Revit User's Manual/Site Work

Sitework in Revit is not dissimilar from the same in any drafting program: it is mostly drafted elements. The key advantage is that you can use your model for reference, and over and above that, you can lock your site lines to elements in the model. Therefore, if your model is revised, the site plan will update automatically. Most of the challenge in creating a good site plan lie with the issues of grading and project relocation.

Grading
Grading is done by editing a toposurface. By adding points at different elevations, the grade is shaped in three dimensions. Because the topography is drawn from these points, awkward dips can occur if there are not enough points. This is especially true when adjusting grade at a retaining wall. Often the best bet is just to add points.

Relocating The Project Vertically
Relocating your project is simple: move your grade relative to your project without regard for the accuracy of your grade points. Then, relocate your project up or down by the amount necessary to correct your points (spot elevations).

Most new users wonder why their entire project, model and site together, go flying up or down upon relocation. The answer is simply that Revit doesn't understand the simple distinction between project elements and site elements as things that might be moved relative to one another. It just moves everything! So, if you want to move your site relative to to your building, you've got to grab your site elements and move them to where you want relative to your building, and then relocate the project as necessary to get your spot elevations to read correctly.

Generally, the only site element that needs to be moved vertically is your topography (but do make sure your trees and utilities are hosted by your topography or they won't move.)

Relocating The Project Horizontally
Horizontal location can be a bit more tricky. This is something that you might do if you are drawing a series of buildings in a row, but each is in a separate Revit file. You can link these files into one master file and have them appear with the correct vertical and horizontal relationship to one another by placing them in the master file according to their shared coordinates. For example, if these buildings are similar, you may complete one building and then save it to a new file to start the next building. To make sure the next building sits relative to the first building in plan, you will need to relocate that project horizontally.

This operation is more tricky because grabbing the site elements requires care. You not only have to grab your topography, but you also have to grab your property lines, trees, utility poles, and any lines or text that are associated with the site, and then move these as far over as required. Then you relocate the project equally the opposite direction.