Best Practices for Design Options

When implementing design options, consider the following strategies:

To prepare the main model for design options

In the main model create as much of the model as possible before adding any design options. Include elements that will be common to all design options. Use design options for only those parts of the model that will vary.

To create a design option

1. Create a design option set. See Creating Design Option Sets.
2. Add the design option. See Adding Design Options.
3. Add elements to the design option. See Editing a Design Option.

To facilitate cleanup

If main model elements need to clean up connections with secondary design option elements, move those elements from the main model to one or more design options in the set. You cannot join the geometry of elements that are part of a secondary option with elements that are part of the main model. For example, if walls in the main model need to attach to a roof in Roof Option 2, move the walls from the main model into Roof Option 2.

See Design Options and Wall Joins, Referencing Elements in Design Options, and Moving Elements from the Main Model to a Design Option....

To see and compare design options

Do either of the following:

• Change the design option settings for a view. See Checking the Design Option Settings for a View.
• For each design option that you want to compare, dedicate a view to the option. You can place these views on sheets for side-by-side comparisons or to show the design options to clients. See Dedicating Views to Design Options and Viewing Multiple Design Options.

To detail or annotate a design option

Dedicate a view to the option. Then add details or annotations to the view. Details and annotations are view-specific; they belong to a view, not to a design option. See Annotating and Detailing Design Options.

To create schedules for design options

Create the desired schedule, duplicate it, and dedicate one schedule to each design option. Each schedule lists elements from the main model and elements from the specified design option. You create schedules that are dedicated to design options in the same way that you create dedicated views. See Dedicating Views to Design Options.

To incorporate a design option

After a design option is selected for implementation, incorporate it into the main model and delete all other options using the Accept Primary function. See Incorporating a Design Option into the Main Model.