topic Re: Collision Detection Fails Silently On Federated Model Using RVT And IFC Hotlinks in Collaboration with other software

Collision Detection Fails Silently On Federated Model Using RVT And IFC Hotlinks

Helio_Avila — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 13:37:21 GMT

Hello everyone,

I ran into a silent failure with the Collision Detection tool while building a federated model.

My setup involves hotlinking consultant models. Most of these arrive as .rvt files, while the architectural model comes as an .ifc.

To run the clash detection, I set the selection criteria to use the Master ID of these hotlinks combined with "All 3D Elements".

When I execute the tool, the clash window simply closes. The system generates no error message and produces no results.

The active layers all have the same priority value (including the master layer), and all materials are set to participate in CD.

Has anyone experienced this? I would appreciate any feedback on potential workflow flaws or workarounds.

Re: Collision Detection Fails Silently On Federated Model Using RVT And IFC Hotlinks

Laszlo Nagy — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 20:42:04 GMT

A couple of things you can try (some of these are just guesses by me):

Set "Element Type" to "All Types" instead of "3D Types"
Set "Hotlink Module ID" to "is" or "starts with" instead of "contains"
Check if the Collision is found if the colliding elements are in the host Project file and not coming from Hotlinked Module (break/embed Hotlinked Modules - do it in a saved copy of the Project file)
Check if any of the conditions listed in the Info button may be the reason:

Re: Collision Detection Fails Silently On Federated Model Using RVT And IFC Hotlinks

Helio_Avila — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 22:49:29 GMT

Hey Lazlo,

unfortunately, your suggestion didn't work. What actually solved the problem was asking the consultant to share the model in IFC format. The .rvt model seemed to be reading as surfaces rather than solids, which caused the issue.

I think Graphisoft should expand their documentation on the collision detection feature.

Thanks for your help!