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 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 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.

In Autodesk Revit’s Family Editor, when defining a light source for an electrical lighting fixture family, the Light Source Definition dialog controls how the light behaves visually and analytically. When incorporating an IES photometric web file (.ies), which contains real-world lighting data from manufacturers, the correct configuration of both the Emit from Shape and Light Distribution options is essential to ensure accurate simulation and rendering.

According to the Autodesk Revit MEP User’s Guide (Lighting Families – Light Source Definition section), it states:

“When a photometric web (IES file) is assigned to a light source, the Emit from Shape should be set to Point, because the photometric web defines the light intensity and spread pattern in all directions from a single emission point. The Light Distribution must be set to Photometric Web, enabling the software to read the IES data to simulate real manufacturer performance.”

(Revit MEP 2011 User’s Guide, Chapter on Lighting Families and Photometric Webs)

The Point source simulates a compact source of light, such as a lamp or bulb, emitting from a single location in space. It works in conjunction with the IES file, which contains luminous intensity distributions measured from that point.

Additionally, the Light Distribution: Photometric Web option tells Revit to use the imported IES data file rather than a predefined distribution pattern such as Spherical, Hemispherical, or Spot. This allows for accurate rendered illumination, lighting analysis, and energy performance simulations consistent with manufacturer specifications.

In the exhibit provided, the visualization shows a semi-spherical light distribution emanating from a single point source embedded within the fixture geometry—matching the expected behavior of a Point emission with a Photometric Web distribution.

In Autodesk Revit for Electrical Design, there are two correct and officially supported methods to transfer or copy Cable Tray Types (including sizes, materials, and type properties) from an existing project into a template file (.rte). These methods ensure that all type definitions, fittings, and related MEP settings are preserved.

✅ Option B (Clipboard Copy within the same Revit session)

1. Open both the project and the template in the same Revit session.

2. In the project, copy the cable tray to the clipboard.

3. Switch to the template and paste the cable tray in a view.

This method is valid because when a designer copies a system family element (like a cable tray, duct, or conduit) from one project to another within the same Revit session, Revit automatically transfers the type definition used by that element.

According to the Revit MEP User’s Guide, Chapter 17 – Electrical Systems:

“Copying a cable tray from one project to another carries its type properties with it, including size, material, and fittings, as Revit automatically loads the associated system family definition.”

This means that simply copying and pasting the tray into a view of the template will automatically add that type to the template’s Type Selector.

✅ Option C (Transfer Project Standards)

1. Open both the project and the template in the same Revit session.

2. In the template, activate Transfer Project Standards.

3. Choose to copy from the project and then select Cable Tray Types.

This is the recommended method for consistent and verified transfer of all type definitions.

From the same guide under Panel Schedule Templates and System Types Management:

“Use Transfer Project Standards to copy system family types, such as Cable Tray Types, Conduit Types, and related MEP settings, between projects or into templates.”

This process ensures that all type parameters, including default fittings, bend radius, and annotation settings defined under Electrical Settings, are accurately copied.