How to Quickly Dimension Mechanical and Electrical Pipelines in Revit
In the MEP comprehensive management model of a project, Revit is used to set up various professional drawing files. The mechanical and electrical BIM drawings are divided into specialties such as water supply and drainage, sprinkler systems, HVAC, electrical, and comprehensive disciplines. For instance, sprinkler pipes require extensive marking of pipe diameters and spacing, which is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Similarly, other specialized pipelines like air ducts and electrical systems also demand significant effort for drawing and annotation.
By utilizing the pipeline tagging, duct tagging, and cable tray tagging families loaded into Revit, you can leverage powerful auxiliary tools such as filters, selective loading and editing, and bulk tagging. These features allow you to quickly dimension different pipeline, duct, and cable tray systems in a short amount of time.
Open your project file and, as an example, consider the 1F sprinkler pipe system. Follow these steps:
1. Save the sprinkler pipes to a selected filter. Select all elements and click the filter icon located at the bottom right corner of the view.
Deselect all other categories, leaving only the pipelines selected, then click “Confirm.”
In the upper right corner under “Modify,” select “Save” from the tab, enter a name (e.g., “Sprinkler Pipe Label”), and click “Confirm.”
2. Filter the sprinkler pipes that need labeling. Under the “Manage” tab, select “Edit” in the filters panel. In the filter dialog box, choose “Sprinkler Pipe Labeling” and click “Edit.”
Click “From the selected projects” and check “Multiple” to select all elements. Hold down the Shift key to batch select parallel pipelines. Click “Complete.” You can exclude any risers that don’t require labeling, then click “Complete Selection.” Return to the “Filter” dialog box and click “Confirm.”
3. Diameter marking of sprinkler pipes. In the “Manage” panel, select “Load” to open the “Restore Filter” dialog box. Choose “Sprinkler Pipe Labeling” and click “Confirm.”
Within the “Annotate” panel, select “Mark All.” When the “Mark all unmarked objects” dialog box appears, check the pipeline marker and under “Load Tags,” select the loaded tag family: “Pressure Pipeline Marking: Size.” You can choose whether to include leaders or not. Click “Confirm” to instantly complete diameter marking for multiple sprinkler pipes.
This diameter marking method for sprinkler pipes is also applicable to other water pipes, such as water supply and drainage pipes, fire pipes, and air conditioning pipes.
4. Diameter marking for HVAC ducts. Following the same steps, you can quickly annotate duct diameters. For example, in the 1F HVAC system of a project, select the duct system elements and use a filter to isolate ducts that require diameter annotation. Filter out the HVAC risers that do not need sizing through the selection editing in the management panel. Then load the selected items and use the “Mark All” function in the annotation panel to complete the duct size annotation, as illustrated in the figure.
5. Dimensional annotation of electrical cable trays. Using the same approach, the electrical dimension annotation for the 1F electrical system was completed, with results shown in the accompanying figure.
6. Organize dimension annotations. After completing the mechanical and electrical pipeline dimension annotations, it is important to adjust the placement, text size, and leader length of the annotations in the plan view. This ensures clarity and consistency across various tag families.
Related Skills
Setting Up Dimension Annotations for Mechanical and Electrical Pipeline Drawings in Revit
Method for Creating New Pipe Sizes in Revit
Must log in before commenting!
Sign Up