The deliverable gets chosen by what the client can open
Ask an architect why the client review pack is a PDF set and the answer is almost never that a PDF set is the best way to review a building. It is that the client cannot open anything else. The format of the deliverable is set by the recipient's software, and everything else follows from that constraint.
The cost shows up as questions. A client looking at sheets asks what the space feels like from the entrance, whether the plant room is really that big, how the roof meets the neighbor's parapet. Those are all questions the model answers immediately and a sheet set answers slowly, through a phone call and then another sheet.
It also shows up as approvals given on incomplete information, which is the expensive version of the same problem.
What survives each way of sending a model
PDF sheet set
- Keeps
- Sheets, annotation, title blocks, revision clouds
- Loses
- The 3D model, element properties, levels, anything not drawn on a sheet
- Use it
- Right for a formal issue that has to match a drawing register. Wrong when the client wants to understand the building.
Static renders or screenshots
- Keeps
- One camera angle, chosen by you
- Loses
- Every other angle, and any ability to look at what you did not photograph
- Use it
- Fine for a presentation, useless as a review deliverable.
Exported IFC
- Keeps
- Geometry and most element data
- Loses
- Revit-specific families, view templates and some parametric behavior, plus the export is a second file to keep in step
- Use it
- Reasonable, and worth doing for open-standard archiving. It is still a translation you have to maintain.
The RVT itself, opened in a browser
- Keeps
- The model, the model tree, element properties, levels
- Loses
- Editing, families as editable objects, anything requiring Revit itself
- Use it
- Closest to what your team sees, with no export step and nothing for the client to install.
None of these replaces the others. A formal issue still needs the sheet set, because the sheet set is the contractual document. The point is that the model no longer has to be withheld from the client just because they cannot open it.
What the client can and cannot do
This is the part worth being precise about with a client before you send, because a model in a browser looks more capable than it is and expectations follow the first impression.
They can
- Move around the model freely, from any angle
- Browse the model tree by level, category and element
- Select an element and read its properties
- Cut a section to look inside
- Take their own measurements
- Open it on a laptop, a tablet or a phone
They cannot
- Edit anything, or affect your file in any way
- Open the model in Revit unless you allow the download
- Work with families as editable objects
- See a view you did not include in what you shared
- Keep access past the expiry you set
The read-only boundary is usually the selling point rather than a limitation. A client who can examine the design thoroughly but cannot alter it is exactly the arrangement most practices want.
Sending a model for a client review
Upload the RVT, select it, and create a link. Two settings are worth thinking about rather than accepting the default.
First, view-only. If the client should be able to review the design but not hold the model as a file, turn it on. It is the difference between showing a client the model and giving them the model, and those are different commercial positions.
Second, the expiry. A review link set to 30 days matches the length of a review, and it stops the situation where a stage 3 model is still reachable from an old email during stage 5. If the client is likely to keep coming back to it, 90 or 180 days is the better choice, and you can always send a fresh link for the next issue.
Questions about sending Revit models to clients
Can a client open a Revit file without a Revit license?
Yes. Share the RVT through ShareCAD and the client opens the model in their browser. They need no Revit license, no Autodesk account, no BIM 360 or Autodesk Docs invitation, and no ShareCAD account of their own. They click the link you send.
Do I have to export to IFC or PDF first?
No. You upload the RVT as it comes out of Revit and share that. Exporting remains a good idea for open-standard archiving, but it is no longer a prerequisite for letting a client look at the model.
What can the client do with the model?
Orbit, pan and zoom, browse the model tree, select an element and read its properties, cut section planes, explode, and measure. They cannot edit the model, and nothing they do changes your file.
Can the client download my Revit file?
Only if you allow it. Turning on view-only means the model opens in the browser with no download option, which is the setting most firms want when a client should be able to review the design without holding a copy of the model.
How is this different from Autodesk Viewer or BIM 360?
Both are good products and both pull the client into the Autodesk account system: Autodesk Viewer requires the client to sign in to upload or view, and BIM 360 or Autodesk Docs requires you to provision them as a project member. ShareCAD sends a link that works without an account on either side, which suits one-off and short-term client review rather than a permanently shared project environment.
Does a large Revit model work?
Revit models are converted for browser viewing when you upload them, so the client is not downloading a multi-hundred-megabyte file. Large models take longer to process on upload, not on the client's machine.
Does the client count as a user on my subscription?
No. Your plan covers the people at your practice who upload and issue models. Recipients are not users, so sending to more clients does not increase what you pay.
Related
Open one model without setting anything up with the Revit viewer or the IFC viewer. Sending to a consultant on a fixed appointment instead of a client? See sharing CAD files with external consultants. For coordination models going to trades, see sharing Navisworks with subcontractors. For the general case, see secure CAD file sharing.
Let the Client See the Building
Send the model you actually built rather than a flattened version of it. Read-only, time-limited, and open in a browser with nothing for the client to install.
From $19.99/month · Teams up to 10 users · Clients are never charged