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 every Detailed report to a history workbook so trends, burndown, and resolved-per-week come straight out of Excel or Power BI.
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.
- 01
Save Matrix
Pick a selection set folder. Folders inside folders (up to three levels) become grouped headers in the Excel matrix, so a Level > Discipline > System tree reads the way it is organised. Optionally limit the pairs to sets in the same group, so L01 structure is only paired with L01 services. Each cell has a drop-down of common presets, and a legend and unit-aware instructions sit beside the grid.
- 02
Fill it in
Type a tolerance or pick a preset in each cell of the pairs you want tested. Leave the rest empty. The workbook is plain Excel, so it can be reviewed and signed off by the coordination lead before anything reaches the model.
- 03
Load Matrix
The preview states what will happen before the document is touched: how many tests will be created, updated, or skipped. An existing test for the same pair of sets is updated in place, not duplicated. 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, and tests placed in folders are listed in the Clash Manager and Clash Results panes with a Folder column. Batch update, rename, and every report include them.
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 not built from saved sets are listed separately, with the reason
Clash history
Every Detailed report becomes a dated snapshot.
Export the Detailed clash report to a history workbook instead of a fresh file. Each export appends a snapshot to two Excel tables. When the workbook already holds an earlier snapshot, the report gains a Since column, delta columns on the Summary sheet, and a Delta sheet listing what was resolved.
- Where it lives
- beside the model, or any workbook you pick
- What each export adds
- one dated snapshot, two Excel tables
- Status since the last snapshot
- New, Persisting, Moved, Reappeared, Resolved
- Delta sheet
- resolved counts by test, level, assignee
- Reads it natively
- Excel pivots, Power BI
The default workbook is named after the model and saved beside it. Clashes are recognised across compacted or rebuilt tests and across files.
Watch it run
Clash Manager and Clash Results, inside Navisworks.
A 4-minute walkthrough of the Clash Manager panel. The matrix and history features are described on this page until a dedicated video is published.
Questions
What coordinators ask about the matrix and the history.
Does the history workbook change my clash tests?
What happens to the history when a test is compacted or rebuilt?
How large does the history workbook get?
How do I get the history into Power BI?
Which Navisworks versions and editions are supported?
Looking for the grouping side of the workflow? See clash grouping by level, grid, or property.
Try it on your next coordination run.
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