References are what a review checks your drawing set against. The more context you load, the more a review can resolve on its own instead of leaving it uncertain.
You manage these on the project's References tab.
The five types
1. Drawing set — the print set configured in Revit: your DD set, your CD set, the A200 series. This is not really a reference, it is the thing being reviewed, sheet by sheet. You select it when you configure the review.
2. Model references — consultant Revit models: structural, MEP, interiors. This is the best way to give a review the other disciplines, because it can read the actual geometry and data rather than a picture of it.
3. Drawing set references — other disciplines as PDF drawing sets. Use these when you do not have access to the consultants' models, which is common. A mechanical or landscape set as a PDF is far better than nothing.
4. Specifications — the project spec book. Multiple files append into a single specification, so you can upload a spec that is split across many documents.
5. Other — project-related files that do not fit the categories above. For a structural firm, the calculation package would go here.
Consultant models need re-importing
Consultant models must be imported into the project's references each time you want them available to a review. They do not stay attached and update on their own. If the structural engineer issues a new model, import it again.
Specifications are not live-linked
Your spec book is a snapshot from the moment you uploaded it. When the specification is revised, upload the new version, and the next review will check against the latest one.
The same is true of anything else you load as a reference — nothing on the References tab updates itself.
What references cost
Loading a consultant model does not add to the review time. Pirros is pulling the sheets and data out of the model so they are available as context — it is not running a review on the consultant's model.
What to load, realistically
If you load nothing else, load the specification and whatever you have of the other disciplines. Those two cover the majority of cases where a review needs to look beyond the architectural set to know whether something is a real problem.
A worked example: the drawings show tile on an exterior wall. The review checks the specification and finds that the tile section covers interior installation only, with nothing about exterior application. Nobody has told the contractor how to install tile on the outside of the building. It cannot find that without the spec loaded.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do consultant models update automatically when the consultant issues a new one?
A: No. Model references must be imported into the project's references again each time. Nothing on the References tab updates itself.
Q: What happens when the specification is revised?
A: Upload the new version. The next review checks against the latest one you have loaded. Specs are not live-linked.
Q: Our spec is split across dozens of files. Do I have to combine them first?
A: No. Multiple specification files append into a single specification, so upload them as they are.
Q: Does loading consultant models cost us extra?
A: Loading a model costs extraction — pulling the sheets and data out so they are available as context. Pirros is not running a review on the consultant's model.
Q: We don't have the consultants' Revit models, only their PDFs. Is that good enough?
A: Yes, and it is a common situation. Load them as drawing set references. The models are better because the review can read geometry and data directly, but a PDF set is far better than nothing.
Q: Do we have to load references at all?
A: It is recommended, but not necessary. It will make the review better the more reference documentation that you add. A review runs without them. It just has less to work with when the drawings are ambiguous, and some findings are simply not reachable — a spec mismatch cannot be found if the spec was never loaded.