Revit & Navisworks - Model Positioning

By Garry Stockton

Here are a few good practices to keep in mind when setting up your model coordination workflow to enhance interoperability between Navisworks and Revit, ensuring that you get the correct positioning.

You must use a shared coordinate system for your project. It is mandatory to have it configured in the file reader options within Navisworks (see 1^st image). This setting also has to be enabled in Revit (see 3rd Image) when exporting .rvt files into a .nwc format. Ignoring this step will result in inaccurate positioning of the issues recorded by BIM Track.

From Navisworks:

1. Open the Navisworks menu. 
2. Click the options button. 
3. Expand the 'File Reader' submenu.
4. Locate and set the Coordinates field to 'Shared'.
5. Import your Revit file and your model should now be properly positioned geographically.

From Revit:

1. Select the Revit menu. 
2. Click the 'Export' tab.
3. Select the NWC format.
4. Click the 'Navisworks Settings' button at the bottom of the window.

5. Expand the 'File Reader' submenu.
6. Locate and set the Coordinates field to 'Shared'.
7. Ensure Convert linked files is ticked.
8. Import your NWC file into Navisworks and your model should now be properly positioned geographically.

Using IFC within Revit:

If your workflow relies on IFC, we recommend installing Autodesk's add-in for Revit called IFC 2020 (2019 if you're using Revit 2019 etc.). We have identified several issues with Revit's built-in IFC exporter and the IFCSite is not always exported properly if this add-in isn't installed, which results in inconsistent behaviour when you navigate through the model using various add-ins. This add-in will replace Revit's built-in IFC exporting model and won't appear as a standalone add-in. Once installed, make sure that the following setting is checked in the IFC export options whether you are using IFC2x3 or IFC4 formats: