Revit Tip: Precise Property Boundaries and Site Component Placement in Revit

Today’s tip focuses on creating reliable property boundaries and placing site components so your site plan is precise, readable, and coordination-ready.

Start with coordinates and units:

• Link the survey first (DWG or RVT) and establish shared coordinates via Acquire/Publish before drawing property lines. This ensures bearings and distances align with the surveyor’s system.
• Set angle units to Degrees–Minutes–Seconds if your legal description uses DMS; avoid mixing decimal degrees. Manage Units to define rounding and symbols before you enter bearings.
• Work in True North for site drafting; reserve Project North for building documentation. Use a Site view template that surfaces Site categories clearly.

Create property lines correctly:

• Prefer “Create by Table” using the deed’s bearings and distances. It’s auditable and easy to revise via Edit Table if the survey updates.
• When tracing from a linked survey, verify snapping to the link (not to imported linework you accidentally pasted). Keep the CAD file linked, not imported, and cleaned of extraneous layers beforehand.
• Close the loop exactly; review total perimeter and computed area against the surveyor’s figures for QA. Tiny closure errors often come from unit rounding—tighten angle/length precision if needed.
• Pin the completed property line and place it on a dedicated Site/Survey workset to protect it from accidental edits.

Make the boundary readable:

• Use Object Styles and a dedicated Line Style for property boundaries (weight and pattern) that prints clearly on both site and permit sheets.
• Add setback and easement graphics as model lines or toposolid sub-divisions (for fill patterns and material differentiation). Keep legal boundaries distinct from zoning overlays.
• Label area and key notes on the sheet, not just the working view. Consider a legend/detail that lists bearings and distances pulled from your Edit Table for submittals.

Place site components with intent:

• Host site families properly. For sloped sites, place on face (Toposolid) or use work plane–based components. Avoid “Always vertical” on elements that must conform to grade.
• Use the right categories: Planting for trees (with height/seasonal parameters), Site for furniture/fixtures, Parking for stalls—this preserves visibility control, schedules, and filters.
• Control elevation of site components with Spot Elevations and check cut/fill impacts if pads or grade modifications are nearby.
• Leverage view filters by category/parameter to color-code accessibility fixtures, lighting zones, and planting types for quick reviews.

Quality control and coordination:

• Cross-check the perimeter and area with the surveyor’s report each time you receive a revised survey.
• If parcels or legal boundaries are under review, use Design Options for alternate lot configurations instead of overwriting the main property line.
• For multi-building campuses, keep the site as a master model and link buildings in—publish shared coordinates to all child models for consistent stakeout.

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