because of the "I" part of BIM - information. Electrical load calculation is very advanced and very vast and programs like AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP can only do so much, but each year it gets better and better. Equipment and conduit is all good to go, however. Hope this helps. Quote
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