Navisworks clash detection with AI: from clash test to report

Where the time goes in a clash round

The clash engine itself is fast. What takes the day is everything around it: choosing what to test against what, running the tests again after every model update, grouping a few hundred results into something a meeting can discuss, assigning them, capturing views and writing the report.

That is the part an assistant can take over, because each of those steps is a precise, repeatable action in Clash Detective.

Step 1: federate the models

Ask the assistant which models are appended and what each one contributes, append the latest NWC or RVT exports, or refresh the files that changed. It works on the federation you have open, so nobody has to click through the Selection Tree to see what is there.

Step 2: build search sets for each discipline

A clash test is only as good as its two sides. The assistant creates search sets, stored queries such as “every duct” or “all structural framing”, which are evaluated again each time they are used, so your tests keep working after the next export.

It reads the property names on your actual model first. A Revit export and an IFC file do not name things the same way, and a set built on a guessed property finds nothing.

Step 3: create and run the clash tests

A test is two sides, a type and a tolerance. Ask for “ducts against structure, hard, 25 mm tolerance” and the assistant creates the test in Clash Detective, sets both sides from your search sets and runs it, or runs every test in the file at once.

• Hard, conservative hard, clearance and duplicate tests, with the tolerance you set.
• Not sure a clearance test is worth it? It can first measure the smallest gap between two sets, without creating a test.

Step 4: group and triage the results

Grouping turns a few hundred loose clashes into a list a meeting can work through. The assistant first lists what the results can actually be grouped by on your model, with how many groups each option would give, then shows a preview before it writes anything.

• Groups by any property of the clashing elements, such as Element > Family, or by layer.
• Statuses New, Active, Reviewed, Approved and Resolved, with assignee, approver and comments, as in Clash Detective.
• Results that are already signed off are left alone unless you ask otherwise.

“Mark everything in the ductwork group as Active and assign it to the MEP lead.”

Step 5: check, capture and report

To check whether a clash is real or an artefact, the assistant renders an image of the two clashing items in context, and saves viewpoints for the ones that matter.

The report is a single HTML file with the clash images embedded, or CSV and JSON for your own tools, grouped by the pair of models that clash, by status or by assignee. It opens anywhere and needs nothing installed.

What stays with you

The assistant does the clicks; the engineering decisions stay with you. Which clashes matter, who fixes what and when a result is approved are your calls.

It works in the Navisworks file, with its tests, sets, statuses, comments and viewpoints. Your Revit, IFC and DWG source models are not touched.

Inside Navisworks or from your own AI

Use Pilot Chat, docked inside Navisworks Manage and Simulate, or connect Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Google Antigravity over MCP in one click. Everything runs locally on your machine.

Navisworks MCP and AI · Pilot AI for Navisworks · Instant Clash for Revit

Requests to try

• “Append the latest MEP export and refresh the structural model.”
• “Create search sets for ducts, pipes and structural framing.”
• “Run a hard test of ducts against structure with a 25 mm tolerance.”
• “Group the results by family and show me the five largest groups.”
• “Export an HTML report grouped by model pair, with images.”

Frequently asked questions

Can AI run clash detection in Navisworks?

Yes. With AEC Pilot an AI assistant creates and runs tests in the real Clash Detective, groups and triages the results, captures views and images and writes the report. You review and decide; it does the clicks.

Does it work in Navisworks Simulate?

Clash Detective is part of Navisworks Manage, so clash tests need Manage. Sets, viewpoints, TimeLiner and the federation work in Simulate as well.

Which Navisworks versions are supported?

Navisworks Manage and Simulate 2023–2027.

Will it change my Revit or IFC models?

No. It works in the Navisworks file: tests, sets, statuses, comments and viewpoints. Your source models are not touched.

Does my model leave my computer?

No. Everything runs on your machine and the MCP server listens on localhost only. Your models are never uploaded.

Do I need a separate licence for Navisworks?

No. One AEC Pilot licence covers Navisworks and the seven other applications on the same machine, free for 14 days.