Navisworks coordination combines discipline models so teams can find conflicts and manage them through review and resolution. Electrical contractors and BIM/VDC teams use Navisworks Manage to compare electrical pathways and equipment with mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, structural, and architectural models.
Navisworks identifies intersections and clearance conflicts. It does not decide which trade should move. Those decisions require BIM coordination services, trade discussions, model revisions, and repeated checks.
Clash detection in Navisworks is the review step. Electrical BIM coordination continues until the responsible trades revise their models and the federation is checked again.
What Electrical Teams Coordinate in Navisworks
Electrical BIM services can include cable trays, conduit banks, modeled conduit runs, bus duct, lighting, panels, switchgear, transformers, sleeves, and penetrations. Each requires cross-trade review in the federated model.
Geometry collisions are only part of the review. A route may clear a duct but leave no room for cable pulls, bends, supports, or installation. Piping can enter a switchgear working zone without touching the equipment. Teams must also check maintenance access, removal paths, future serviceability, and routing priority.
Revit is where trade geometry is authored and revised. Navisworks Manage aggregates the models for clash testing, review, grouping, assignment, and status tracking. Autodesk’s Clash Detective documentation explains its role in identifying cross-discipline interference.
The Navisworks Coordination Workflow
1. Aggregate the Trade Models
Architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire-protection models are appended using consistent coordinates. Naming rules, update frequency, and responsibilities belong in the BIM execution plan.
2. Create Useful Search and Selection Sets
Systems are organized into sets so tests compare useful groups. Property-based search sets can update as qualifying objects are added. Electrical sets might separate trays, feeder conduits, branch conduit, bus duct, equipment, lighting, and sleeves.
3. Configure Focused Clash Tests
Tests can be divided by system, level, zone, or phase. Common checks include cable tray versus ductwork, conduit versus structure, equipment versus piping, bus duct versus mechanical systems, and pathways versus fire protection.
Hard clashes identify intersections. Clearance tests check whether objects enter required space around a system or equipment item. Tolerances depend on the project standard and systems being compared. One setting does not suit every test.
4. Review and Group the Results
Results can include duplicates, related clashes, acceptable conditions, and out-of-scope items. Coordinators group them and separate construction issues from noise before assignment. This review is part of professional clash detection services.
5. Set Priorities and Assign Ownership
Major distribution routes are reviewed before branch services. Teams consider space, sequence, bend limits, access, and rerouting difficulty. Each actionable issue goes to the trade that controls the authoring model, with its location and required review.
6. Revise, Reload, and Verify
The responsible team revises its Revit model. Updated files are loaded into the federation and tested again. An issue closes only after verification. Moving a tray away from a duct can create another conflict with piping, steel, or lighting farther along the route.
A Cable Tray Clash in a Data Center Corridor
A main tray crosses a corridor occupied by large ducts, chilled-water piping, sprinklers, and structural framing. Navisworks clash detection finds several intersections, but lowering the tray could reduce headroom, block access, or cause bend problems at the next turn.
The trades review fixed constraints and identify the least flexible routes. The electrical team checks elevations, support space, pull access, and the connection to the main electrical feeder routing. Mechanical and plumbing teams confirm where they can shift.
The electrical team revises the agreed route with its bend and clearance constraints. The updated cable tray model is reloaded and retested. The full route, not just the original clash points, is checked before information is issued for BIM field installation.
Best Practices for Reliable Electrical Clash Detection
- Use shared coordinates and confirm model alignment before running tests.
- Apply consistent file, test, set, level, and zone names.
- Build reusable search sets for major electrical systems.
- Separate tests by system so results have clear ownership.
- Set tolerances according to the project and system being checked.
- Group duplicate clashes and connected issues.
- Coordinate major feeders, bus duct, and trays before branch services.
- Review access, supports, bends, and clearances as well as intersections.
- Track open, assigned, reviewed, and resolved issues.
- Rerun tests whenever relevant models change.
- Complete coordination before shop drawings are finalized.
These controls belong in the project’s BIM quality management process. They help MEP coordination services keep electrical decisions aligned with systems covered by MEP BIM services.
Verification Is the Final Coordination Step
Frequently Asked Questions
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What Is Navisworks Coordination?
It uses an aggregated model to review trade interfaces, detect conflicts, assign issues, and verify revised models.
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How Is Navisworks Used for Electrical Clash Detection?
Electrical sets are tested against other trade and building elements. Results are reviewed, assigned, resolved in the source model, and tested again.
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What Electrical Systems Should Be Checked in Navisworks?
Checks cover trays, conduit, bus duct, switchgear, panels, transformers, lighting, equipment clearances, sleeves, and penetrations.
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What Is the Difference Between Revit and Navisworks for BIM Coordination?
Revit authors and revises trade models. Navisworks combines them for review, clash testing, issue assignment, and verification.
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How Often Should Clash Detection Be Performed During Coordination?
Tests should run whenever relevant models change and at planned review intervals. Frequency depends on the coordination schedule, trade progress, and construction phase.
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