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Plumbing & HVAC

Route your duct through exactly the right opening, before you cut.

A ventilation duct that fits between two joists on the working drawing sometimes turns out on site to catch the wrong joist after all. Field-Viewer shows your duct and pipe runs alongside the current timber frame structure, so the opening is in the right place before the saw comes into it.

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The Field-Viewer screen in split view, with floor V-02 from Maes Renovation. At the bottom the layers panel: timber frame, HVAC and plumbing are on, wiring is off. On the left the 3D model of the joist layer, three joists of 45 by 400 millimetres at 600 centres, with that dimension on a dimension line next to the joist ends; the ventilation duct of 125 millimetres runs straight across it, visible each time between two joists and disappearing where it passes through a joist. On the right the same joist in section, viewed along the duct: the timber hatched, with a dotted sleeve of 160 millimetres at half the joist height and the duct of 125 inside it, the joist height 400 on a dimension line beside it. At the top the version chip V7, at the bottom the buttons measure, layers (active) and report.MAES RENOVATION · FLOOR V-02V73D MODELSECTION600DUCT Ø 125SLEEVE Ø 160400TIMBER FRAMEHVACPLUMBINGWIRINGMEASURELAYERSREPORT

An opening that sits one joist further along

A 125 mm ventilation duct needs to pass between two joists, but the opening on the working drawing sits one joist further along than where the joist layer now actually runs, after a last change to the span. Cut on the basis of the old drawing and you cut a hole in a joist that was never meant to carry it.

In Field-Viewer you see the current joist layer and the duct run in the same model. If the opening no longer lines up, you see it on screen before the saw even comes into it.

Fall and height, read straight off

A waste pipe needs a fall, and that fall has to run somewhere between two storeys without touching a joist. On a section drawing you work that out with a calculator, in the model you simply read it off.

The same goes for the height of a duct under a suspended ceiling: if you are not sure whether there is still 40 mm of clearance left, you measure it yourself, without having to phone the draughtsman.

The Field-Viewer screen with a section along a corridor: below the floor slab runs a waste pipe PVC Ø 110 with a fall of 1.5 per cent, above a suspended ceiling. Between the underside of the pipe and the top of the ceiling are two tapped points with the measured clear height 40 millimetres between them.MAES RENOVATION · FLOOR V-02V7HVACPVC Ø 110FALL 1.5%40MEASURELAYERSREPORT

Your own layer per discipline

A fully coordinated model with electrics, plumbing, HVAC and structure all in view at once is mostly confusing for an installer on site. Field-Viewer lets you choose exactly what you need: your own duct run plus the structure around it.

If you do want to see where the electrical cables run, for example to check a crossing, you switch that layer on for a moment. The rest of the model stays quietly in the background.

See how electricians filter those same layers

Risers and shafts, what you check

Three spots where things often go wrong without a model, and where you now simply take a look yourself.

Ventilation ducts

Diameter, fall and the clear height under a joist sit right alongside the run itself, so you already know before installation whether a suspended ceiling still leaves enough room.

Plumbing pipes

A waste pipe and a supply pipe crossing each other in the same shaft, you see in 3D instead of guessing from two separate section drawings.

Shafts and risers

The clear opening in a shaft is often tighter than it looks on paper once three disciplines come together. The model shows the actual space, including whatever is already fixed.

See how that connects to the workshop

Frequently asked questions about plumbing & HVAC

Can I see only my own ducts and pipes, not the full coordinated model?

Yes. Switch on only your own layer and the structure, the rest of the model stays off until you need it yourself.

Do I read the fall of a waste pipe straight off the model?

Yes, if the fall has been built into the model, you measure it yourself, without having to look up a separate section drawing.

Does this also work with an IFC model from a different HVAC package?

Yes, Field-Viewer works as a full IFC viewer, so you open a duct model from a package other than Vertex BD the same way.

Related trades

Field-Viewer turns around the same model, but every trade looks at it differently. Curious what that looks like in a neighbouring trade?

Mostly working in the hall, at the bench? See In the workshop.

See it on your own project

Request a demo with your own project, no obligation. We will look together at whether Field-Viewer suits your team in Flanders, in your workshop or on your site.

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