CS321708

It’s All in the Data: Visualizing Clash Metrics with

Navisworks and Power BI
Carlo Caparas
Turner Construction Co.
VDC Preconstruction Engineer

Learning Objectives
• Discover tools to develop workflows for clash metrics reports and general data
visualization
• Learn how to extend Navisworks Manage knowledge beyond standard Navisworks
reporting tools and utilize full feature capabilities
• Learn how to asses which properties in Navisworks are essential for producing
data visuals
• Learn how to improve Navisworks clash data organization and management for
data visual reporting creation

Description
This class is for individuals involved in design and construction seeking to use BIM coordination
clash data. The workflow presented aims to facilitate instant clash metrics reporting and make
model data meaningful and accessible for various project stakeholders using Navisworks
software and Microsoft Power BI. We will focus on various elements in the workflow that include
general clash test setup in Clash Detective, managing clash status and flow of changes
throughout the coordination process, and exporting Clash Detective data with a custom plug-in
using Navisworks API. Then, we will demonstrate how to use the exported data to visualize
custom clash metrics in Microsoft Power BI and its effectiveness in strategizing BIM
coordination and communication.

About the Speaker

Carlo has held various roles in different areas of the AEC industry. His experience includes
working at a LiDAR scanning and modeling company, structural design firm, and general
contractor. Tasks in these positions revolve around creating, managing, and utilizing BIM to
communicate information effectively and clearly. He is interested in visualization tools and
enjoys exploring extended reality technology to create immersive experiences to improve
communication. Currently, he is focusing on tools and creating workflows that combine data
analysis and extended reality tools to improve collaboration and make data driven decisions.

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Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 3
Key Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 3
Software and Workflow ................................................................................................ 3
Navisworks Manage .............................................................................................................. 3
Microsoft Power BI ................................................................................................................. 3
Navisworks Manage Setup .......................................................................................... 4
Model Preparation ................................................................................................................. 4
Clash Detective Preparation .................................................................................................. 5
Navisworks API ............................................................................................................ 6
Clash Data Export Process .......................................................................................... 7
Prior to Executing Clash Data Exporter ................................................................................. 7
Executing Clash Data Exporter .............................................................................................. 7
Clash Data Output and Associated Navisworks API Commands ............................... 10
Microsoft Power BI Reporting .................................................................................... 11
Initial Setup .......................................................................................................................... 11
Reports ................................................................................................................................ 15
Resources for Further Information ............................................................................. 20

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Introduction
For MEP BIM Coordination, Autodesk Navisworks Manage is the standard tool for shop drawing
coordination. To track progress as it relates to the construction schedule, a number of features
are available in Navisworks Manage and third party tools that can report to both individuals
involved with BIM coordination and those outside. Ultimately, these reporting methods result in
little to no one reviewing the reports while it can take hours of effort to produce. This could be
due to a number of reasons such as information provided only targets a narrow audience group.

The following is a workflow example that describes how to adapt the Navisworks API to extend
its functionality to aid in being an effective BIM coordination reporting tool. This method builds
and improves on traditional reporting methods. While minimizing a number of tools/software
used, reports produced integrate with software platforms project teams currently use and targets
a wider audience. The reporting mechanism described will rely on counting and visualizing
clashes. While relying on clash metrics alone to report on progress is not the only factor
affecting coordination, clashes are a major factor in quantifying and tracking MEP BIM
coordination progress.
Problem Statement
How can teams produce MEP BIM coordination progress reports consistently, effectively and
clearly so that various stakeholders can easily understand?
Key Objectives
1. Develop a simple, objective and automated reporting mechanism
2. Make MEP BIM coordination data accessible and meaningful for various project
stakeholders using various reports
Software and Workflow
The key software used for this reporting process:
1. Autodesk Navisworks Manage
2. Microsoft Excel
3. Microsoft Power BI.
Navisworks Manage
It is imperative to organize and manage all clashes in the Clash Detective tool. The custom
Clash Data Exporter add-in accesses the data from Clash Detective to export and store in an
Excel spreadsheet. This will also reduce the amount of double work and help progress towards
report automation.
Microsoft Power BI
Power BI is a business intelligence software that allows for interactive data visualizations. For
this reporting task, Power BI will consume the excel spreadsheet exported from Navisworks
Manage to produce data visuals and metrics as desired. The following are advantages for using
Power BI for data visualization and reporting:
• Easy to share with project stakeholders
• Connect and query from multiple data sources
• Automates data cleaning, transforming and shaping through saving query steps in
Power Query Editor

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• Interactive, dynamic, and easily customizable reports allowing different users to view
specific data or metrics they are interested in

WORKFLOW TO MIGRATE NAVISWORKS CLASH DATA TO DATA VISUALIZATION REPORTS.

Navisworks Manage Setup
There are a few conditions to meet when setting up for the add-in to work properly.
Model Preparation
1. Appended models need to be solids
o Add-in counts number of objects. If model consists of polymesh elements, the count will
not be accurate.
2. Consistent model file naming convention established including a discipline code.
o Add-in requires user input for discipline code to correctly associate clash to discipline.
3. Define focus zones
o In Power BI, focus zones distinguish chunks of areas in which the MEP coordination
team will direct efforts in coordinating one chunk at a time.
4. Available active grid system with grids at building extents (grids need to be added in Revit if
they don’t currently exist)
o This is required for the Clash Map report in Power BI. Having grids at the extents
correctly aligns clashes to floor plan image in Power BI.

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 EXAMPLE OF MODELING ADDITIONAL GRID LINES AT BUILDING EXTENTS FOR POWER BI CLASH MAP ALIGNMENT.
Clash Detective Preparation
1. Rules to eliminate or reduce false positives
o By eliminating false positive clashes, the metrics for closed and open clashes will yield
more accurate metrics.
2. Do not compact clashes.
o Resolved clashes are required so closed clashes can be reported in Power BI
3. Run clashes using Update All Clashes
o Currently, the add-in requires all tests have the same date to display data correctly in
Power BI.

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 CLASH DETECTIVE FUNCTION LOCATIONS.
Navisworks API
The Navisworks API exposes data and extends functionality for a number of Navisworks tools to
customize. Below is a list of Navisworks API classes used to access clash data for exporting
through the Clash Data Exporter add-in. For getting started with using Navisworks .NET API
see Resources for Further Information section.

Most functionality reference these .NET assemblies:

• Autodesk.Navisworks.Api
• Autodesk.Navisworks.Clash
• navisworks.gui.roamer.dll

After assemblies are loaded, various implemented classes gather the required data to export
using the add-in. Below are key classes, properties, and methods utilized in the add-in.

Clash Detective Data: General Loaded Model:

Classes Classes
ClashTest ModelItem
ClashResultGroup GridIntersection
ClashResult GridLevel
Properties BoundingBox3D
ClashTest.SelectionA / SelectionB Properties
ClashResult.Item1 / Item2 BoundingBox3D.Center
ClashResult.Status GridIntersection.Position
ModelItem.ClassDisplayName
Method
GridSystem.ClosestIntersection

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 NAVISWORKS API CLASSES AND PROPERTIES MAPPED TO CLASH DETECTIVE INTERFACE.

Note: Other properties, but not all, in Clash Detective are accessible and available to
export such as “Assigned To”, “Description”, “Approved By”, and “Approved Time”.
Clash Data Export Process
The following is an example of the Clash Data Exporter add-in process to export both clash
properties from Clash Detective and model object counts per appended models seen in the
Selection Tree.

Prior to Executing Clash Data Exporter

Set desired Active Grid System. This is imperative so that the clashes align properly with floor
plan in the Clash Map export, especially if additional grid lines were modeled.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO SET CORRECT GRID SYSTEM PRIOR TO EXECUTING CLASH DATA EXPORTER.
Executing Clash Data Exporter
1. Add-in can be accessed through the ribbon

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 CLASH DATA EXPORTER ADD-IN LOCATION IN THE RIBBON.

2. Two modules are available to execute. Both need to be executed for Power BI reporting
but order does not matter.
1) Clash Test – export clash data from Clash Detective
2) Total Objects by Discipline – counts number of objects (Blocks or Geometry) per
discipline in current loaded model

CLASH DATA EXPORTER INITIAL USER PROMPT.

SELECTION TREE OBJECT HIERARCHY AND ICON DESCRIPTION.

3. When selecting either module, user is prompted for manual inputs. The user input form
allows the add-in to adapt to different projects’ disciplines.

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USER INPUT PROMPT REQUIRES INPUTS FOR FOCUS ZONE AND PROJECT DISCIPLINES. OTHERWISE, EXPORT WILL
NOT RUN.

User will need to input Focus Zone and Project Disciplines in project. Initially, the default
Project Disciplines will appear in the list. Modifying the discipline list is required if default
disciplines do not match current project. The user then saves the modified project discipline list
(TXT format) to the local drive. The project discipline list will need to be loaded every time when
exporting clash data.

The Discipline Codes correspond to appended trade partner models in current loaded NWF or
NWD. The delimiters used in the code are ‘_’ , ‘-‘ , ‘.’ , ‘ ‘.

THE PROJECT DISCIPLINES ARE ASSOCIATED TO APPENDED MODEL FILES USING THE DISCIPLINE CODE.

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Clash Data Output and Associated Navisworks API Commands
When the clash data exporter is done writing the data to an excel spreadsheet, the user is
prompted to select a location to save the file. The repository must remain at the same location
throughout the entirety of the project as Power BI links the path to the repository. It is
recommended to use shared repositories such as Microsoft Drive, Procore Drive, Dropbox, etc.
This allows multiple users to access the files to update clash reports and dashboards.

CLASH TEST EXPORTED TABLE EXAMPLE MAPPING .NET API CLASSES, METHODS, PROPERTIES USED TO
GENERATE COLUMN VALUES.

TOTAL OBJECTS BY DISCIPLINE EXPORTED TABLE EXAMPLE MAPPING .NET API CLASSES, METHODS, PROPERTIES
USED TO GENERATE COLUMN VALUES.

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Microsoft Power BI Reporting
To progress towards reporting automation, a template is available for projects to use as a
foundation for reporting. Project teams can then add and modify reports per project needs.
Initially, some setup is required as certain visuals will be project specific. This document will
address and review these specific visuals later in this section. In general, it takes a day to
complete the setup.

The Clash Metrics report contains six reports. The reports convey information from high-level to
more detailed clash information. All data visualizations are included by default or available free
on the Marketplace. The following are a couple notes in regards to how the reports define and
handle clashes.

1. The clash Status informs if a clash is open or closed. An open clash has a Status value
of “New” or “Active”. A closed clash has a Status value of “Reviewed”, “Approved”, or
“Resolved”.
2. To be objective, reports do not assign a specific trade to resolve a clash. If both trades
are involved in a clash, each trade accounts for the clash in their open or closed clash
count.
Initial Setup
1. Upon loading the template, the repository paths for both the Clash Test and Total
Objects by Discipline data files need to be entered.

USER PROMPT TO INPUT FILE PATH TO CLASH DATA AND DISCIPLINE OBJECT COUNTS REPOSITORY.

2. The data is automatically cleaned and transformed as these steps are saved in the
template. This makes updating the report with new data in the repository simple and
easy, as the user will only need to select Refresh to update the report.

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POWER QUERY EDITOR. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF SAVED QUERIES AND STEPS TO TRANSFORM DATA IN THE
TEMPLATE.

3. Project Summary Report

• Visualizations Requiring Setup: Synoptic Panel, Multi-Row Card, Slicer
o Synoptic Panel:
 Create image and zones for auto coloring states using synoptic web tool
o Multi-Row Card:
 User will need to toggle which focus zones to display using the visual filter
o Slicer
 Input number of focus zones in the project

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 SYNOPTIC PANEL
MULTI-ROW CARD

SLICER

PROJECT SUMMARY REPORT VISUALIZATIONS REQUIRING INITIAL SETUP.

4. Discipline Clashes Summary

• Visualization Requiring Setup: Pie Chart
o Pie Chart:
 Add or remove disciplines as needed. If adding, refer to data visualization
Filters to select the appropriate discipline.

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 PIE CHART

DISCIPLINE CLASHES SUMMARY REPORT VISUALIZATIONS REQUIRING INITIAL SETUP.

5. Clash Map
• Visualization Requiring Setup: Enhanced Scatter Plot
o Enhanced Scatter Plot:
 Convert floor plans to images to serve as the Backdrop on the plot. There is
a table in the template that associates the Level to the correct floor plan
image. Currently, the visualization requires Backdrop images to be linked by
URL.
Note: Currently, Dropbox seems to be the best option to host images.

When creating the floor plan images, crop the images to the farthest grid line
extents. Otherwise, clash data will not align properly to the floor plan image.
This is the reason for creating additional gridlines at the desired farthest
extents. The add-in uses model objects to find the closest grid intersection
and determines maximum and minimum intersections to create the boundary
in the scatter plot.
Note: It may require creating boundary model solids also to capture farthest
grid intersections.

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 ENHANCED SCATTER PLOT

CLASH MAP VISUALIZATIONS REQUIRING INITIAL SETUP.

Reports
1. Project Summary
This report is a high-level overview of BIM coordination progress and intends to inform
project leadership with a quick coordination progress status for focus zones. The focus
zone percent complete metrics are weighted per associated discipline model objects.
This is a means to give disciplines a lighter or heavier importance or contribution per
number of model objects. The weighting factors can be adjusted using a different
method or removed as project teams see fit. Color overlays on the project structure
image serve as an indicator to illustrate focus zone coordination status.

 Data Visualizations: Synoptic Panel, Multi-Row Card, Slicer

 Data Source: Date, Focus Zone, Discipline, Status, Discipline Total Objects

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 PROJECT SUMMARY VISUALIZATIONS MAPPING TO DATA SOURCES.

2. Project Overall Status

This report helps to visualize the rate MEP teams are resolving clashes and issues.
Data visuals provide model and coordination progress over time along with tracking
model object population changes. Tracking model object population helps to indicate if
there is a correlation with rate of clash resolution and allows for further analysis if
needed. The metrics provide data on clashes open, clashes closed, and rate of model
population based on latest (maximum) date using the date slicer.

 Data Visualizations: Line Charts

 Data Source: Date, Focus Zone, Discipline, Status, Discipline Total Objects

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 PROJECT OVERALL PROGRESS VISUALIZATIONS MAPPING TO DATA SOURCES.

3. Discipline Clashes Summary

Project teams get a visual comparison of how each trade is progressing in coordination.
The pie charts compare a trade’s open clashes versus closed clashes, while the table
explicitly displays the closed clashes quantitative values. Again, to remain objective as
possible, both trades involved in a clash account for the clash in quantifying their open
and closed clashes.

 Data Visualizations: Pie Charts & Table

 Data Source: Date, Focus Zone, Discipline, Status

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 DISCIPLINE CLASHES SUMMARY VISUALIZATIONS MAPPING TO DATA SOURCES.

4. Discipline Clashes Detail

This report drills down to each discipline in the project and illustrates its open clash
percent with other disciplines. The pie chart helps disciplines understand which
disciplines it conflicts with the most. Therefore, it can help strategize coordination.
Furthermore, the column chart displays a discipline’s rate at resolving clashes with other
trades over time. This can give insight into which disciplines have issues resolving or
are not fully participating in resolving conflicts.

 Data Visualizations: Pie Chart, Line and Clustered Column Chart

 Data Source: Date, Focus Zone, Discipline, Status, Level

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 DISCIPLINE CLASHES DETAIL VISUALIZATIONS MAPPING TO DATA SOURCES.

5. Clash Map
This report acts similar to a heat map helping inform project teams of high clash
concentration locations. Overall, it can give insight as to possible design issues by
location, congested utility locations, and help strategize BIM coordination. The visuals in
this report display clash locations on project floor plans. Further functionality allows
isolating trade specific clashes. The open and closed clash metrics are associated with
trade clashes shown or highlighted on the clash map.

 Data Visualizations: Enhanced Scatter Plot

 Data Source: Date, Focus Zone, Discipline, Clash, Level, Test Name, Clash Location
(X), Clash Location (Y), Clash Location (Z), Minimum X Grid Coordinate, Minimum Y
Grid Coordinate, Maximum X Grid Coordinate, Maximum Y Grid Coordinate

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 CLASH MAP VISUALIZATIONS MAPPING TO DATA SOURCES.
Resources for Further Information
Below are cited key sources for further information on Navisworks API and Power BI.

Bee, Simon. “Customizing Autodesk® Navisworks® 2013 with the .NET API.” Autodesk
University, 2012, https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Customizing-
AutodeskR-NavisworksR-2013-NET-API-2012, Las Vegas, NV. Conference Presentation.

Liang, Xiaodong. “Navisworks .NET API 2013 new feature – Clash 1”. AEC DevBlog, 11 May
2012, https://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/2012/05/navisworks-net-api-2013-new-feature-
clash-1.html.

Liang, Xiaodong. “Navisworks .NET API 2013 new feature – Clash 2”. AEC DevBlog, 13 May
2012, https://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/2012/05/navisworks-net-api-2013-new-feature-
clash-2.html.

Liang, Xiaodong. “Navisworks 2014 API new feature – One more path to load plugin”. AEC
DevBlog, 15 May 2013, https://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/xiaodong-liang/page/4/.

Talarico, Guilherme. “Navisworks”. ApiDocs.co,

https://apidocs.co/apps/navisworks/2018/87317537-2911-4c08-b492-6496c82b3ed1.htm#.

Microsoft Corporation. “Power BI documentation”. 09 Oct. 2019, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-

us/power-bi/#pivot=home&panel=home-all.

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Guy in a Cube. YouTube, presented by Adam Saxton and Patrick LeBlanc,
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFp1vaKzpfvoGai0vE5VJ0w/featured

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