What is Revit Interference Check best used for?

Self-checking your own discipline model before hand-off (duct vs pipe, pipe vs cable tray) or a quick sanity check against one linked model during active modeling. It runs inside Revit with no export step and updates the moment you fix something and re-run.

When do I need Navisworks Clash Detective instead?

For the weekly multi-discipline coordination meeting, any project with 3 or more linked disciplines, tolerance-based soft-clash tests, and whenever clashes must be assigned to people and tracked to resolution over weeks. Navisworks persists clash results as a managed dataset; Revit's tool only produces a flat snapshot list.

Can Revit Interference Check handle a full federated clash review?

Technically yes, but it was not built for it: it aggregates multiple links poorly, runs slowly, and has no assignment or tracking workflow, so the triage Navisworks automates gets redone by hand in a spreadsheet. Linking 3+ disciplines just to run one big check is the signal to move to Navisworks.

intermediate·5 min read·9 Jul 2026·— views

Revit Interference Check vs Navisworks: When to Use Which

Both tools find clashes. Teams that pick the wrong one for a given moment in the project end up either running Navisworks on a single discipline’s model (overkill, slow feedback loop) or trying to run federated multi-discipline clash detection inside Revit’s Interference Check (the tool wasn’t built for it, and it shows).

What Revit Interference Check is actually for

Collaborate → Coordinate → Interference Check runs inside a single Revit session, against categories you select, within either your model or a linked model. It’s fast, needs no export step, and updates the moment you fix something — reopen the dialog and re-run.

Use it for: self-checking your own MEP model before you hand it off (duct vs pipe, pipe vs cable tray, all within your own worksets), or a quick sanity check against one architectural or structural link during active modeling.

Its limits: it does not aggregate multiple linked models well for a full federated review, has no persistent clash-tracking/assignment workflow (no “assign this clash to the mechanical engineer, mark as resolved” state), and produces a report that’s a flat list, not something you can filter/group/save as a saved search across a project’s full duration.

What Navisworks Clash Detective is actually for

Navisworks takes exported/linked models from every discipline (Revit, IFC, point clouds, whatever), runs clash tests defined between named groups of elements (not just categories), and — critically — persists clash results as a managed dataset: assign a clash to a person, mark it approved/resolved/reviewed, re-run the same test next week and see only new or still-open clashes.

Use it for: the actual weekly/biweekly multi-discipline coordination meeting, any project with 3+ disciplines linked, and any project where you need a clash log with accountability (who owns this, is it fixed) rather than just a snapshot list.

Its limits: it’s a separate application, requires exporting/appending current models each time (a workflow step people forget, leading to reviewing stale geometry), and nobody fixes anything inside Navisworks — every fix still happens back in the authoring tool, so there’s an inherent round-trip lag.

Decision table

Situation	Use
Checking your own MEP model before issuing it	Revit Interference Check
Quick check against one architectural link mid-modeling	Revit Interference Check
Weekly multi-discipline coordination meeting	Navisworks Clash Detective
Need to assign clashes to people and track resolution over weeks	Navisworks Clash Detective
Project has only 2 linked models total	Either works; Interference Check is faster to set up
Project has structural, architectural, MEP (3+ disciplines)	Navisworks Clash Detective
Checking a headroom/soft clash with a clearance-volume tolerance	Navisworks (tolerance-based clash tests aren’t available in Interference Check)

Common mistake

Running the full federated multi-discipline clash test inside Revit’s Interference Check by linking every discipline into one host model and checking everything against everything. Revit will do it, slowly, and the result is a flat list with no assignment/tracking workflow — meaning the same manual triage Navisworks automates gets redone by hand in a spreadsheet. If you’re linking 3+ disciplines specifically to run one big clash check, that’s the signal it’s time to move the workflow to Navisworks instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is Revit Interference Check best used for?: Self-checking your own discipline model before hand-off (duct vs pipe, pipe vs cable tray) or a quick sanity check against one linked model during active modeling. It runs inside Revit with no export step and updates the moment you fix something and re-run.
When do I need Navisworks Clash Detective instead?: For the weekly multi-discipline coordination meeting, any project with 3 or more linked disciplines, tolerance-based soft-clash tests, and whenever clashes must be assigned to people and tracked to resolution over weeks. Navisworks persists clash results as a managed dataset; Revit's tool only produces a flat snapshot list.
Can Revit Interference Check handle a full federated clash review?: Technically yes, but it was not built for it: it aggregates multiple links poorly, runs slowly, and has no assignment or tracking workflow, so the triage Navisworks automates gets redone by hand in a spreadsheet. Linking 3+ disciplines just to run one big check is the signal to move to Navisworks.