How Good Are Engineers at Using Revit MEP?

With the global adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) well underway, it is a huge challenge for Engineering businesses to manage the change in their project delivery processes from more conventional drawing production environments, to that of virtual design, clash detection and 'intelligent' modelling.

Looking at the global AEC picture, it is clear that the commercial software application adopted by a wide majority of the world's MEP Engineering firms, as their modelling tool of choice, is Autodesk's Revit MEP platform.

In recent years, KnowledgeSmart's online skills assessment software platform has captured test scores from thousands of Engineers, representing hundreds of firms, spread across six continents and a couple of dozen countries.

We have analysed the results data generated from these live assessments, at a basic skills level, and noted the following trends. For this particular study, the majority of our data is generated in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia (in that order).

A simple key to interpret the data below:

MEP Eng = Job Title

RMEP = Revit MEP

1 to 5 = 1 to 5 years' experience using the tool

6 to 10 = 6 to 10 years' experience using the tool

Regular = use the tool daily (or almost daily)

Occasional = use the tool weekly (or less than weekly)

Self taught = learned to use the tool primarily 'on the job'

Formal = learned to the tool primarily via formal classroom or online training

All = overall KS benchmark data

AUS = Australia

CAN = Canada

UK = UK

USA = USA

Here is a summary of the results presented by different types of Engineers.

Overall

RMEP Fundamentals score overall: 66.3% in 4084 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/self taught/All = 58.6% in 4771 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/formal/All = 57.7% in 4626 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/self taught/All = 67.1% in 4188 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/formal/All = 66.4% in 4111 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/self taught/All = 53.3% in 5146 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/formal/All = 52.8% in 5025 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/self taught/All = 61.3% in 4644 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/formal/All = 60.4% in 4561 s

Australia

RMEP Fundamentals score Australia: 66.7% in 4079 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/self taught/AUS = 57.8% in 4971 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/formal/AUS = 57.0% in 4786 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/self taught/AUS = 66.8% in 4006 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/formal/AUS = 65.9% in 3768 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/self taught/AUS = 53.7% in 5116 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/formal/AUS = 52.6% in 4910 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/self taught/AUS = 59.8% in 4557 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/formal/AUS = 58.7% in 4388 s

Canada

RMEP Fundamentals score Canada: 68.1% in 4391 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/self taught/CAN = 60.5% in 4835 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/formal/CAN = 58.8% in 4754 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/self taught/CAN = 68.6% in 4272 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/formal/CAN = 67.3% in 4113 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/self taught/CAN = 55.3% in 5002 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/formal/CAN = 54.2% in 4849 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/self taught/CAN = 62.2% in 4458 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/formal/CAN = 61.4% in 4367 s

UK

RMEP Fundamentals score UK: 69.4% in 3705 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/self taught/UK = 61.2% in 4216 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/formal/UK = 60.6% in 4011 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/self taught/UK = 69.5% in 3665 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/formal/UK = 68.5% in 3487 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/self taught/UK = 56.2% in 4558 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/formal/UK = 54.3% in 4543 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/self taught/UK = 62.4% in 4313 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/formal/UK = 61.6% in 4282 s

USA

RMEP Fundamentals score USA: 67.3% in 4046 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/self taught/US = 59.6% in 4632 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/regular/formal/US = 57.8% in 4411 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/self taught/US = 67.6% in 3933 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/regular/formal/US = 66.7% in 3731 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/self taught/US = 55.1% in 4806 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/1 to 5/occasional/formal/US = 53.2% in 4723 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/self taught/US = 60.8% in 4543 s

MEP Eng/RMEP/6 to 10/occasional/formal/US = 59.7% in 4368 s

Observations

All four territories in this study are mature markets, in terms of Revit adoption. 

Each country has an established Autodesk Training Centre market, offering high quality learning and development opportunities and consultancy. 

Each country has a pool of further education colleges, community colleges and universities, many of whom teach technical software skills as part of courses in the built environment. 

Each country is well supported by professional bodies and information-rich conference series', such as BIM Forum, RTC, AU, BIM Day Out and BIM Show Live.

Overall, regular users are more accurate and faster than part-time users.

Engineers with 6 to 10 years' of experience with these tools are the most efficient. They reach a plateau in performance after c. 7 years and make no further productivity gains.

Engineers who learn to apply these tools on projects are more accurate than those who have primarily formal training, but less practical experience. Formally trained users are faster overall than self-taught users.

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Global Test Scores Posted by Structural Engineers

Structural Engineers from across the world have submitted a wide variety of KS test scores, in recent years. Let’s take a more detailed look at the people behind the headline stats.

We capture some interesting user demographic data at the start of each test session. This includes the following questions:

- Primary Industry/Discipline
- Primary Role
- Country & State
- Self rating
- How many years have you used this tool?
- Where did you learn to use this tool?
- How often do you use this tool? (Daily, weekly, occasional)
- How did you learn to use this tool? (On the job, Formal training, College)

The top 2 tests completed by Structural Engineers are, in order (by volume):

Revit Structure
AutoCAD

The results data comes from a wide range of countries and territories, primarily, US, Canada, UK, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, HK and Middle East regions.

Here are the overall results:

Revit Structure

Avg score/time for:

Regular users = 71.1% in 4201 secs

Part-time users = 67.2% in 3871 secs

1 to 5 years = 66.7% in 4110 secs

6 to 10 years = 69.9% in 3489 secs

11 to 15 years = 67.1% in 3892 secs

On the job learning = 69.1% in 4287 secs

Formal learning = 64.3% in 3956 secs

The average Revit Structure self-rating score for Structural Engineers is: 3.7.

AutoCAD

Avg score/time for:

Regular users = 56.7% in 4756 secs

Part-time users = 54.9% in 5064 secs

1 to 5 years = 51.3% in 4536 secs

6 to 10 years = 56.3% in 4201 secs

11 to 15 years = 56.7% in 5337 secs

On the job learning = 54.8% in 4466 secs

Formal learning = 52.1% in 4215 secs

The average AutoCAD self-rating score for Structural Engineers is: 3.3.

Trends:

Overall, regular users are more accurate and faster than part-time users.

Structural Engineers with 6 to 10 years' of experience with these tools are the most efficient. They reach a plateau in performance after c. 7 years and make no further productivity gains.

Structural Engineers who learn to apply these tools on projects are more accurate than those who have primarily formal training, but less practical experience. Formally trained users are faster overall than self-taught users.

Structural Engineers are generally confident in their ability to use technical software tools on Construction projects, although overall, there is still room for further improvement in their core skills.

Structural Engineers are more confident and more accurate using modeling software than drafting software.

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Global Test Scores Posted by MEP Engineers

MEP Engineers from across the world have submitted a wide variety of KS test scores, in recent years. Let’s take a more detailed look at the people behind the headline stats.

We capture some interesting user demographic data at the start of each test session. This includes the following questions:

- Primary Industry/Discipline
- Primary Role
- Country & State
- Self rating
- How many years have you used this tool?
- Where did you learn to use this tool?
- How often do you use this tool? (Daily, weekly, occasional)
- How did you learn to use this tool? (On the job, Formal training, College)

The top 2 tests completed by MEP Engineers are, in order (by volume):

Revit MEP
AutoCAD

The results data comes from a wide range of countries and territories, primarily, US, Canada, UK, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, HK and Middle East regions.

Here are the overall results:

Revit MEP

Avg score/time for:

Regular users = 68.5% in 3110 secs

Part-time users = 65.7% in 3871 secs

1 to 5 years' experience (all types) = 56.6% in 3901 secs

6 to 10 years' experience (all types) = 68.7% in 3401 secs

On the job learning (all types) = 70.2% in 3781 secs

Formal learning (all types) = 64.8% in 3911 secs

The average Revit MEP self-rating score for MEP Engineers is: 3.8.

AutoCAD

Avg score/time for:

Regular users = 59.8% in 5356 secs

Part-time users = 54.9% in 4864 secs

1 to 5 years' experience (all types) = 52.7% in 5752 secs

6 to 10 years' experience (all types) = 57.5% in 5240 secs

11 to 15 years' experience (all types) = 54.7% in 5449 secs

On the job learning (all types) = 57.8% in 4516 secs

Formal learning (all types) = 55.1% in 4344 secs

The average AutoCAD self-rating score for MEP Engineers is: 3.4.

Trends:

Overall, regular users are more accurate and faster than part-time users.

MEP Engineers with 6 to 10 years' of experience with these tools are the most efficient. They reach a plateau in performance after c. 7 years and make no further productivity gains.

MEP Engineers who learn to apply these tools on projects are more accurate than those who have primarily formal training, but less practical experience. Formally trained users are faster overall than self-taught users.

MEP Engineers are generally confident in their ability to use technical software tools on Construction projects, although overall, there is still room for further improvement in their core skills.

MEP Engineers are more confident and more accurate using modeling software than drafting software.

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