The Vico Office Client allows users to publish and activate BIM models inside Vico Office. The Client also contains all the reporting features for quantity takeoff, constructability analysis, 4D scheduling, and 5D estimating.

 

The Vico Office Client is a mandatory module for all Vico Office users.  It is also recommended that project teams (architects, subs, Owners) also have a copy so that collaboration, reviewing, and reporting is seamless.

 

After reading through these questions, please navigate across the product line:

Vico Office Takeoff Manager FAQs

Vico Office Cost Planner FAQs

Vico Office Cost Explorer FAQs

Vico Control FAQs

Vico Doc Set Manager FAQs 

 

Q:  Do the models need to be built in Vico for estimating to work or can you import other models?

 

A:   Vico Office is not a model authoring system like Tekla, ArchiCAD, or Revit.  We specialize in taking BIM models, combining them, and then performing constructability analyses and quantity takeoffs so that we can then do model-based scheduling and model-based estimating.

 

So we have two pathways for bringing in models and their geometry into Vico Office.  One pathway is the Publishers and the publishers mean they run with the application and “come standard” with Vico Office. There are three publishers today and they include the popular BIM authoring tools: Tekla, Revit and ArchiCAD; and they work both for 32-bit and 64-bit. They work with the systems for architectural and structural models.

 

Then we have several Importers.  One is the IFC Importer which allows you to get data from any system that uses IFC.  We’ve also created a specific importer for CAD-Duct.  The Importers can be purchased separately, depending on how your team builds and receives models.

 

Q:  What if you don’t get BIM models at an early design stage? Can you use this software to take off 2D drawings?

 

A:  There are two techniques you could use.  I think all clients absolutely use 2D drawings.  So the question is do you want to just measure off the 2D drawings or would you like to build the model from them?  Both are good techniques… we of course prefer building the model and most of our clients use the 2D drawings as the basis of the model that they then use throughout construction planning and construction. But you can do it either way.

 

Q:   Do you have to own Revit (or ArchiCAD or Tekla Structures) software to use it with Vico?

 

A:  The person with Revit who is creating the model would need to publish, but the person who will be using Vico Office (Takeoff Manager, Cost Planner, Cost Explorer, Constructability Manager, or Control) does not need Revit… what they need is the model published by the author of the model who is typically the design firm or someone in their organization. So you can publish models from the Revit application to a server and then that server can be where you access the model removing the need to have Revit on your machine.

 

It is important to note that the person creating the model will need Vico Office Client in order to publish the model.

 

Q:  What do you mean “publish the model”?

 

A:  This is just the operation where you utilize Vico Software to create the proper representation for opening the BIM model inside Vico Office. I think there some confusion in the market because BIM models are so large. How do we make it easy to get a model into Vico Office and that’s simply through the integration.  If you open up a Revit or Tekla model there’s a simple pulldown menu “publish to Vico” and that’s all it takes. 

 

Here's a quick tutorial on publishing models from your BIM authoring system into Vico Office.

 

 

Q:   If a CAD drawing done by someone else is imported how do you know what level of detail the quantities represent since you didn’t design the project?

 

A:  You can’t tell what rigor the model was created with - to what level of detail it was modeled.  That’s why it’s always better to use a plan and work together collaboratively with the Owner, design team, engineers, and subs. There’s a simple stage plan we call a Content Plan and there is a project plan we call the Model Progression Specification that help these collaborative teams build meaningful models.

 

But if you want to try to use the model straightaway then really you must spend some time interrogating that model and becoming familiar with it. There are a lot of techniques for turning things on and off, looking at the groupings, etc. to get a feel for whether you’re comfortable with the model. In Vico Office we can filter by many means: by floor, type, element type, model, etc.  We can filter by manual selection.  We can create sections vertically, horizontally… This makes it easy for someone who isn’t a modeler to still participate in the BIM process and understand more about the model.

 

Q:  How do you link existing data to a new BIM model that you've just published?

 

A:  First you need to get the data into Vico Office and that's done with Excel Import.  Now estimators and schedulers can connect their existing data to a BIM model within a day. This means data from Timberline, MC2, RIB, and Primavera can be associated with BIM model elements. 

 

Here is a quick demonstrate of getting that information into Vico Office.

 

Q:   Owners or designers may be reluctant to share models because of a concern that the model may be altered. The architect might provide DWF files instead. How do you get around this situation?

 

A:  A DWF is a view-only file and that’s not helpful because we can’t extract any properties from it.  You would have to have the source model published so you would either have to have the owner or the architect publish the model. But once they do that there is no changing the model in Vico Office.  So I think you do actually cover that concern: just ask the design team to publish from Revit to Vico.

 

To learn more about model management in Vico Office, please watch this informative tutorial on model versions.

 

Q:   When you’re renaming descriptions what happens when you bring in a new model? How do you manage revisions of the model?

 

A:   There is a simple checkbox and when you bring in new versions of the models – simply use the checkbox that says “apply to new elements only.”  So if the architects design has changed, Vico Office remembers what changes you made last time and will not change that data. You only have to deal with anything new that has been brought in. If you have made a lot of changes and you want to wipe out what you have already done and start fresh, you can uncheck the box and import the data in from scratch. So the flexibility is there for you to choose. The system remembers what you did and how you organized things, where you put the quantities, etc., and it will organize the updated model and put everything in the right place and update the quantities.

 

Q:   What is the export ability of Vico Software?

 

A:   We can export into XML, XL, DOC and PDF. And just to clarify we are exporting data we are no longer exporting the model. So we are exporting the data information of the model.

 

Q:  How do you link to other data that exists in other estimating or scheduling applications.  What do you do to port information back and forth?

 

A:  We developed a feature called Excel Import to transfer data in and out of Vico Office to other applications you might have in-house.  You can then use Compare and Update to evaluate two like projects and use the data that makes the most sense.

 

In this example, Excel Import is used to bring subcontractor pricing into the estimate. Excel Import acts as a bus to transfer data and then Compare and Update puts you in control of what is added to the calculations.

 

 

Q:  Can you import an IFC generated from another BIM authoring software?

 

A:  The IFC data needs to be looked at and interrogated, but in general, you can import the geometry quite well.

 

Q:  How many different kinds of publishing can an architect provide? Is it possible they publish something that you can’t use?

 

A:   All of the different objects they can publish can be brought into Vico Office. As you saw, there was a model that wasn’t built using a model progression specification, so it wasn’t built to a certain rigor. But we can reclassify those elements and reassign the takeoff items.  Also, the takeoff quantities and the Vico algorithms would then be used to recalculate certain properties such as the quantity properties. The system is flexible at the front end for the takeoff.  We can do some manipulation, but it is better if we work with the architect and explain why we want to follow a certain specification. It’s amazing the results that we’ve seen so far - most architects very much welcome the MPS profess and levels of detail from 100 through 500 and understanding how they can better build construction quality models and that they can then be passed through to the rest of the project team. That’s a plus from the Owner’s side of things and the architect can then suggest to the Owner that they’re going to multiple models.

 

Q:   Does the Architect need any part of Vico Software to publish their Revit models?

 

A:  The answer is yes. They would need the $500 Vico Office Client which will enable them to publish any ArchiCAD, Tekla, or Revit model to any Vico Office user (for quantity takeoff, constructability analysis, 4D scheduling, and 5D estimating).

 

Q:  In what format is Vico Office able to report? What types of reports are there available today?

 

A:  All reporting capabilities are a part of Vico Office Client.  It’s important to note that Vico Office is a database system, so you can report on any property contained in the database.  The report editor in Vico Office is very similar to Crystal Reports and so you can design and customize many different reports and create exactly what you want to see. We do have some standard reports for quantities by location and the cost plan. As we said before if we have Uniformat for the elements we can produce the elemental costs, provide the CSI activity level, produce the resources, produce constructability reports, report on any properties in the database and customize the report with your company’s logo, layout, and formatting preferences.

 

Q:   How do the compare and updates, check and changes information get transmitted to the architect so that the change can be made to the model?

 

A:  If you’re talking about constructability issues, those would be transmitted using constructability report generated after using Constructability Manager.

 

Additionally, part of the MPS plays into that.  The MPS gives a standard communication or language between the architect and the CM or subcontractor to say “this is what is missing from your model based on the MPS.” It gives a very detailed RFI feedback to the architect based on the MPS. So the process is not simply a software issue it is very much a process issue.

 

If the architect does have the Vico Office Client (which is only $500) you can just review the model together and he can view any aspects of it so you can point out the differences/concerns/comments very visually and move through it with him onscreen.  S/he can then update the original BIM model and re-publish it as a newer version.

 

And to reiterate the benefit of owning Vico Office Client, it removes the requirement for them to save as different formats and upload to FTP sites, etc. So it’s quite a good bonus of having Vico Office as a server based system with the architect having the Vico Office Client as well.

 

Q:  How is Vico Office architected?  It's not a file-based system, is it?  What interference is there with antivirus software?

 

A:  Vico Office utilizes a TCIP communication pathway between the Vico Office Client and the project databases. If there is difficulty communicating, we recommend turning off your antivirus software.

 

 

Q:  What types of reports can you generate with Vico Office?

 

A:  Because Vico Office is a database application, you can report on any combination of data just by organizing the report design with the field names.  For example, you can generate reports based on the takeoff, the cost plan, the budget, the constructability analysis, the schedule, etc.

 

Here is a quick tutorial on the Report Editor focused on expressing information about the project budget.