Building Better Tools: How One Architect Transformed His Company's Workflows Through Coding

In this episode, I speak with Tom Flaherty, a licensed architect and BIM Manager at a Texas-based residential design firm. We discuss his journey into Revit programming and how he developed custom add-ins that dramatically improved his company's efficiency. Episode Highlights Tom shares his background with programming, starting from childhood when his father (a self-taught programmer at Texas Instruments) taught him the basics How Tom's early interest in AutoLISP transitioned to creating Revit add-ins when his firm switched platforms Why Tom prefers developing C# plugins over Dynamo scripts for a better user experience and stability The challenges of "users not following directions" motivated Tom to create user-friendly tools that enforce standards How Tom's custom "Plan Flip" add-in reduced a 4-6 hour process down to less than a minute The evolution of Tom's role from Senior Associate to officially recognized BIM Manager Current projects Tom is working on, including a "super tagger" that works across multiple views and context-aware renumbering tools Advice for architects interested in learning to code: "Don't doubt yourself," and find learning resources that match your style Time-Saving Tools Discussed Sheet creation tool using Excel data to automate naming and numbering Plan flipping tool that handles door swings, elevation renaming, and sheet renumbering Schedule creation tool that rebuilds missing or deleted schedules A project cleanup tool that removes non-compliant elements and unused content Connect With Us Website: ArchSmarter.com LinkedIn: Michael Kilkelly LinkedIn: Tom Flaherty