Floor Plans (Life Saftey)

Creating the View:

Create a new Area Plan, not a floor plan.
Choose the Life Safety Plan type when prompted.
Ensure all levels in the project have a Life Safety Plan view (no SIM. levels)

Area Boundaries:

Do not auto-generate boundaries — draw them manually based on program use (ie, AC or NON-AC, occupancy, etc.)
Assign each room/space the proper Occupancy Type per FBC.
Use Tagged Areas to show Net Area; avoid using filled regions.
Set Occupancy Classification and Net Factor as required.

Paths of Travel:

Use the RAILING family to draw travel paths.
Apply path-type filters for clarity.
Use Smart Tags for Travel Distances (do not use static text).
Confirm:
Distance auto-updates with path changes.
Worst-case travel path is shown.
Distance is taken from unit to corridor, not just the door.
NFPA rules apply for Entry/Exit door to corridor.
Indicate dimensions at dead ends and show minimum allowed.

Dimensions:

Use the F… dimension type.
The lowest allowable fraction (e.g., 1/8") for legibility has been setup in the template; this should not be adjusted

Tags & Room Names:

Use Smart Room Tags only.  When tagging units, only include what type of unit  (A1,  B1-E, B1, etc.) -  do not include "Unit" in the label
Avoid overlapping tags with paths, walls, or dimensions.
If tag is covered by furniture, relocate or flip the tag.
Furniture should only be turned on for public areas (ie, Clubhouses, lobbies at apartment buildings, amenities, etc.) - not in the apartments

Graphics & Visuals:

Use Detail Lines for fire ratings
Use Pick Line to lock fire-rated walls
Lock lines if the model shifts
Adjust linework as needed — especially at transitions

Every Life Safety Sheet must include Sheet Notes, Keynotes, Key Plan, Legend

Key Plan

Key Plan: How-To Guide (Generic Model Method)

This guide outlines the firm’s preferred method for creating reusable, clean key plans using a Generic Model Family, rather than a drafting view. This method improves consistency, allows visibility control, and avoids having to redraw the key plan on each sheet.

1. Start a New Family
   Open a new Generic Model Family template (Generic Model.rft)
   This will serve as your base key plan element, used across all applicable sheets.
   
   

2. Create a Diagram of the Building
   In your active project model, create a loose diagram of the overall building footprint using Detail Lines.
   Accuracy is not critical — this is a diagram, not a technical drawing. No dimensions will be shown.
   Include major parts of the building (e.g., Part A / B or 1 / 2), not every wall or window.
   
   

3. Copy the Diagram into the Family
   Copy and paste the detail lines from your project into the Generic Model Family.
   Add Text Labels directly into the family to identify each portion of the building (e.g., “Part A,” “Part B”).
   
   

4. Create Filled Regions
   Use Filled Regions to shade each building part.
   Apply solid fills (grey) to match the firm’s visual standards for key plans.
   
   

5. Add Visibility Parameters
   Assign each filled region its own Instance-Based Yes/No Visibility Parameter (e.g., Show_Part_A, Show_Part_B).
   These will allow you to turn each part of the building on/off per sheet in the project.
   Note: For Life Safety sheets, do not toggle these off — the full building must remain visible.
   
   

6. Load the Family into Your Project
   Save the family with a clear name (e.g., KeyPlan_Generic_FAID).
   Load it into your Revit project and place it in the bottom right corner of each sheet, adjacent to the sheet number.
   
   

7. Adjust Visibility Per Sheet
   For all sheets except Life Safety, you may use the visibility parameters to highlight only the portion relevant to the sheet.
   For Life Safety Sheets, leave all building parts visible — this ensures code reviewers see the entire project layout. It is also a Forum Standard that in Life Safety, the entire floor plan is shown.

Egress Paths

• On every floor of a structure, there will be a Unit for every Exit. That Unit is selected with a calculated distance determined by the building's shape, size, and possible fire sprinkler use. These Units will be used to calculate egress. For these Units only, three egress paths will be provided.

• The first is the FBC (Florida Building code), where the travel path's start point is the Unit's farthest point from the unit exit door to the lowest level of the building's corresponding Exit.

• The second and third are for NFPA ( National Fire Protection Association). The first of the two NFPA paths is within the Unit, where the start point of the travel path is the farthest point in the Unit from the unit exit door. The second NFPA path is from the Unit Exit door to the lowest level of the building's corresponding Exit.

• FBC and NFPA paths are not to overlap.

Egress Railing Family (Display)

• View Filter - Filter for Railings, Type Name = Egress Path of Travel, Lines = Dash 3/32", Weight = 5