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Terry: yes, if Chief could model the electrical plumbing and HVAC runs with all the associated elements and then use BIM inter-operability to communicate with dedicated software for handling the loads and collision detection etc unfortunately, Chief is not capable of doing this yet Lew

here is a 2004 thread from the old forum on doing 3D plumbing http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread.php?8836-Plumbing-for-Dummies&highlight=plumbing+hvac+lew here's a thread from 2007 http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread.php?27044-MEP-Configuration&highlight=plumbing+hvac+randall here's another thread from 2014 http://www.chieftalk.com/showthread.php?65802-Integration-of-Chief-with-Other-HVAC-Software&highlight=plumbing+hvac+randall Lew

Joey: true for 2D but I was referring to 3D showing plumbing runs and HVAC duct work etc there have been requests for MEP tools ever since I started with ver 9.5 in 2004 Lew

Not true but...... Joey: when did chief add plumbing and hvac tools ??? Lew

May be a nice feature to add for X8 Rob: I wouldn't hold my breath X8 beta has started besides CA has shown no inclination to go in this direction Chief doesn't do MEP very well nor does it do BIM inter-operability probably best you can do is place items in Chief's Electrical schedule then export to Excel and go from there Lew

many times printing to PDF first bypasses driver issues Lew

you may need to contact CA's tech support they are closed on the weekends they are open 6 AM - 5 PM Pacific Lew

what part is not clear ??? Lew

here in NY all pages of the permit set have to be stamped by architect or engineer but a designer or home owner can create the pages which are then reviewed by the architect or engineer and stamped others states require everything be done by architect or engineer check with your local jurisdiction Lew

items dragged and dropped into chief are automatically fixtures. So if you want a door you need to do the import process so why does CA create these "nuances" ??? both processes should work the same the drag/drop process should "initiate" the import process or at least ask if it should "initiate" these are the confusion points that can cause Chief to be "frustrating" Lew

trial version doesn't allow for saves Lew

Michael: sorry to disagree, but if they can do the design - they can do the design that is the best interest for all Lew

don't let Michael scare you away if you have he ability to do designs -then go for it plenty of room at the table for all Lew

if you get the DVD and the Hardware Lock you then have total independence from CA CA could go out of business and you can still run Chief at least until you upgrade your PC past the point of usability in future years I also wonder if CA will ever disable software locks for much older versions Lew

contact CA's tech support Lew

Depends on who you chose David Potter or CA's training dept or Dan Baumann at www.chiefexperts.com or ??? Lew

David Potter will probably be contacting you He would be a good choice Lew

you should send plan etc to CA's tech support Lew

sounds like first quarter release to me Lew

Ross: CA is "attempting" a yearly release but no guarantees they aim for first quarter of the year X7 came out March 2015 Lew

David Potter would be a good choice look for one of his postings on this forum Lew

you can also buy a used version of Chief Premiers if needed you can upgrade to X7 and be rocking work with CA's sales to verify you are buying a valid license transfer fee is normally $50 but can range to $400+ depending on type of license being sold bottom line the deal should cost about $500 less or more than buying X7 direct https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/index.php?/topic/6609-chief-architect-x-5-premier-for-sale/ Lew

Mick: the cost of Premier can be quite reasonable even for a 1 off project if the user truly learns the program enough to get the project done they can save $$$ in design fees etc greater than the cost of the software they can they re-sell Premier for about 80% of its cost Lew

HD PRO users can benefit from following/posting to Chieftalk but using the Hometalk forum also can a good idea HD PRO has many of the manual tools that Chief Premier does but it does have limits also Lew

David Potter would be a good choice he has been doing training for over a decade Lew