RVT_ELEC_01101 Autodesk Certified Professional in Revit for Electrical Design Questions and Answers

In Autodesk Revit Electrical Design, revisions are managed using the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog to track changes and document issuance phases, such as “Issued for Bid” or “Issued for Construction.” The revision schedule on the title block automatically reflects this data when configured correctly.

According to the Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter 48 “Construction Documentation – Managing Sheets and Revisions”):

“Revisions define a record of changes issued with sheets. To display a revision in the title block, it must first be created in the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog, assigned a description, and set to be shown in the revision schedule.”

Here’s how the process works step-by-step:

1️⃣ Add a new revision in the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog.

Navigate to View tab → Sheet Composition panel → Revisions.

Add a new revision line entry (this creates a new revision record).

2️⃣ Change the Description to “Issued for Bid”.

In the same dialog, edit the Description field to reflect the issuance purpose.

3️⃣ Select Shown in Revision Schedule next to “Issued for Bid”.

Check “Show” in the Revision Schedule column so it will appear in the title block’s revision schedule table.

4️⃣ For each sheet to be issued, click Edit next to Revisions on Sheet in the Properties palette.

In the Properties palette, under Identity Data, click Revisions on Sheet → Edit and assign the “Issued for Bid” revision only to the sheets being released.

This ensures only the selected sheets display the “Issued for Bid” entry, maintaining proper control over which drawings are issued while others remain unaffected.

As described in the Smithsonian Facilities Revit Template User’s Guide:

“Revision schedules are dynamically linked to sheet issue data. Designers can show or hide revisions on a per-sheet basis by editing ‘Revisions on Sheet’ from the Properties palette.”

In Autodesk Revit workshared projects, it is common for teams from multiple disciplines (architecture, structure, MEP) to collaborate using linked Revit models. Sometimes, an electrical designer may wish to hide or unload the linked architectural model only for their local session, without affecting how other team members see it.

Revit provides the “Unload for Me” option specifically for this purpose.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter: Worksharing – Managing Linked Models):

“When working in a shared model environment, you can unload a link temporarily from your local file using the Unload for Me command in the Manage Links dialog. This action affects only your local copy and does not impact other users working on the project. The link remains loaded for all other team members.”

This means that using Manage Links → Select the architectural link → Click Unload for Me, the designer can remove the visual presence of the architectural model from all of their views without impacting the rest of the team. The link remains active in the central model, and other disciplines will continue to see it as usual.

Here’s a breakdown of the incorrect options:

B. Remove: Permanently removes the link from the project, affecting all users — not allowed in a team collaboration environment.

C. Unload: Temporarily unloads the link for everyone upon synchronization with the central model.

D. Unload For all users: Explicitly unloads the link globally; all users lose access to the link after the next sync.

Therefore, the correct process for the electrical designer to hide the architectural link only for themselves is:

➡️ Manage Links → Select architectural link → Click “Unload for Me.”

In Autodesk Revit Electrical Design, when customizing a family—such as a transformer with a housekeeping pad—each element within the family can have its own subcategory under the parent category (in this case, Electrical Equipment). Subcategories are critical for controlling line weight, color, and material properties independently in project views and visibility settings.

The issue described is that the transformer and its concrete pad currently share the same default category (Electrical Equipment) and therefore use identical line weights and colors in plan view. The designer wants the housekeeping pad to display differently — for example, with a lighter or dashed outline.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter: Creating and Editing Families):

“To control the visibility or graphical appearance of individual components within a family, create a new Object Styles subcategory under the parent category. You can then assign any solid or void geometry in the family to that subcategory. When loaded into a project, the subcategory can be independently controlled through Visibility/Graphics (VG) settings.”

This is the exact and recommended workflow for differentiating line appearances between elements in the same family.

Steps to achieve this:

In the Family Editor, open Manage tab ➤ Object Styles.

Under the Model Objects tab, click New to create a new subcategory (e.g., “Housekeeping Pad”).

Set the desired line weight, color, or material properties.

Select the housekeeping pad extrusion in the model.

In the Properties palette, under Identity Data → Subcategory, choose Housekeeping Pad.

Reload the family into the project.

You can now modify or control its visibility independently in project views.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Change to void: A void removes geometry, not graphical appearance.

B. Override Graphics in View: Applies only in a single view, not globally across the project.

D. Visibility from context menu: Controls whether the object is visible, not its line properties.

Thus, the most efficient, parametric, and Revit-standard method is to use subcategories within the family to apply distinct graphical controls.

In Autodesk Revit, Design Options are used to explore multiple design alternatives within the same project environment. This feature is often employed by electrical designers to model different lighting layouts, circuiting approaches, or equipment placements without duplicating the entire project.

When an additional design option is created within the same option set, and the designer needs to include all the same elements that already exist in another design option, Revit offers two effective ways to duplicate these elements while preserving their type, parameters, and host relationships.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter: Working with Design Options), it clearly describes:

“To create a copy of an existing design option within an option set, open the Design Options dialog box, select the desired option, and click Duplicate. This creates a new option containing identical elements and maintains their relationships and constraints.”

This confirms Option C as correct because duplicating an option from the Design Options dialog automatically replicates all its elements into the new design option within the same option set.

Furthermore, the guide continues:

“Alternatively, when working with a specific design option view, you can use the Copy to Clipboard and Paste Aligned > Aligned to Current View commands to duplicate selected elements into another active design option. These elements are placed in the same location and remain associated with the new design option.”

This validates Option D as the second correct method, allowing manual duplication of elements between options while keeping spatial alignment intact.

Other options listed are incorrect for the following reasons:

A (Drag and Drop) is not supported between design options; it only works between views in the same option.

B (Reveal Hidden) only displays hidden elements; it doesn’t expose design option geometry for copying.

E (Add to Set) transfers elements into the same design option set, not between individual design options.

Therefore, the two valid and Autodesk-confirmed methods to duplicate all elements between design options are:

C. Duplicate from Design Options dialog, and D. Copy/Paste Aligned to Current View.

In the given Lighting Fixture Schedule, each row represents a lighting fixture type rather than individual instances, and the “Count” column summarizes how many fixtures of that type exist in the project. To achieve this layout in Revit, two specific actions must be performed in the Schedule Properties dialog:

Deselected “Itemize every instance.”

The Revit documentation explains:

“Itemize every instance. This option displays all instances of an element in individual rows. If you clear this option, multiple instances collapse to the same row based on the sorting parameter. If you do not specify a sorting parameter, all instances collapse to one row.”

By deselecting this checkbox, Revit consolidates identical fixture instances of the same type into a single row — exactly as shown in the exhibit, where each “Type Mark” (A, B, C, etc.) appears once with a summarized Count.

Sorted by Type Mark.

On the same Sorting/Grouping tab, Revit allows users to organize the schedule by a specific field:

“On the Sorting/Grouping tab of the Schedule Properties dialog, you can specify sorting options for rows in a schedule… You can sort by any field in a schedule, except Count.”

In the example, fixtures are sorted alphabetically by their “Type Mark” (A through E). This ensures the grouped and counted results appear in order.

Other options—such as filtering by type mark or adding switch data—do not impact how instances collapse or group within the schedule.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter 17 – Electrical Systems), when creating power and lighting circuits, Revit enforces specific compatibility rules to ensure the accuracy and integrity of electrical systems. The document explicitly states:

“Circuits connect similar electrical components to form an electrical system. Once created, you can edit circuits to add or remove components, connect a circuit to a panel, add wiring runs, and view circuit and panel properties… A component can be connected in a circuit if it is compatible with the other components in the circuit and if it has an available connector.”

Furthermore, it continues:

“When circuits are created for a power system, only compatible devices can be connected. All devices in a circuit must specify the same distribution system (voltage and number of poles). The distribution system can be specified by type parameters or instance parameters. When you create a circuit where all the devices have the distribution system specified as instance parameters, Revit MEP displays a Specify Circuit Information dialog where you can specify values for the number of poles and voltage prior to creating the circuit.”

Additionally, the documentation clarifies that circuits must exist within the same project model to maintain system logic and consistency. It explains that “circuits connect similar electrical components within a particular system,” which implicitly enforces that items must reside in the same model file. Revit’s data structure does not allow cross-model circuit connections, since circuit logic, load calculations, and panel assignments depend on shared model parameters and hosted relationships between electrical families.

Therefore, the two rules enforced by Revit when creating a power circuit are:

A. Items on the circuit must be in the same model.This ensures data integrity and consistency across electrical systems, as circuits cannot span multiple linked models.

C. Items on the circuit must be assigned the same voltage definition.This guarantees that only devices with matching voltage and pole configurations can be logically and electrically connected to the same circuit.

Other options, such as requiring apparent load values or association with transformers, are not mandatory for circuit creation—they are design considerations applied after circuits are established. Worksets (option D) manage collaboration, not circuit validity.

Verified Reference:

Autodesk Revit MEP 2011 User’s Guide, Chapter 17 “Electrical Systems,” Sections Creating Circuits and Creating Power and Lighting Circuits, pp. 461–463.

In Revit, when a designer nests a Generic Annotation family (such as a receptacle symbol) inside an Electrical Fixture family, and that annotation includes a label, the label value cannot be changed directly in the project unless the parameter controlling that label is properly associated (linked) to a parameter in the host (electrical fixture) family.

According to Autodesk Revit Electrical Design documentation, under “Creating Family Parameter Links”, it is explicitly stated:

“By linking family parameters, you can control the parameters of families nested inside host families from within a project view. You can control instance parameters or type parameters.”

The procedure describes the correct process to make the label value editable in a project:

“Click the button next to a parameter that is of the same type as the one you created in Step 6. For example, if you created a text parameter, you must select a text parameter here. In the dialog that displays, select the parameter you created in Step 6 to associate it with the current parameter, and click OK.”

“The nested family changes according to the value you entered.”

This means that the designer must associate the nested family’s label parameter (usually a text parameter controlling the annotation label) to a corresponding parameter in the host electrical fixture family. Once linked, this host parameter appears in the project’s Properties palette, allowing the designer to change the label value directly.

Other options—such as creating formulas, modifying visibility, or enabling “Shared”—do not make the label editable in the project unless the parameter link is established.

In Autodesk Revit for Electrical Design, when a designer creates a panel schedule, the default name of the panel schedule view is automatically derived from the Panel Name parameter of the Electrical Equipment family to which the circuits are assigned.

According to the Revit MEP User’s Guide (Electrical Systems section: Panel Schedules):

“When you create a panel schedule, Revit uses the Panel Name parameter of the electrical equipment to define the default schedule name. The Panel Name identifies the distribution panel that supplies the circuits. This name appears in both the Panel Schedule view and in circuit information tags.”

— Revit MEP User’s Guide, Chapter 17: Electrical Systems – Panel Schedules

The Panel Name is a critical electrical equipment instance parameter located in the Electrical – Circuiting group of properties.

It appears in both the Electrical Equipment Properties Palette and the Panel Schedule Header. This name can later be modified manually, but by default, it directly controls the naming convention of the generated schedule.

In contrast:

A. Type Mark — identifies types within the family for documentation and does not control schedule naming.

B. Mark — a unique instance identifier often used for tags, but not for panel schedule view naming.

C. Description — provides descriptive text only for documentation or labeling.

D. Panel Name — correctly defines and drives the default schedule view name for panels and circuits.

When a panel (electrical equipment) is placed in the model and circuits are connected, Revit generates a new Panel Schedule View automatically titled using the value entered in the Panel Name field (e.g., “Panel LP-1”). This ensures consistency between the modeled equipment and the schedule documentation.

Verified Reference Extracts from Revit for Electrical Design Documentation:

Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (2011), Chapter 17: Electrical Systems – Creating and Editing Panel Schedules:

“The name of the panel schedule view is determined by the Panel Name property of the electrical equipment.”

Revit MEP Electrical Design Training Manual, Module: Electrical Equipment and Panel Schedules:

“Panel Name is used by Revit as the default identifier for any panel schedule view created for that equipment.”

The exhibit shown in the image is taken directly from the Revit MEP Electrical Systems workspace, specifically from the Parallel Conduits command interface. This dialog box appears when the designer activates the Place Parallel Conduits tool in the Systems tab → Electrical panel → Conduit dropdown → Parallel Conduits.

In this interface, the designer can specify:

Horizontal Number / Offset – defines how many conduits will be created horizontally and their spacing.

Vertical Number / Offset – defines how many conduits will be created vertically and their spacing.

Bend Radius Options:

Same Bend Radius – all conduits use identical bend radii.

Concentric Bend Radius – conduits bend concentrically around a common center point.

According to Autodesk’s Revit MEP 2011 User’s Guide (Chapter 18, Electrical Systems – Conduit Layout):

“The Parallel Conduits tool allows you to create multiple conduits side-by-side at the same time.

You can specify the number of conduits horizontally and vertically, as well as the offset between them.

You can also define whether bends have the same bend radius or concentric bend radii.”

— Revit MEP User’s Guide, Electrical Systems, Section: Conduit Layout

This tool is used when electrical designers need to route groups of conduits that run in parallel—such as power and data conduits running between panels or equipment racks.

The Concentric Bend Radius option (as shown in the exhibit) ensures all conduit bends share a common center, which is critical for maintaining uniformity in conduit sweeps and avoiding clashes during coordination.

Therefore:

A. Add Cable Tray – incorrect; the cable tray tool is separate and does not use bend radius options.

C. Array Conduit – incorrect; arraying is a different geometric function not specific to conduit routing.

D. Place Multiple Pipe – incorrect; applies to mechanical piping systems, not electrical conduits.

The display of Concentric Bend Radius, Horizontal Number, Vertical Number, and Offset confirms that the designer is using the Parallel Conduit placement tool.

Verified Reference Extracts from Revit Electrical Design Documentation:

Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (2011) – Electrical Systems → Conduit Layout → “Parallel Conduits Tool” description.

Autodesk Revit MEP Training Curriculum – Electrical Module, Exercise 6.3 “Placing Parallel Conduits,” which illustrates the same interface for bend radius configuration.

In Autodesk Revit Electrical Design, the Interference Check tool allows designers to detect physical conflicts between elements in the current model and linked models, ensuring coordination between architectural, structural, and MEP systems.

According to the Revit MEP User’s Guide (Chapter 45 “Interference Checking”):

“You can check for interferences between elements within a single project or between elements in the host project and linked models. In the Interference Check dialog box, you can specify categories from the current project and from linked Revit models.”

The dialog box shown in the image displays two selection lists:

The left-hand side represents categories from the current electrical project.

The right-hand side represents categories from the linked structural model (STRUCTURE.rvt).

Since the task is to check for clashes between conduits (electrical) and beams (structural), the designer should select:

“Conduits” under Categories from Current Project (the electrical model).

“Beams” under Categories from STRUCTURE.rvt (the linked structural model).

As the guide explains further:

“Interference checking identifies intersections or overlaps between the geometry of selected categories. For MEP users, this is commonly used to check for clashes between ducts, pipes, or conduits and architectural or structural elements.”

This process ensures early detection of coordination issues before construction documentation. The designer can then review results through Coordination Review, isolate elements in 3D, or tag affected areas for correction.

Incorrect Options:

Selecting both categories from the same model (e.g., Electrical and Conduits) would only check within that model.

Choosing unrelated linked files (e.g., ARCHITECTURE.rvt) would not detect clashes with the structural beams.

In Autodesk Revit, the Worksharing Display Modes feature allows designers to visually inspect ownership and editing information about elements in a workshared model.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User Guide – Chapter 54 “Working in a Team”:

“Worksharing Display Modes can be used to visualize the ownership of elements, including which user created or modified them. For example, you can use the Worksharing Display command to show elements by their owner, workset, or checkout status.”

Thus, this mode identifies which user created or owns an element — making B. Worksharing display modes the correct choice.

Other options:

A. Gray Inactive Worksets: Only shows non-active worksets in gray, not creator info.

C. Show History: Displays synchronization comments, not element ownership.

D. Worksets dialog: Shows ownership of worksets, not individual elements.

In Autodesk Revit, phasing allows designers to track existing, demolished, and new elements across different project stages. Every model element includes two key phasing parameters:

Phase Created — defines when the element was built or introduced.

Phase Demolished — defines when the element is removed or demolished.

In the provided exhibits:

The project contains two phases: Existing and New Construction.

The receptacle’s Phase Created parameter is set to Existing, indicating it belongs to the pre-existing building condition.

The architectural wall hosting the receptacle is to be demolished during New Construction.

When a view’s Phase is set to New Construction and its Phase Filter is configured to show demolition, only elements whose Phase Demolished equals New Construction will appear as to be demolished. Therefore, the electrical designer must set the receptacle’s Phase Demolished value to New Construction so that it graphically displays as a demolished element in the demolition plan.

As explained in the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide – Phasing and Coordination:

“Elements created in one phase and demolished in a subsequent phase must have their ‘Phase Demolished’ parameter set to that later phase to display properly in demolition views.”

Thus, to correctly coordinate with the demolition of its host wall, the receptacle must be flagged for demolition during New Construction.

In the exhibit, the Label Parameters for the electrical device tag are configured as follows:

A white background with black text AI-generated content may be incorrect.

This setup determines how the tag will display in Revit when applied to any device. Specifically:

The Panel parameter (P203 in this case) will be shown first.

A “/” separator follows because it’s assigned as the suffix for the Panel parameter.

The Circuit Number (2,4) is displayed immediately after the slash, with no extra spaces or line breaks.

Since the Break column is unchecked, the values will appear on one continuous line, not split across lines.

Revit documentation for tag creation confirms this behavior:

“When defining label parameters in a tag family, the Prefix and Suffix fields control text that appears before or after the parameter value, while the Break checkbox controls whether the text wraps to a new line.”

Therefore, when the tag is applied to a receptacle on panel P203 and circuit 2,4, the final formatted text will be:

P203/2,4

This corresponds exactly to option B, where the panel and circuit appear on the same line separated by a slash, with no spaces or line breaks.

In Autodesk Revit, phasing is used to represent different stages of a project — for example, existing conditions, demolition, and new construction — all within a single model. Each view is assigned to a specific phase, and elements in that view are displayed according to their phase status (created, existing, demolished, or temporary).

According to the Autodesk Revit User’s Guide (Phasing and Phase Filters section):

“Each element in a project has 2 key phase-related parameters:

Phase Created – the phase in which the element was created.

Phase Demolished – the phase in which the element is demolished.These parameters control how elements display in different views depending on the view’s assigned phase and phase filter.”— Revit User’s Guide, Chapter: Phasing and Phase Filters

Revit automatically applies Graphic Overrides to display phase statuses. These are defined under Manage tab → Phases → Graphic Overrides. The categories include:

Existing

Demolished

New

Temporary

“Elements that are both created and demolished in the same phase are considered Temporary and display using the Temporary graphic override settings.”

— Revit MEP User’s Guide, Managing Phases and Graphic Overrides

Applying This to the Exhibit:

In the exhibit, the project includes multiple phases (Phase 1 through Phase 5). The designer is currently working in Phase 3.

Elements created and demolished in the same phase (Phase 3) are displayed as Temporary.

Elements created in earlier phases (e.g., Phase 1) and demolished in the current phase (Phase 3) are displayed as Demolished.

Elements created in later phases (e.g., Phase 4) do not yet exist and are not shown.

Therefore:

A. Elements that will be demolished in Phase 4 → not applicable; those elements are still active in Phase 3.

B. Elements created in Phase 1 and demolished in Phase 3 → will appear as Demolished, not Temporary.

C. Elements created and demolished in Phase 3 → correctly displayed using Temporary graphic overrides.

D. Elements created and demolished in Phase 2 → would not appear in Phase 3 (they were already removed).

Verified References from Revit Electrical Design Documentation:

Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (2011), “Working with Phases”:

“Elements created and demolished in the same phase are shown using the Temporary phase graphic override settings.”

Autodesk Revit Architecture and MEP Official Study Guide, “Phasing and Phase Filters”:

“Temporary elements exist only during the phase in which they are created and demolished; they are displayed using the temporary override graphics.”

In Autodesk Revit, Project Parameters are used to add custom fields that apply to multiple elements within a specific project file — such as views, sheets, or schedules. These parameters allow project teams to categorize, group, and sort information within the Project Browser or within schedules without editing families or external files.

As defined in the Revit MEP User’s Guide and Revit Structure Parameters Chapter:

“Project parameters are specific to a single project file. Information stored in project parameters cannot be shared with other projects. A project parameter can be used, for example, to categorize views within a project.”

This statement directly confirms that project parameters are the correct tool for sorting or grouping views in the Project Browser.

To organize elements (like views or sheets) by building, the designer can create a custom project parameter named “Building” and assign it to the View category. Once assigned, the parameter values (e.g., “Building A” or “Building B”) can be filled in for each view.

The Smithsonian Facilities Revit Template Guide further supports this:

“View purpose is a Revit project parameter, providing a means for users to organize the many views that may exist in a BIM.”

Thus, using a project parameter allows users to add a “Building” field to each view, enabling customized browser organization (e.g., group views by Building A, Building B, etc.) without requiring shared parameters or family editing.