One of the great time savers Revit provides is its ability to automatically schedule things you put in your drawings.
But Revit is not Excel, and is not a fully functioning database (or rather doesn’t give users unfettered access to the underlying database).
This section provides some background information so that you can design sensible schedules for your project.
SCHEDULES BASED ON OTHER SCHEDULES
One of the main limitations is that Revit is not a Relational database. This means it is not possible to use data from one schedule to drive another schedule.
In practice is means you can not create schedules that rely on data from other schedules.
So, for example, it is not possible to create Room Data Sheets or Finishes Schedules within Revit.
The exception is Room parameters. Most other categories allow Room parameters to be included in their schedule.
If you include Room parameters in a schedule (that is not a Room schedule) you can not edit those parameters from within the schedule.
Recommendations:
Structure your schedules to avoid the need for combining information. This may mean a greater number of schedules simpler schedules than you would otherwise do.
If data needs to appear in different schedules make it a Room parameter.
SCHEDULES CONTAING DATA FROM MULTIPLE OBJECTS
Revit can only schedule by family. You can not create a schedule where data from different families (even of the same category) list as a single line.
Recommendations:
Structure your schedules to avoid the need for combining information. This may mean a greater number of schedules simpler schedules than you would otherwise do.
SCHEDULING LINKED FILES
You can’t edit any of the data in a linked file from within a schedule.
If you create a schedule that picks up objects from a linked file and the current file you can’t edit data in the current file via that schedule.
Recommendations:
Keep all objects that will be in a schedule in the same Revit file. e.g. all joinery must exist in a single Revit file.
KEY SCHEDULES
You can not create a multi-category Key Schedule.
You can not tag data from a Key Schedule.
You can not add the Key Name parameter from a Room Key Schedule to other schedules.
You can use the Key Name parameter from a Room Key Schedule in a colour legend.
Recommendations:
Use Key Schedules only for information you DON'T want to tag.
PRINTING SCHEDULES
Schedules must be placed on sheets to print, schedule views can not be printed.
Schedules can be placed on multiple sheets (unlike drawing views).
Revit can not do multiple page sheets, so schedules longer than one page must be split and placed on multiple sheets.
Placement on sheets is static, so if the schedule grows it will go over the edge of a sheet and not be printed.
Recommendations:
If a schedule is longer than 2-3 pages, or is likely to grow regularly, set it up to export to Excel for printing.
FILTERING SCHEDULES
You can not filter by Family name or Family type, even in a multi-category schedule.
Recommendations:
Create a parameter to filter by.
SCHEDULING WALL HEIGHTS
Revit doesn't report wall heights as a parameter.
There are 2 calculations that will give you a height:
Divide wall Area by Length.
Divide wall Volume by cross sectional area (Length x Width).
The two methods above produce slightly different results. One reason is when there are non-perpendicular cuts to the wall,
e.g. sloping top due wall attached to sloping roof.
BUT . . .
Volume & Area of wall deducts areas of any openings (doors & windows).
The calculated height will be average height of the wall if the top is not horizontal (if wall is attached or has had it's profile edited.
Therefore a wall 10m x 5m with no openings calculated height is 5m,
with 1sqM opening calculated height is 4.9m.
Recommendations:
You can't accurately report wall heights in Revit schedules.