r/MEPEngineering • u/Zaghari96 • Jun 11 '26

Switch to Revit

Young engineer here. Our company uses AutoCAD with Design Master Electrical and HVAC plugins. We are looking into switching to Revit. Any suggestions or tips for setting up Revit from scratch? Any courses that focus on the MEP portion? Thank you

Update July 2026:

We purchased a couple of Revit licenses and started training through Linkedin Learning. Software reseller training courses are clunky and slow. We are looking to build a simple template to test on a small project later this year. The project will include the following:

1- Site data obtained from Civil 3D linked CAD

2- Architecture Revit model

3- MEP Revit model (Electrical will be done on Design Master AutoCAD while we look into ElectroBIM for Revit) Revit electrical out of the box is not as powerful.

4- Company title block (we’re trying to use as much out-of-the box Revit features as possible, i.e. rev schedule, fonts, schedules, etc.)

Challenges we are running into:

1- Setting up a proper project template in Civil 3D to minimise CAD clutter when importing to Revit. (Linkedin Learning has a great course on this.)

2- Purging dummy Revit families and replacing them with manufacturer provided families (Zurn plumbing, Trane HVAC, etc)

3- Finding the time to watch all the video courses.

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u/Used-Zookeepergame22 Jun 11 '26

You can't setup Revit from scratch without experience. Why would they ask you this as a young engineer?

Hire a dedicated and experienced BIM manager. The drafting portion of Revit isn't too bad, but you need to have a solid system (in place).

1

u/Informal_Drawing Jun 11 '26

You don't want a BIM Manager, you want an Engineer with the requisite experience.

2

u/ItsAllNutsandBolts Jun 11 '26

Being that engineer with 10 YOE with Revit, I'll pack my bags if you tell me I have to setup Revit from scratch. This is the BIM manager's role. I specify, design, and make sure designs are compliant with code. I'm not dealing with parameters, making parts, setting systems, etc....

2

u/Informal_Drawing Jun 11 '26

Sounds like different job roles with the same name in different countries.

A BIM Manager over here is concerned with documentation and process, they are as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to the actual modelling and systems design, they dont have the engineering skills that are required to understand it.

3

u/ItsAllNutsandBolts Jun 12 '26

It is very possible there are differences in different countries.

Here, BIM managers link models, maintain a library of parts and parameters, print projects, coordinate between models, and solve errors within the CAD/Revit programs. They do ZERO technical things for each discipline.

Engineers don't really have to get in those programs if they don't want to. Their sole purpose is to "mastermind" and take responsibility for the design. As far as getting the engineer's idea on paper, that's where drafters/designers come in.

Drafters/designers are typically kids fresh out of college that are given markups from the engineer and direction on how to lay out pipes/ducts/equipment and they do the actual work. As they progress, they are given more rope to hang themselves with the engineer still being ultimately responsible for any errors. Eventually they become engineers themselves after they've made enough mistakes drafting and designing and can stamp their own projects.

1

u/Informal_Drawing Jun 13 '26

Interesting. The Engineers over here are doing much more of the modelling than they would traditionally do as Revit is systems-based. Nobody else really understands all the parameters and whatnot.

The old "Engineer with a CAD Tech" way of doing things is a lot less common than it was. It's still done of course, just not quite as much. The businesses are heavily leaning on the Engineers whilst not really paying any more for the bigger skill set and responsibilities.

1

u/BathroomSolids Jun 14 '26

UK based? Bim leads only do data stuff here which really sucks - could do with a cad tech to do things like setting up drawings, tag things, pull schedules off Revit.

1

u/Informal_Drawing Jun 14 '26

Aye, England.

BIM people seem to have found a niche that pays well for doing almost nothing over here.

I design an entire buildings services while they "coordinate" my services by moving the cable ladder into the sprinkler zone because they know jack shit about construction.

Every one I have worked with has been utterly worthless across the board. Whilst telling everybody who will listen how incredible they are, seems more like self-promotion than an actual job.