(Sub)components

A stud wall is made of components – studs, board, nails and so on. How would Revit change if it could easily model all the components?

You wouldn’t want to lose the simplicity of placing a wall. You’d just need to be able to define the way the wall generated its studs and board, both in the field and at junctions and openings. You might need a calculation- or code-based solver for stud sizing and spacing. For a full bill-of-materials, you’d need rules for itemising nails and fixings. You might even have manufacturer-specific plug-ins for proprietary framing systems and fabrication machines. And all parametric, so that the components flex with the wall.

None of this needs to impact on the simplicity of placing a wall. It just allows us to move closer to a fully-designed BIM.

Some designers won’t need so much detail, but those who need to check that the power sockets don’t clash with the studs, and those who are designing for manufacture/prefabrication, could really make use of sub-components.

And just to be clear, I’m not really asking for a stud framing solution within Revit, because there are third-party solutions for stud framing. I’m just using stud walls as an illustration of the need for a general-purpose sub-component solution.