AECOsim

Building
Designer
Quick Start Guide

Chapter 14
Clash
Detection

2012
Bentley Systems, Incorporated
www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

AECOSIM BUILDING DESIGNER

CHAPTER 14 CLASH DETECTION
Table of Contents
Clash Detection ........................................................................................................... 3
Creating a Clash Detection ......................................................................................... 3
Creating a New Job ................................................................................................. 3
Defining the Clash Sets ........................................................................................... 4
Running a Clash Detection .......................................................................................... 4
Results ................................................................................................................. 4
Grouping Clashes ................................................................................................... 5
Saving a Clash Job ................................................................................................. 6

www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

Page 2 of 6
2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated

v2.0

AECOSIM BUILDING DESIGNER

CHAPTER 14 CLASH DETECTION
CLASH DETECTION
Once there is building content in the model, designers need the ability to analyze the accuracy
of 3D models across all disciplines to ensure that architectural, structural, and mechanical
components are properly spaced for installation. The capability to identify and resolve conflicts
and interferences in the design prior to construction helps to avoids costly change orders and
reduce construction costs.
Clash detection is an analytical tool which automates the clash detection process. AECOsim
Building Designers Clash Detection allows designers to identify sets of business or graphical
elements and to detect geometrical clashes between these object element sets. The designer
can then interactively and graphically review these clashes.
Suppression rules can be applied to identify clashes that should not be reported. The settings
associated with the clash runs are managed and tracked as a clash job. A job is a container of
criteria, rules and results, which are set up and saved in the active file for reuse. A job can also
be stored in a DGN library. A job can be defined and processed in read-only files but the job
definition and results cannot be stored.
Additional Clash Detection capabilities, such as the Clash Detection Markup feature is
only available in Bentley Navigator. Bentley Navigator is a separate application and is not
included with AECOsim Building Designer.
CREATING A CLASH DETECTION
Clash detection is managed through the Clash
Detection dialog, which is used to set up the clash
operations and automate the clash detection process.
Creating a New Job
The Clash Detection tool found on the Coordination
task bar is used to open the Clash Detection dialog.
In the Clash Detection dialog, click the Create a
New Job icon.
A new entry is added to the job list with the default
name, Untitled Job. Untitled Job is highlighted and ready
to be renamed. Give the new job entry a descriptive
name.
Once the job is created, then two sets of elements must
be defined.

www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

Page 3 of 6
2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated

v2.0

AECOSIM BUILDING DESIGNER

CHAPTER 14 CLASH DETECTION
Defining the Clash Sets
The Clash Detection dialog
contains controls to select the
criteria included in the clash
detection job. The elements in Set
A are checked against the elements
in Set B. The elements in Set A
display in red and elements in Set
B display in blue. The sets can be
defined by Levels, by
References, and by Named
Groups. Drag and drop references,
levels, or named groups from the
column on the left to either Set A
or Set B on the right. Only
elements visible in a view are
included in the clash detection;
turning off an element removes it
from the clash detection
A Soft Clearance can be added to either set indicating a zone of a given dimension around all
the elements in a set that would be considered a clash. For instance, ductwork may require
three inches of insulation that is not actually modeled. These clashes will show up as Soft
clashes vs. Hard clashes.
RUNNING A CLASH DETECTION
Once the clash detection criteria for each set are established the Process button will highlight
and the Clash Job can be processed.
Results
When the clash detection job is finished processing, the
results display in the Results tab which automatically
opens. The application view window automatically zooms
in to display the first clash in the clash list.
Use the Previous Clash and Next Clash icons
to select other clashes in the Results tab, and view
them in the model. When selected, the application zooms
to display the clash components.
Designers can choose to display one or both
clash elements, and they can choose to display them
with a gray background color behind them. When
www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

Page 4 of 6
2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated

v2.0

AECOSIM BUILDING DESIGNER

CHAPTER 14 CLASH DETECTION
displayed, the clash elements are highlighted with the color of their object set.

The status of a clash can also be changed by clicking the applicable Status column cell.
Status options display from a drop down list which include New, Old, Assigned, Accepted
and Follow Up.
Use the Assigned To column to assign the resolution of the clash to a particular discipline or
individual.
The Type column indicates the type of clash, either Soft or Hard.
Grouping Clashes
After processing a clash detection job, there may be too many clashes to review each one
individually. Clashes can be grouped together to consolidate the number of actual clashes that
are tracked. When clashes are grouped, one change will affect all the clashes in the group,
such as changing the status or assignee.
A group can be created by two different methods:
Manually selecting the clashes and grouping them - From the Results tab,
<ctrl-click> to select all the clashes to be included in the group. Right-click, and
from the pop-up menu, select Create Group > From Selection. All selected clashes
are included in the group. To view all the clashes in the group, in the All Jobs list box,
select the group to display the clashes on the Results tab.
Identifying all the clashes that contain a certain element - For example, a run
of duct may clash with multiple elements but the clashes should be tracked as one clash
since moving the duct will resolve all the clashes. In the Results tab, select a clash
that has the element that has multiple clashes to be grouped, right-click and select
Create Group > From Clashes on Element A.
All clashes that have a common element in Set A are now included in the newly created
group.

www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

Page 5 of 6
2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated

v2.0

AECOSIM BUILDING DESIGNER

CHAPTER 14 CLASH DETECTION
When a group is deleted, the individual clashes within that group are not deleted.
Saving a Clash Job
Use the Save icon to save the clash detection job for later review. Notice that the name of
the job appears in the dialog box title bar when the job is saved.
A saved job can also be updated with new results when new components are added to the
model. In this case simply run the job again. Clashed that have been fixed will show a Status
of Resolved.

MOVIE: Clash Detection

This movie shows:
1. Finding a Clash
2. Clash Resolution

www.Bentley.com/AECOsim

Page 6 of 6
2012 Bentley Systems, Incorporated

v2.0