Send a contractor one frozen, documented release that has been tested outside the author's working environment. Gather the model and dependencies, separate native and exchange deliverables, identify coordinates and versions, create a manifest, grant the right people time-bounded access, and do not close the handoff until the contractor verifies and opens the package.
Confirm the delivery contract
Before collecting files, ask what the contractor is expected to do. Coordination, estimating, fabrication, scan-to-BIM modeling, record delivery, and reference-only viewing require different content. Confirm:
- recipient names and organizations;
- intended software and exact versions;
- native RVT versus IFC, NWD/NWC, DWG, BCF, PDF, or viewer outputs;
- linked models, CAD, images, families, keynotes, and point-cloud references;
- units, shared coordinates, survey point, project base point, CRS, and vertical datum;
- whether the release is WIP, coordination, bid, record, or issued-for-construction;
- deadline, acceptance owner, access window, and archive responsibility.
Do not send the live authoring folder. Create an issue-stamped release root such as 2026-08-11_Coordination_R07, then preserve it unchanged while the contractor reviews it.
Gather Revit and BIM dependencies
Autodesk's Revit 2022 eTransmit documentation describes packaging the host plus linked Revit and IFC models, nested model links, CAD links, DWF markups, decal images, and the external keynote file, then repathing the set. It specifically says XRefs attached to linked CAD files are not transmitted. Use the eTransmit workflow appropriate to the installed Revit version and test its output. A Revit 2022 help page is not evidence that every dependency, cloud-hosted model, third-party add-in asset, or later release behaves identically.
Open the transmitted copy from a clean location that cannot resolve links through the author's normal network paths. Review the transmission report and warnings. Confirm whether linked RVT and CAD files, images, keynotes, shared parameters, render assets, and other references were gathered or intentionally excluded. If central and local model behavior matters, document how the delivered copy should be used rather than assuming the recipient will infer it.
Provide agreed exchange outputs alongside native files when the contractor should not need the authoring environment. Name the export settings and date. Do not imply that IFC or NWD is interchangeable with the native model; each preserves different information and serves a different task.
Package scan references explicitly
A small Revit model may reference a much larger scan set. An Autodesk University handout explains that an .RCP contains project settings and references while the support folder contains the underlying .RCS point data; copying only the RCP does not produce a usable project. Inventory RCP/RCS, E57, LAS/LAZ, or vendor-native files separately. State whether scans are raw, registered, classified, decimated, tiled, or transformed. Include registration reports, control information, units, coordinate reference system, horizontal and vertical datums, and any transformation used to align the scan with the model.
Keep relative paths where the recipient's software supports them. If scan files are split into tiles, include a tile index and confirm that every tile is present. Test representative files in the contractor's intended viewer or in an equivalent clean environment.
Fidelity belongs in the transmittal. The same field handout documents one mechanical-space delivery decimated to 10 mm where small piping disappeared, leading the team to request raw PTX/FLS alongside processed RCS. That is one project example, not a universal decimation rule. Specify the smallest feature the contractor must use and whether raw data is required for reprocessing.
Create a manifest and README
At the release root, include a README with purpose, status, model version, software versions, coordinate assumptions, opening sequence, known warnings, exclusions, and support contact. Add a manifest containing relative path, decimal byte size, modified date where relevant, and SHA-256 or another agreed integrity value for every delivered file.
Avoid ambiguous roots named final, new, or latest. If a correction is needed, issue a new release number and make the superseded status explicit. Never silently replace one file inside an accepted package.
ISO 19650-1:2018 frames information management around exchanging, recording, versioning, and organizing information across the asset life cycle. It provides governance context, not a transfer mechanism or proof that a particular package satisfies the contract.
The BIM/VDC package delivery checklist covers issue labels, stakeholder subsets, meeting buffers, access, and confirmation.
Size both sides of the transfer
Measure the complete staged folder. Test source read speed, sender upload, contractor download, and destination write. For a 2.4 decimal TB model-and-scan package, the site's current model estimates 19 h 55 m for a 300 Mbps upload. A contractor at 150 Mbps adds 39 h 49 m for download. The model adds a 12% planning allowance; it is not measured throughput or a promise, and verification and ingest take additional time.
Choose a project platform for ongoing governed collaboration, a discrete online transfer for a frozen handoff, physical media when connectivity misses the deadline, or a hybrid that sends the urgent model and reports before the full scan set. Autodesk's ACC/BIM 360 support page, as accessed August 2026, lists 5 TB per file, 10,000 items per folder, 10,000 versions per file, and cancellation when an upload remains incomplete for a full day. Those product-specific ceilings can change; per-file capacity, item count, storage entitlement, and full-package deliverability are different constraints.
Use the transfer-time calculator with the slower measured endpoint, and compare the complete physical-media path with the shipping-versus-transfer calculator.
Control access and close acceptance
Grant only required contractors access to their package, with a useful but finite window and a revocation path. Tell them when the package will be available, how to retrieve it, how much local capacity they need, and who to contact if access fails.
If the handoff stays in Autodesk Docs, check the live permission model. Autodesk's help page, accessed August 2026, lists six folder levels from View only through Manage; downloading source files requires View + Download or above, while public-link sharing, cross-project sharing, transmittals, and reviews require Manage under the documented configuration. Permission names and behavior are product- and date-specific, and public links may be disabled by policy.
After download, require the contractor to compare manifest counts and byte sizes, verify integrity values, and open representative native, exchange, and scan files. Confirm links resolve, coordinates align, and the model version matches the meeting agenda or transmittal. Record who accepted the release and when; keep the authoritative source until then.
Review the construction file-transfer page when selecting the delivery route.
Where TeraAirlift fits
TeraAirlift is a Windows-first desktop operations console for the discrete online-transfer step. It supports file and folder queues, progress and ETA, cancellation, retry-friendly operations, history, diagnostics, recipient-controlled delivery, short-lived storage access, and SHA-256 verification. It does not package Revit dependencies for you, replace ACC or document control, guarantee throughput, or decide whether a contractual deliverable is complete.
