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Clash matrix and clash history for Navisworks

Set up the clash tests in Excel. Track them there too.

Save the clash matrix from your selection set folders, fill in the tolerances, and load it back as clash tests. Then append each Standard, Assigned To or Detailed export to a history workbook so trends, burndown, and resolved-per-week come out of Excel or Power BI.

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Version 3.0.0, Navisworks Manage 2021 to 2027 Autodesk App Store
Excel ยท Clash matrix workbook
Clash matrix workbook in Excel with level and workset headers, tolerances filled in for a few pairs and the clash test help open on a cell

Clash matrix

From selection set folders to clash tests, through one workbook.

Save Matrix and Load Matrix are two ribbon buttons in the Clash Manager panel. The Excel file in between is the coordination plan: who is tested against whom, at what tolerance. Both buttons handle nested folders, and Load Matrix previews the load and updates existing tests in place.

  1. 01

    Save Matrix

    Pick a selection set folder: its sets go on both axes of an Excel matrix, with an Instructions sheet that explains the cell format. Up to two levels of sub-folders under the chosen folder become grouped headers in the matrix, so a Level > Discipline > System tree reads the way it is organised. The pairs can be limited to sets in the same group, so L01 structure is only paired with L01 services, each cell has a drop-down of common presets, a legend sits below the grid, and the Instructions sheet names the unit.

  2. 02

    Fill it in

    Each cell holds a tolerance and a type, for example 10_H or 50_C: Hard, Hard Conservative, Clearance or Duplicate, with optional flags to self-intersect either set or merge composite objects. Leave the pairs you do not want tested empty. The workbook is plain Excel, so it can be reviewed and signed off by the coordination lead before anything reaches the model.

  3. 03

    Load Matrix

    Load Matrix creates one clash test per filled cell. A set that was renamed or moved after saving is still found through its hidden id. A preview states how many tests will be created, updated, or skipped before the document is touched. Edit the tolerances and load the workbook again: existing tests are updated in place and keep their results and statuses. Tests are named from the set paths (L01/STR vs L01/MEP, or L01: STR vs MEP), a bad value is reported with its exact cell, and the load can be cancelled part way.

On Navisworks 2027, Load Matrix creates a clash test folder per level. Tests placed in folders are listed in the Clash Manager pane with a Folder column and in the Clash Results test drop-down as Folder/Test, and batch update, rename, and every report include them. The demo files include a pre-filled demo matrix for the demo model, with hard tests between structure, architecture and services and a clearance test between electrical and water systems, to try the round trip before a project model.

Matrix report

The clash count, set by set.

The Matrix report in Clash Manager puts the checked tests on a selection-set-by-selection-set grid, the same layout the matrix was planned in. It is the sheet to bring to the coordination meeting.

  • One sheet for the total and one per status, optionally one per assignee
  • Group subtotals and a colour scale across the grid
  • A hover comment on each cell lists the tests behind the number
  • Tests whose sides are not saved sets are matched by name. Those that still cannot be placed are listed on an Other tests sheet with the reason.

Clash history

Standard, Assigned To and Detailed exports can append a dated snapshot.

Each Standard, Assigned To or Detailed export can append a dated snapshot to a history workbook beside the model. History_Summary holds the counts per test and status, and the Detailed report can add one row per clash to History_Clashes. When the workbook already holds an earlier snapshot, the Summary sheet gains delta columns. The Detailed sheet shows how each clash's status changed since the last snapshot, for example Active to Approved. The Delta sheet lists every clash resolved since then.

Where it lives
beside the model, or any workbook you pick
Fed by
Standard, Assigned To and Detailed exports
At each export
Append a dated snapshot, or Skip
History_Summary
counts per test and status, every export
History_Clashes
one row per clash, Detailed with clash rows on
Since column, Detailed
New, Persisting, Persisting (moved), Reappeared, Resolved
Status Change, Detailed
per clash, for example Active to Approved
Delta sheet, Detailed
resolved clashes, counts by test, level, assignee
Baseline guard
warns before mixing model, unit or group setting
Reads it natively
Excel pivots, Power BI

The default workbook is named after the model and saved beside it. The workbook records the model, display unit and group-count setting it was made with, and warns before a later export would mix them. A renamed test keeps its history.

Watch it run

Save Matrix and Load Matrix, inside Navisworks.

The Clash Matrix tutorial shows the Save Matrix and Load Matrix round trip. The nested folders, the preview, the Matrix report and the history workbook are described on this page until the video is updated.

Questions

What coordinators ask about the matrix and the history.

Does the history workbook change my clash tests?
No. The history workbook is a separate Excel file; the report is still written as its own workbook. Each Standard, Assigned To or Detailed export reads the current clash results and offers Append, which adds a dated snapshot to the history workbook, or Skip. Nothing is written back to the Navisworks document.
What happens to the history when a test is compacted, rebuilt or renamed?
Clashes are recognised across compacted, re-run or renamed tests, and across files, so a clash that survives a rebuild is still Persisting, not New. If a clash disappears and later returns it is marked Reappeared.
How large does the history workbook get?
Every export adds its counts per test and status to History_Summary. Only a Detailed export with Append the clash rows too ticked adds one row per clash to History_Clashes. For long projects, turn on the yearly workbook option and the plugin starts a new file per year while keeping the same layout.
How do I get the history into Power BI?
Connect Power BI to the workbook and pick History_Summary, plus History_Clashes if you store clash rows. They are ordinary Excel tables with a snapshot date column, so a trend or burndown chart can be built on them directly. Excel pivots work the same way.
Which Navisworks versions and editions are supported?
The clash matrix, the Matrix report and the history workbook work in Navisworks Manage 2021 to 2027, from version 3.0.0. Clash test folders need Navisworks 2027. The plugin also installs on Navisworks Simulate, but the clash tools need Manage because Simulate has no Clash Detective.

Looking for the grouping side of the workflow? See clash grouping by level, grid, or property.

Try it on your next coordination run.

30 days, unrestricted. Download it from the Autodesk App Store and run the installer; no administrator rights needed.

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