Piping system software toolbox is a gift that keeps giving, from design to operation and maintenance.
Ralph Schoch is part of the virtual design and construction (VDC) team at Victaulic and he was at Autodesk University 2022, held last September in New Orleans, to show what is perhaps his company’s least-known product.
Victaulic, based in Easton, Pa., is known primarily for its hardware used in piping systems—fittings like valves, clamps, elbows and fire sprinkler systems—which are themselves complete, intricate piping systems. But the company has also developed software that helps architects and engineers design piping systems for buildings, as well as account for all the parts in the systems after they have been built and are in use.
The company has offered its Victaulic Tools for Revit for several years. The collection of tools is an add-on to Autodesk Revit and the tools appear in a drop-down menu in the Revit user interface.
Schoch scrolled through the many tools in the toolbox. There are many. So many, in fact, that Schoch has lost count. Is it possible that Victaulic offers more tools per dollar than any other Revit toolbox?
Victaulic Tools for Revit is a steal at $200. Victaulic, being in the business of hardware, doesn’t need to charge a lot for its software. The little you spend will be paid back quickly in the time you save. Just one or two tools could be worth the price of admission. Here is a Riser tool that will read your bill of materials (BOM) file, accept a few additional parameters, and fashion a riser instantly in 3D. Manually modeling the riser in 3D, even for a veteran Revit user employing standard part libraries, may take only a little bit longer for each riser, but a little savings can add up with complicated piping systems in big commercial buildings.
Victaulic Tools for Revit includes an extensive and detailed library of Victaulic piping products as you might expect, but Tools for Revit is useful for Revit MEP users, even those who don’t specify Victaulic hardware.
“It’s one of the most popular Revit toolboxes there is,” says Schoch proudly.
A pipe spool is a prefabricated length of pipe with fittings in place. To create spools from pipe systems in Revit—and to keep track of them in the field—is the job of Victaulic’s recently introduced SpoolTracker App. The app can help resolve errors in spool creation (like missing sections) and can also create views and BOMs of all a spool’s parts. It also creates a QR code. Why? So you can print it and fix it physically to the spool itself. Now, those who have to inventory, maintain or repair the piping system can scan the QR code and know all about it, such as its part numbers and its place in the Revit model. This will aid those who own or have to maintain a building with inventory control and repair.
