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Phases in Revit

Phases in Revit are used to represent different time periods or statuses of a project to simplify creating renovation or multi-phase projects. Phases can represent the existing state of a building versus proposed changes, or different construction stages. Elements are assigned to phases and can be set as demolished in certain phases to automatically represent changes over time. Phase filters control the graphic appearance of elements in different views based on phase. Common uses include representing an existing building before and after renovations, or a project delivered in sequential construction stages.

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Rubén Cuán R
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111 views

Phases in Revit

Phases in Revit are used to represent different time periods or statuses of a project to simplify creating renovation or multi-phase projects. Phases can represent the existing state of a building versus proposed changes, or different construction stages. Elements are assigned to phases and can be set as demolished in certain phases to automatically represent changes over time. Phase filters control the graphic appearance of elements in different views based on phase. Common uses include representing an existing building before and after renovations, or a project delivered in sequential construction stages.

Uploaded by

Rubén Cuán R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Phases in Revit are used to simplify the creation of Renovation or Multi-Phases

projects.

So what are Phases?


Within Revit, Phases are distinct, separate time periods (or “milestones”) within the life of the
project. They can represent either the time periods themselves or the status of the project at
specified points in time. There must always be at least one phase in a project. By default a new
Revit project comes with two phases already created. These are named “Existing” and “New
Construction”. You can rename these to anything you like, as well as add any number of
additional phases.

When would you use phases?


So why would you use phases? Below are some of the more obvious reasons why you need to
use Phases in your project:-

You have an existing building that you are refurbishing (or extending). Consequently you
need to show the building before AND after the refurbishment takes place.

You need to show a development that is to be delivered in phases. Consequently you need a
sequence of drawings to represent the project at every distinct phase.

You would like to use Revit to help forecast expenditure over the life of the project.

The most common use of Phases is for the classic “Before & After” (or “Existing & Proposed”)
scenarios. Ie You Want to show your (existing) building as it is now and how it is proposed to be
when you have finished work on it.
With 2D “dumb CAD” programmes, often the easiest way to achieve the above is to draught out
the “as existing” layouts, make a copy of them and then re-work these copies to represent the
proposed. This has a number of disadvantages- not least the fact that you unnecessarily
increase the overall file size by duplicating many of the lines and symbols which are not going to
change (ie the will be the same in the existing and the proposed layouts) .
The whole ethos behind “Building Information Modelling Systems” such as Revit as to have as
little duplication of data as possible. This is something that I will be stating over and over again
on Revit Zone, so get used to it! If there’s only one model, then you have eradicated the
possibility for someone to be working on an out-of-date version.

Instead of manually drafting dashed lines to represent demolished walls, using phases
automates the process and produce the correct graphic representation much more easily.
1- CREATE ALL NECESSARY PHASES
To access all Phases options, go to Phases menu in the Manage tab. The first thing you
need to do is set the phases you require.

RENOVATION PROJECT: In most Revit templates, the basic phases are Existing and
New. For most project, this is all you will need. A common mistake is to create a
Demolition phase. There is no need for that: demolished elements can be set for
demolition in the New phase.

MULTIPLE PHASES PROJECT: If you have a big project with multiple construction
phases, create as many phases as required. You can simply call them Phase1, Phase2,
or use more descriptive terms.

2- SET ELEMENTS TO CORRECT PHASE


Each view is set to a specific phase. When creating a new element, it will be associated
to the same phase as the view.

Below, we create a bunch of walls and doors. They are all set to New phase by default.
Let’s say we decide the interior wall and door are existing element, you have to select
them and set them to existing phase. As you see, they become gray when their phase is
changed.

3- USE HAMMER TO DEMOLISH ELEMENTS

Magic Hammer?

To demolish stuff in Revit, you need to use the Magic Hammer of Destruction, located
in the Modify tab. Click on the element you want to demolish and it will be set to
“demolished” in the current phase.

You can also simply select an element and set the “New” phase in Phase Demolished
properties.

4- UNDERSTAND PHASE FILTERS AND GRAPHIC OVERRIDES


Phase Filters is how you decide to view elements relative to phases. Revit comes with
a bunch of default phase filters that should cover most situations. You have 3 options
for each element category: By Category, Overridden or Not Displayed.
When you select Overridden category, elements will display with the overrides selected
in this menu. For example, in a demolition plan we set a graphic overrides
to demolished elements so they appear with dashed lines and no cut pattern.

Overrides can be customized to fit your need. Below, we modify cut patterns and lines
for existing and demolished elements.

Overrides can also be used for Materials. Below, we modify the material override for
demolished elements.
Here is an overview of the some of the default Phase Filters available in Revit:

5- USE THESE PHASE FILTERS FOR YOUR VIEWS


Now that you understand how phase filters works, here is how you should use them for
the most common view types:

EXISTING PLAN

DEMOLITION PLAN

NEW FLOOR PLAN

6- CREATE SEPARATE WALLS TO DEMOLISH FINISH


A frequent renovation case is to demolish the finish of an exterior wall but keep the rest
of the wall elements. In this case you should model two separate walls: one containing
the exterior finish, the other containing the rest of the wall. Then, set the exterior finish
to be demolished.

In the new plan, we add the new exterior finish that display as white over the existing
grey wall.

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