059 Clash Importer

Chris McKeown / July 1, 2025

Power

~3 min read639 words
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This tool has been decommissioned. Use 032 Clash Detection instead.

Overview

Clash Importer was a tool that converted a Navisworks XML clash report into Revit — placing a generic model family instance at each clash point, optionally creating a 3D isometric view with a section box centred on each clash, optionally tagging each clash point, and optionally arranging the views on new Sheets using a configurable grid layout. It provided a structured workflow for bringing Navisworks clash data into Revit for coordination review.

This tool has been replaced by 032 Clash Detection, which provides updated clash import and management features. See the 032 Clash Detection help page for current documentation.

059 Clash Importer dialog (historical)

Table of Contents

Historical Features

The following describes how this tool functioned before decommissioning:

  • Loaded a Navisworks XML clash report via file browser
  • Parsed clash coordinates from configurable XML columns (X, Y, Z, and Clash ID)
  • Placed a Generic Model family (configurable, defaulting to 2016_ClashPoint_V2.rfa) at each clash XY position
  • Optionally placed a generic model tag family (defaulting to 2016_ClashTag_V2.rfa) on each clash in the associated 3D view
  • Two coordinate modes: Shared Coordinates or Project Internal
  • Created a named 3D isometric view per clash, with a section box sized by the configurable View Cubed Size
  • Set view detail level to Fine and graphic display to Realistic
  • Highlighted the clash family instance in red in each 3D view
  • Optionally placed views on new Sheets using a configurable row/column grid with configurable page margins, body dimensions, and spacing
  • Wrote clash XML parameter values to shared parameters on the placed family instances
  • Supported cancel/reset of all settings back to defaults
  • Validation on all dimension inputs with specific error messages per field

Historical Requirements

  • A Navisworks clash report exported in XML format
  • A Generic Model family (.rfa) for the clash point marker — default provided in the Bonus Tools resources folder
  • An optional Generic Model Tag family (.rfa) for tagging
  • A title block family loaded in the project (required for Place on Sheet mode)
  • The project must not be a Family document
  • Shared parameters on the clash point family matching the XML column names (required for parameter writing)

Historical Workflow

  1. Click the Generic Family browse button and select the clash point .rfa file
  2. Click the XML from Navis browse button — this triggers loading of the generic family into the project, then opens a file browser for the XML report
  3. The XML Parser dialog opens: map the XML columns to X, Y, Z coordinates and the Clash ID field; toggle column visibility to control which values are written to parameters
  4. Back in the main dialog, configure:
    • Coordinates: Shared Coordinates or Project Internal
    • Create Views: whether to create a 3D view per clash
    • Hide Section Box: whether the section box category is hidden in the created views
    • Place Tag: whether to place a tag on the clash family in each view
    • Place on Sheet: whether to arrange views on new Sheets
    • Sheet layout dimensions: Top Page Margin, Left Page Margin, Page Body Width, Page Body Height, Horizontal Spacing, Vertical Spacing, View Cubed Size
    • Title Block: which title block to use for new Sheets
  5. Click OK to run — clash family instances are placed, views created, tags added, and Sheets generated

Migration to Tool 032

Tool 059 Clash Importer has been replaced by 032 Clash Detection. If you have existing projects that relied on tool 059, refer to the 032 Clash Detection documentation for the equivalent current workflow.