BIM 360 - Keys to Getting a "Seat at the Table"

One of the more common issues that our AEC customers encounter is a user being unable to access BIM 360 project files in Revit.  While there are a number of potential causes for this behavior, we have found that most of these cases are a result of the user missing at least one of the following four (4) key requirements:

1. A BIM 360 Design license
   
   
2. Revit Update/Hotfix
   
   
3. An accepted BIM 360 project invitation
   
   
4. Permission to folder

You might compare these fundamental requirements to the legs that support a table as illustrated below.  When one of these legs is missing, access to BIM 360 from Revit, represented by the table top, isn't supported and will fail.  Of course, the table itself needs a supporting surface such as a floor.  In this analogy the floor represents Autodesk's Cloud Services.  If there is a service outage, most, if not all customers will be unable to access BIM 360.

Since the purpose of this article is to help customers do some initial troubleshooting by checking that each of the four "legs" are in place, let's assume that Autodesk's Cloud Services are "Fully Functional".  (Service status can be checked at health.autodesk.com).

 

So if you or another person at your company cannot access BIM 360 projects in Revit, start by making sure you can answer "Yes" to these fundamental questions:

1. Does the user have a BIM 360 Design License assigned?
   • This license is assigned by an Admin or Software Coordinator in the Autodesk Account (manage.autodesk.com).
   • See the steps here for a user to check his/her entitlement.
     
     
2. Does the user have the latest Revit update/hotfix installed?
   • Autodesk released Security Hotfixes for several versions of Revit.  These updates are critical for Revit to connect to BIM 360 Cloud Worksharing.
   • It is always best practice to install all available updates for the version of Revit being used.  You can see available updates by version here:  https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/downloads
     
     
3. Has the user received and accepted the BIM 360 project email invitation by clicking on the "Go to your project" link?
   • Note:  clicking on this link changes a user's project membership from "pending" to "active"
     
     
     
4. Are the user's permissions to the BIM 360 project folder(s) containing Revit files set to a minimum of View + Upload + Download + Edit?
   • User permissions are assigned in the Document Management module by a Project Admin.  If they are not set to the level noted above, the user will not be able to initiate a cloud workshared model to the folder or open/sync a cloud workshared model.
   • See:  Folder Permissions

As stated at the outset, there are several other possible causes that could prevent a user from accessing BIM 360 projects in Revit (i.e. anti-virus/firewall settings; incorrect workflow), but you may find in most cases that once you ensure these four critical "legs" are in place, your team members will have a "seat at the table" and successfully access BIM 360 projects in Revit.