Revit Tip: Master Revit Wall Placement with the Correct Location Line

When creating walls in Revit, selecting the correct Location Line is one of the simplest ways to improve model accuracy, coordination, and documentation quality. The Location Line defines the reference point Revit uses when placing, moving, dimensioning, and modifying a wall.

Before drawing a wall, look at the Options Bar and choose the appropriate Location Line. Common choices include:

• Wall Centerline – Places the wall based on its overall center, which can be useful for conceptual layouts or symmetrical assemblies.
• Core Centerline – Aligns the wall using the center of its structural core. This is often helpful for structural coordination.
• Finish Face: Interior – Places the wall according to the inside finished face, ideal when interior room dimensions are critical.
• Finish Face: Exterior – Uses the exterior finish face, commonly selected when exterior building dimensions must remain fixed.
• Core Face: Interior and Core Face: Exterior – Align the wall to one side of its core, making them useful when structural faces must coordinate with columns, grids, or consultant models.

A strong workflow is to decide which wall face represents the project’s controlling dimension before you begin modeling. For example, an architect may need exterior finish faces to align with a zoning envelope, while the structural team may use core faces to align framing and columns. The correct answer depends on the project’s documentation standards, but consistency is essential.

Using a proper Location Line offers several benefits:

• More reliable dimensions: Dimensions can reference the intended finished or core face instead of requiring frequent corrections.
• Cleaner coordination: Walls can align more predictably with structural grids, column faces, curtain wall systems, and linked consultant models.
• Safer type changes: If a wall type changes thickness, the selected Location Line can preserve the face that must remain in position.
• Better room layouts: Interior finish-face placement can help maintain intended room sizes when wall assemblies are revised.
• Reduced rework: Establishing the correct reference from the start prevents widespread adjustments later in the project.

For example, imagine an exterior wall initially modeled as a 12-inch assembly and later revised to include thicker insulation or cladding. If the wall was placed using Finish Face: Exterior, the exterior envelope remains fixed while the added thickness moves inward. Conversely, if the structural core must stay aligned with grids, use a core-based Location Line so the structure does not shift when finish layers change.

It is also important to understand that a wall’s Location Line can be adjusted after placement. Select the wall and review its properties to confirm the current location reference. However, changing the Location Line after a project is heavily documented can move the wall and affect joins, hosted elements, dimensions, room boundaries, and tags. Make this change deliberately and review the results in plan, elevation, and section views.

For office-wide consistency, include wall placement rules in your Revit template and BIM execution plan. Define whether typical exterior walls are controlled by finish face, core face, or centerline, and apply the same logic across design teams. This small standard can have a major impact on model reliability.

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