Revit Warnings: Structural usage set to Non-bearing

A structural framing element is attached to a wall whose Structural Usage is set to Non-bearing.

This means that you have used a structural element such as a beam and it is attaching to a wall whose structural usage is set to Non-bearing. The following table lists the automatic Structural Usage settings for beams, based upon the elements in which they are being connected. There are a couple of different methods to correct this problem, each with pros and cons. The method used would be dictated by a number of factors, including determining if the structural elements(s) are truly structural elements or some type of faux treatment.

#1: Change the Structural Usage of the Wall from Non-bearing to Bearing by selecting the wall and bringing up the Element Properties dialog and changing the Structural Usage to Non-bearing. One of the downsides to this is if you are working with a structural engineer that using Revit Structure this wall will appear as a Bearing wall. If you are working with a structural engineer using Revit Structure, this would NOT be the appropriate method.

If the elements that have been modeled are not being used as structural elements, but being used as some sort of faux treatment, then consideration should be given to remodeling the framing using a non-structural elements.

In case you haven't started reading it, Phil Read formerly of Autodesk Consulting has joined HNTB Architecture and started started a Arch | Tech blog. His latest post is on the weakness of the current Revit Warnings system.

In case you haven't started reading it, Phil Read formerly of Autodesk Consulting has joined HNTB Architecture and started started a Arch | Tech blog. His latest post is on the weakness of the current Revit Warnings system.

I used to be one of those users that didn't concentrate too much on warnings, until I started working with Daniel Hurtubise. It took Daniel all of a half hour to show me the importance of addressing warnings immediately. Yes, I know that is not always possible, but it is a good practice. (If you are a non-believer, send Daniel an email and I am sure he will provide you with a demo).

Since then I have been working with Phil and Autodesk Consulting (and yes they still have some assume talent there) on addressing warnings. While we have been documenting many warnings to provide the user with greater insight on how to correct them, the ability to access and track warnings has been lacking.

When Phil joined HNTB, one of the topics I was hoping would be addressed is the issue of accessing and tracking warnings and during the recent AIA Large Firm Roundtable BIM Implementors meeting, Phil let one of the Revit Architecture product managers aware of his thoughts about how the warning system could be improved ad what would happen if this didn't get done. So, I thought I would include the text from his blog.

One final note, Autodesk is monitoring his blog, so if you have a comment to make about the warning system, by all means comment.

Dear Anthony,

The cultural challenge with Warnings in Revit is the present lack of accountability. Users are smart enough to know there's something amiss in the file. But they have no idea where to point (or give) the finger. Or fingers.

Warnings also provide some indication as to the learning and experience level of members on a team. Warnings indicate when users have decided to work in a way that is expedient rather than deliberate. Reviewing Warnings allow people to learn from their own mistakes. Or better yet - they allow people to learn from another team member's mistake. ;)

Unfortunately, many users and teams tend to put off reviewing / resolving Warnings as there's no sense of ownership. This makes project management really difficult. By the time you need to review warnings - it's often too late. And who should fix what?

So I'd propose the following stuff with regard to Warnings:

1. Warnings should be maintained in a regular Revit Schedule. Stop hiding them in a dialog at the bottom of a Tools Menu.

2. Project Managers would like to know the Workset Username responsible for generating the Warning. This would allow Warnings to be scheduled per user name - which would impose a sense of accountability in the Revit database.

3. Original date / time stamp helps the team track the frequency of Warnings against project development.

4. Like any other Schedule in Revit , the ability to jump from line item / to context of project location.

5. Some indication of severity (for ranking purposes). All warnings are not created equal.

6. Counts / Totals / Types of Warnings. Now the project manager knows who (typically) on a team is responsible for the bulk of Warnings so they can remedy the situation, and prevent its recurrence.

Overall, this added functionality compels team members to preemptively fix what they have broken. Project Managers can quickly get a sense project dynamics. And the rest of the team isn't penalized with one or two team member's lack of discipline.

Revit Warnings - What's the Big Deal

With the help of a formal colleague and friend Daniel Hurtubise (see his French RevitIt blog) we are documenting a number of Revit Warnings. But the question I get both at work and via this blog is, "What's the Big Deal with Warnings". Which is usually followed by, "They don't prevent me from doing something and my sheets still print". So, I think it is important to discuss how important it is to address warnings sooner than later (or not at all).

I think the first and foremost reason to address warnings is that they can have a huge impact on the file size and performance of a project. This is especially true with warnings that have to do with overlapping items such as walls, room separations lines and duplicated instances.

The first time you encounter a warning is really the best time to address it. So if Revit thinks you are doing something it does not like, Revit will throw up an alert explaining what it thinks you have done wrong. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes when that dialog appears, I just hit the "OK" button and pretend like I saw nothing and this is the case when helping with a deadline. Daniel on the other-hand is what I refer to as a Warnings Nazi wanting to address every warning as they appear. That's probably the best way to handle them, but sometimes whether we like it or not, we take shortcuts to meet a deadline.

There will be times when you are under pressure for a deadline and taking the time to address all the warnings that are coming up is just not feasible. After all, most Project Managers will not understand why it is important to fix something that they do not see on their printed sheets. But at some point it is absolutely necessary to come back and review all your warnings.

The next question is what type of warnings need to be immediately addressed, what can wait and what can be ignored. Every project is different, so your results will vary, but here are a couple of guidelines which should be helpful. Any warnings relating to Rooms, Joins, Overlapping Lines and area warnings should be a priority. This is by no means an exclusive list, just something to get you started if you have been ignoring the warnings.

To review past warnings, simply go to the Tools pull-down menu and select Review Warnings near the bottom of the screen. If Review Warnings is not greyed out, then you have warnings. If you want to see how many unresolved errors there are, you can do this by scrolling down to the last displayed category, expanding that and scrolling down again. That will give you the total number. I've seen as many as 1200 or more in a single file. Each one of them is a potentially serious problem in your model somewhere that needs to be resolved.

Resolving some Revit Warnings can take a lot of investgation to track them down. As you first begin to do this, it can seem a little overwhelming. But as you track down these Warnings, you will find that it is usually (emphasis on usually) not to difficult to track down the problem.

The first thing that you should do when select a warning and click on the "Show" button. Revit will then try to find a view that shows the problem elements and highlight them for you. Keep in mind that the first view that Revit provides you, may not be the best view. If this first go-around does not help you find the issue, then select one of the elements that are listed in the Warning and click the "Show" button again. This will usually help you locate the problem, but not always. If this doesn't, then you need to use the element ID and use the "Select by ID" tool to locate that element that is causing or part of a warning.

Once you start working on resolving Warnings, you will find that the performance of your projects will be much better.

One thing that I would be nice is if Autodesk would provide some kind of mechanism to schedule Warnings. Unfortunetly, the only way to do that now is to use a screen capture utility.

This has just been a 20,000 feet overview of how to address Revit Warnings. In a following Blog, I hope to have Daniel Hurtubise write a more detailed document on addressing Warnings.

Revit Warnings - Wall is slightly off axis and may cause inaccuracies.

This can usually happen when are are picking geometry from an AutoCAD file. Revit will report this error when a wall is drawn at an angle at a with a fractional degree, such as 95.1 degrees. To correct the problem, either redraw the wall or change the angle. You can sometimes verify the angle by creating a 3-4 decimal point dimension style.

Special thanks to Daniel Hurtubise, aka the Revit Warnings Nazi for his help on documenting Revit warnings. Check out his RevitIt blog. (in French)

Revit Warnings - Highlighted walls are attached to, but miss, the highlighted targets

This means that you have a wall that is attached to a floor, roof etc. but the wall does not physically attach or touch the roof or floor. This warning can generally be corrected by “detaching” the wall from the floor or roof.

Special thanks to Daniel Hurtubise, aka the Revit Warnings Nazi for his help on documenting Revit warnings. Cehck out his RevitIt blog. (in French)