Revit Cloud Worksharing: 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 Collaborate Pro license
     
  2. Collaborate Add-in (included with install)
     
  3. Invitation to ACC project
     
  4. Permission to folder

You might compare these fundamental requirements to the legs that support a table as illustrated below.  When one leg missing, access to ACC/BIM 360 from Revit, represented by the tabletop, 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 ACC/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).

If a user cannot access cloud projects in Revit, start by verifying that you can answer "Yes" to each of the following:

Does the user have a BIM Collaborate Pro license assigned?

This license is assigned by a Primary or Secondary Admin in the Autodesk Account (manage.autodesk.com) or can be assigned by an Account Admin on the ACC platform (acc.autodesk.com) under Account Admin > Members.

See the steps here for a user to check whether or not they have a BIM Collaborate Pro license assigned to them.

Does the user have the Collaborate add-in installed?
The Collaborate add-in is included with the standard installation of Revit.  In some cases, the add-in does not install correctly or becomes corrupt.   There are a couple of ways to determine if the add-in is installed:

  • The Collaborate button is missing from the Revit ribbon (Under the Collaborate tab)
  • The following files and folder do not appear under directory C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Revit\Addins\[Version]:
    • Autodesk.Collaborate.addin (file)
    • ExportViewSelectorApp.addin (file)
    • ExportViewSelectorAddin (folder)

If the Collaborate add-in is missing or not functioning, try the following steps:

Has the user received a BIM 360/ACC project email invitation?

Accept invitation button

​​​​​​​Are the user's permissions to the BIM 360/ACC project folder(s) for Revit files set to a minimum of 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/ACC projects in Revit (i.e. anti-virus/firewall settings; incorrect workflow; 3rd-party add-ins), 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 cloud projects in Revit.

About the Author

Jeremy Smith

Sr. Technical Support Specialist, AEC<br><br>Jeremy has been delivering service and technical support to customers in the AEC industry for over 25 years. He gained much of his AutoCAD/Revit experience serving as CAD Manager at multiple MEP/FP engineering firms in the Greater Boston Area. He then worked at Autodesk as a Technical Support Specialist, eventually becoming a manager overseeing the Revit and Vault support teams. Jeremy is excited to be in his current role as Sr. Technical Support Specialist at IMAGINiT, as it allows him the opportunity to work directly with customers every day and help them successfully leverage Autodesk’s solutions to achieve their business goals.

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