I finally hit my 500th revision mark on a single project

Two weeks ago I opened up my CAD file for a commercial HVAC duct layout I've been tweaking since January. Hit save and noticed the revision history showed version 503. I honestly laughed out loud. That's 503 times I went back and moved a duct run or adjusted a hanger location. Most of those were tiny shifts, like 3/8 of an inch to clear a beam. But a few were full do-overs because the structural engineer changed a column placement. I think that number matters because it shows how much guesswork gets baked into a finished set of drawings. Nobody sees the 500 tries, they just see the final run that works. Has anyone else kept track of their revision count on a big job? I'm curious if I'm the only one obsessed with getting it perfect.

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanj6027d ago

Did you ever track how many of those revisions were actually from your own tweaks vs how many came from other trades or structural changes? I bet the number gets real different when you break it out like that. On my last big duct job I had to redo a whole plenum section three times because the electrical contractor kept shifting his cable trays. Each time it was like 2 inches here, 4 inches there, but it threw off all my offsets. Probably had 70+ saves just from chasing his moves alone.

wendygrant26d ago

@ryanj60 thats a good point, did you ever add up how many of your own revisions were stuff like tweaking a transition or fixing a measurement vs just chasing other trades? On a high rise I did last year, I swear 80% of my changes were because the sprinkler guys kept rerouting their mains. Would love to know if your ratio was anywhere near that bad lol.