1. Purpose and key benefit

The key benefit of REVIT.ClashViewer is saving specialists time. When a report is opened, the solution checks whether clashes are still relevant and automatically filters out and hides entries that do not represent real clashes:

• false duplicate clashes in which both participants are the very same model element;
• clashes that have already been resolved because the elements no longer intersect;
• clashes in which one or both elements have been deleted from the model.

If the second element belongs to a linked model that is unloaded or not linked at all, the solution issues a warning. An unavailable link is not treated as a deleted element or a resolved clash.

The solution also allows responsibility for resolving a clash to be handed over to a specialist working in the second model, with discussion supported by attached files, screenshots, and other materials. Specialists can focus on current issues and coordination instead of manually checking outdated findings.

The solution works with any coordinate system and Navisworks report format. It can filter clashes by the IDs of the elements involved, so users can see clashes only for their own model regardless of whether the report came from a Navisworks model created by exporting each Revit file separately or from a federated model exported in a single pass. As a result, the BIM specialist does not need to prepare separate reports for each designer, and designers do not have to manually filter out other disciplines’ clashes — each person sees only the clashes involving elements in the model currently open in Revit.

REVIT.ClashViewer opens the report in an always-available dockable Revit panel. The designer stays in the working model, selects the required row, and clicks “Go to”. The solution prepares a 3D view, creates a local section box around the conflict area, matches elements by ID, selects them, and temporarily isolates them when needed.

This turns a Navisworks report from an external document containing a list of issues into a working model navigator. Instead of searching by coordinates, copying IDs, and manually creating 3D views, the designer immediately gets a localized area where the conflict can be checked and corrected.

Figure 1. The “Navisworks Clashes” command is located on the RS-Systems tab and opens the dockable clash panel.

2. How the clash workflow changes

3. Supported Navisworks report formats

The current implementation reads the main report variants generated by Navisworks Manage:

• XML reports with the exchange → clashtest → clashresult structure;
• XLSX reports, including multi-page and multi-sheet workbooks; the solution reads and processes report data from all relevant sheets in a single file;
• tabular HTML reports in which results are collected in a common table;
• non-tabular HTML reports in report/viewpoint format;
• HTML files with the .html or .htm extension; the file type is also detected from its contents.

The solution extracts the test name, clash name, GUID, status, distance, clash point, object IDs, layer, element name and type, comments, and image links from the report. For images, JPG, JPEG, and PNG links located relative to the report file are supported.

Figure 2. The report is open in the dockable panel on the right: the clash list remains available alongside the Revit model.

4. Working with coordinate systems and units

The solution provides three modes for determining the working area. This allows the same tool to be used with different NWC export rules and different project shared-coordinate settings.

For XML reports, the code respects the units recorded in the report: meters, millimeters, centimeters, feet, and inches. For HTML reports, the current version assumes meters.

Figure 3. Mode selection: shared coordinates, internal coordinates, or positioning by elements and their IDs.

5. Filtering clashes by IDs of elements in the open model

A key feature of the solution is the “Current model only” check box. After loading a report, the plug-in checks each clash object and tries to find an element in the open Revit document with the numeric ID specified in the report. A clash is considered to belong to the current model if at least one of its objects is found in the host document.

Filtering does not depend on the NWC name, model name, test name, or on how the BIM coordinator assembled the Navisworks file. The criterion is the ElementId stored by Navisworks in the object data.

If no clashes are found for the open model, the solution does not leave the user with an empty table: the filter is automatically cleared, all results are shown, and a warning explains that the IDs may not match or that the report may belong to another model.

Figure 4. “Current model only” filter, coordinate mode, isolation, and the first report rows.

6. Matching host-model elements and linked files

When navigating to a clash, each ID is checked first in the active host model. If the element is not found there, all loaded linked Revit models are searched. This allows the plug-in to work both in a discipline working file and in a federated coordination model with links.

• Host-model elements are selected directly.
• If an object is found inside a link, the corresponding RevitLinkInstance is selected and isolated.
• Unloaded links are not included in the search.
• Service elements and types without a geometric category are not treated as clash objects.

7. Navigating to a clash in Revit

Navigation is performed with the “Go to” button in the row or by double-clicking the clash. The solution then performs the following steps:

1. Uses the active 3D view. If a non-3D view is open, it attempts to switch to the first suitable printable 3D view.

2. Matches report objects to elements in the host model and loaded links.

3. Determines the center of the working area according to the selected coordinate mode.

4. Activates the section box and sets its boundaries.

5. Selects the found elements or link instances.

6. Enables or clears temporary isolation according to the check box.

7. Zooms predictably to the section-box boundaries.

The user is immediately placed in a limited local volume instead of a general 3D view of the entire model. This is especially useful on large projects, where standard Zoom to Fit can make the required area almost invisible because of remote geometry or an incorrectly positioned link.

Figure 5. Navigation result: a local section box, the found elements selected, and the rest of the model optionally isolated temporarily.

8. Section Box, point refinement, and working-area size

The working-area size is specified as the half-size of a cube in meters. A value of 0.5 means the cube extends ±0.5 m along each axis. The user can increase it for large building-services systems or reduce it for dense coordination areas.

In Shared and Project modes, the plug-in does not blindly trust the Navisworks coordinate. If host-model elements are found by ID, the report point is refined using their bounding boxes: it is moved to the intersection of the pair’s bounds or, if there is no intersection, to the combined extent of the elements. This compensates for a constant offset between the federated model and the open discipline model.

In “By elements (ID)” mode, the box is created directly around the bounds of the found elements with the specified margin. If no host elements are found but the report contains a point, the plug-in falls back to coordinate-based navigation.

9. Selecting and temporarily isolating elements

The “Isolate” check box controls the temporary Hide/Isolate mode of the active 3D view. When it is enabled, selecting another row immediately updates the isolation, so the designer does not need to run a separate command each time.

• Host-model elements are selected and isolated directly.
• For objects inside linked models, the corresponding link instance is isolated.
• Clearing the check box turns off temporary isolation while keeping the created section box.
• The check-box state is remembered and reused the next time the plug-in starts.

This mode is convenient for resolving dense building-services coordination areas: only the elements involved in the conflict remain visible, while the designer can quickly turn isolation off to see the surroundings without losing the local section-box area.

Details of the selected clash and the message confirming isolation.	Isolated model fragment in the local section box.

10. Statuses, search, and quick filtering

The report can be filtered by the standard Navisworks statuses: All, New, Active, Resolved, Approved, and Reviewed. Statuses from Russian and English HTML reports are normalized to a common internal scheme.

The search field checks more than just the clash name. It searches by:

• clash name;
• short description of the objects involved;
• element IDs;
• element name and type;
• layer from the report.

The status filter, search, and “Current model only” work simultaneously. For example, an engineer can show only new clashes for the current model and then find conflicts involving a specific riser, equipment type, or ID.

Figure 6. Status filter: New, Active, Resolved, Approved, and Reviewed clashes.

11. Automatic detection of fixed clashes

• false duplicate clashes in which both participants are the very same model element;
• clashes that have already been resolved because the elements no longer intersect;
• clashes in which one or both elements have been deleted from the model.

If the second element belongs to a linked model that is unloaded or not linked at all, the solution issues a warning. An unavailable link is not treated as a deleted element or a resolved clash.

12. Details, snapshots, comments, and table columns

When a row is selected, the lower part of the panel shows clash data: name, test, distance, coordinate, the ID of each object, name, type, and layer. If the report contains a linked snapshot and the file exists at the specified relative path, it is loaded into the preview without locking the source file.

By default, the table remains compact, but additional columns can be enabled from the header context menu:

• Test;
• Status;
• Distance;
• Point;
• Objects;
• Comment.

The selected set of columns is saved in the user settings. This lets a designer keep the list minimal, while a BIM coordinator can enable the test, status, distance, and comments for report analysis.

Figure 7. Detailed card for the selected clash: coordinate, ID, name, type, and layer for both objects.

13. Report history and personal settings

The plug-in stores up to 12 recently opened reports. The user can reopen the required XML or HTML report from the drop-down list without returning to the file-selection dialog.

The following personal settings are saved:

• section-box size;
• coordinate mode;
• default isolation state;
• state of the “Current model only” filter;
• set of displayed columns;
• recent-report history.

Settings and history are separated by Revit version. A user can have different working parameters for Revit 2021 and Revit 2027 without mixing them.

Figure 8. The recently opened reports list makes it easy to switch quickly between clash sets.

14. Practical workflow for the designer

1. Obtain the common Navisworks XML or HTML report together with its image folder, if one was generated.

2. Open your working Revit model and run “Navisworks Clashes” from the RS-Systems tab.

3. Open the report. Keep the “Current model only” check box enabled.

4. Select the coordinate mode. Start with Shared; if the coordinates do not align, use Project or “By elements (ID)”.

5. If necessary, filter for New or Active clashes and use search.

6. Enable “Isolate” and click “Go to” row by row.

7. Correct the model, moving through the clashes one by one.

8. After issuing the updated model, send it to the BIM coordinator for a new clash test.

15. Practical workflow for the BIM specialist

The BIM specialist can maintain one consistent report-generation process instead of preparing separate files for each discipline.

1. Create a common set of clash tests in Navisworks for all models and disciplines.

2. Export the report to XML or HTML with object IDs; include snapshots and comments when needed.

3. Distribute the same package to all project participants.

4. Define the recommended coordinate mode for the project and a standard section-box size.

5. Receive updated models and run a new Navisworks clash test after each correction cycle.

As a result, the BIM coordinator is responsible for the quality of the common report and repeated geometric verification, while designers independently obtain their working set of clashes directly in their own files.

16. Limitations and important characteristics of the current version

• The solution reads the report but does not write changed statuses back to Navisworks and does not provide bidirectional synchronization.

The solution checks report entries against the current state of available models, including whether the elements exist and still intersect. Final coordination of the updated models is verified by running a new clash test in Navisworks.

• Model filtering depends on the numeric ElementId stored in the report. If the report does not contain an ID, or the ID changed after the object was recreated, matching is not possible.
• Searching inside linked files is performed only for loaded links.
• For an object inside a link, Revit allows the link instance to be selected and isolated, rather than necessarily treating the nested element as an independent host object.
• The “By elements (ID)” box mode uses the bounds of found host-model elements; if they are unavailable, the plug-in falls back to coordinate-based navigation.
• Navigation requires a suitable 3D view. If no such view exists, one must be created or opened.
• The HTML parser is designed for the tabular and non-tabular Navisworks structures supported by the code; substantially modified third-party HTML may not be recognized.

17. Compatibility, theme, and interface languages

The project includes builds for Revit 2021–2027. Revit 2021–2024 uses .NET Framework 4.8, Revit 2025–2026 uses .NET 8, and Revit 2027 uses .NET 10.

The dockable panel automatically adapts to Revit’s light and dark themes. The interface is localized according to the Revit language and contains translation tables for 16 interface languages, including Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Czech, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.

The panel can be docked next to Project Browser or Properties so that the clash list remains visible while the model is being corrected.

18. Benefits and summary

REVIT.ClashViewer bridges the gap between checking a model in Navisworks and resolving issues in Revit. The solution does not replace Navisworks Manage as a geometric clash-detection tool; instead, it turns the Navisworks report into a convenient working tool for every designer.

The main benefit for the project team is that the BIM specialist produces one high-quality common report, while each participant gets a personal set of relevant clashes from it without additional manual sorting. Designers spend their time correcting the model instead of searching for issues and preparing views.