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Ostacolo — How to Use

May 7, 2026

Ostacolo is a Revit add-in that detects, manages, and tracks geometric clashes directly inside your project model. It replaces external clash-detection workflows (e.g., Navisworks round-trips) with a process that lives entirely within Revit and persists clash data in your model's Extensible Storage.

The Four Buttons at a Glance

Button Label What it does
Find Clashes Find Clashes Runs a clash-detection engine against one or more protocols and writes results into the model
View Clashes View Clashes Opens the clash dashboard — browse, filter, navigate, and change clash status
Review Clashes Review Clashes Cross-building / global review — compare clashes across multiple linked models
JSON Manager JSON Manager Non-destructive sync between Extensible Storage data and external JSON files
File Config (slide-out) File Config Set up the current project's name, building identifier, and storage paths

Before You Start — First-Time Setup

Every project needs to be configured once before running a detection.

  1. Open your Revit project.
  2. Click File Config (the slide-out button at the bottom of the Ostacolo panel).
  3. Enter or select a Project name that groups all buildings on the same scheme.
  4. Enter the Building name — this defaults to the Revit document title and should uniquely identify this model within the project.
  5. Confirm the JSON storage path if prompted.
  6. Click Save / OK.

This step maps the model to a project/building pair so that clashes from different linked models can be compared in the reviewer.

Core Workflow

1. File Config  →  2. Find Clashes  →  3. View Clashes  →  4. Review Clashes  →  5. JSON Manager (optional)

Step-by-Step Scenarios

Scenario 1 — New Project, First Clash Run

Context: A structural and MEP coordination model just arrived. You need to baseline all clashes before the first coordination meeting.

  1. Open the combined Revit model (or the host model with links).
  2. Click File Config → set Project = Tower A, Building = Structural + MEP Host.
  3. Click Find Clashes.
  4. In the setup form, select the Structural vs MEP protocol.
  5. Choose scope: active model only or include linked models.
  6. Click Run. Ostacolo runs the engine, deduplicates results, and stores clashes in Extensible Storage.
  7. When complete, click View Clashes to open the dashboard.
  8. Review the list — every clash starts with status Open.
  9. Export to JSON via JSON Manager → Update JSON from Model to create a shareable baseline file.

Scenario 2 — Weekly Coordination Update

Context: The structural team delivered an updated model. You need to re-run detection, see what is new, and carry forward the statuses you have already set.

  1. Reload or reopen the updated Revit model.
  2. Click Find Clashes → same protocol as last week → Run.
  3. The engine compares by element-ID pairs — clashes that already exist in storage keep their previous status (Open, In Progress, Closed, Ignored). New clashes are added as Open.
  4. Open View Clashes. Use the status filter to focus on Open and In Progress items.
  5. Navigate to each clash (the camera icon flies you to the intersection point in Revit).
  6. Assign a responsible discipline, change status to In Progress, and add a description note.
  7. Run JSON Manager → Update JSON from Model to push the updated statuses to the project JSON file for sharing.

Scenario 3 — Clash Review Across Buildings

Context: The project has three buildings modelled in three separate Revit files. You want one global view of all open clashes across the project.

  1. In each building model, run Find Clashes and ensure File Config is set to the same Project name (e.g., Mixed-Use Block 4) with different Building names.
  2. Open the host or any model that has all three as links.
  3. Click Review Clashes.
  4. The reviewer aggregates clash records across all buildings in the project.
  5. Filter by building, status, workflow, or date.
  6. Resolve or escalate clashes directly from the reviewer — status changes are written back to each model's Extensible Storage on the next sync.

Scenario 4 — Offline Status Update and Reimport

Context: A site coordinator updated clash statuses in the project JSON file while working without Revit access. You need to pull those changes back into the model.

  1. Receive the updated JSON file from the coordinator.
  2. Place it in the configured project storage path.
  3. Open the Revit model.
  4. Click JSON Manager → Update Model from JSON.
  5. Ostacolo reads the JSON and updates only the status fields of existing clashes — it does not delete or recreate clash geometry.
  6. Open View Clashes to confirm the statuses are correct.
  7. Sync to other team members via Worksharing or by sharing the updated JSON.

Scenario 5 — Closing Out Clashes Before Handover

Context: Construction is approaching. You want to confirm all clashes are either Closed or formally Ignored before issuing.

  1. Open View Clashes.
  2. Filter by status Open and In Progress.
  3. For each remaining clash:
    • If resolved: change status to Closed, add resolution note.
    • If a known accepted condition: change to Ignored with a justification note.
  4. When the list shows zero Open and In-Progress items, run JSON Manager → Update JSON from Model to produce the final record.
  5. Archive the JSON file as part of the project handover package.

Clash Statuses Explained

Status Meaning
Open Newly detected. Needs review.
In Progress Assigned and actively being resolved by a discipline.
Closed The conflict has been resolved in the model.
Ignored Accepted condition or false positive — will not be pursued.

Detection Protocols Explained

Protocol Group A Group B
Structural vs MEP Framing, Columns, Foundations Pipes, Ducts, Conduit, Cable Tray, MEP Equipment
Architecture RC vs Structural & MEP Roofs, Floors, Ceilings Structural + MEP (full set)
Architecture WD vs Structural & MEP Windows, Doors Structural + MEP (full set)
MEP Internal Pipes, Ducts, Conduit, Cable Tray Same (self-clash within MEP)

Each protocol supports two detection modes:

  • Hard Clash — elements physically intersect (overlapping solids).
  • Clearance — elements are within a defined minimum distance (in mm) without touching.

Tips and Good Practices

  • Always run File Config on first use in a new model — detection results will not be stored if the project/building mapping is missing.
  • Keep Project names consistent across all building models on the same scheme so the cross-building reviewer can aggregate them.
  • Run Update JSON from Model after every detection session to keep the JSON record current.
  • Close Revit on the target machine before running deploylocal.bat — Revit locks the DLL files while open.
  • The Clash Sphere family (the visual marker placed at each intersection) is loaded automatically on first run. It does not need to be pre-loaded in your template.
    • Unordered lists, and:
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Or inline code like var foo = 'bar';.

Or an image of bears

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