Revit Tip: Revit Phasing Best Practices for Renovation Documentation

Phasing in Revit is the backbone of clear renovation documentation—use it to distinguish existing, demolition, temporary, and new work with precision.

• Set up phases deliberately
  • Manage > Phases: Define a simple sequence—Existing, (optional) Temporary, New Construction, and Future if needed.
  • Keep the phase list lean; too many phases complicate coordination and schedules.
• Establish graphic standards once
  • Manage > Phases > Graphic Overrides:
    • Existing: halftone and lighter line weight.
    • Demolished: dashed red (or your firm standard) for clear demo plans.
    • New: bold and solid for emphasis.
  • Save these settings to your project template and distribute via your standards library. For help building robust templates, consult NOVEDGE.
• Use view templates to lock behavior
  • Existing Conditions: Phase = Existing, Phase Filter = Show Complete.
  • Demolition Plans: Phase = New Construction, Phase Filter = Show Previous + Demo.
  • New Work Plans: Phase = New Construction, Phase Filter = Show New.
  • Final/Permit Views: Phase = New Construction, Phase Filter = Show Complete.
  • Control phase and filter in view templates to prevent accidental overrides.
• Modeling discipline that avoids rework
  • Model existing elements in the Existing phase.
  • Demolition occurs in a later phase than creation—never the same phase.
  • Temporary work: Create in “Temporary,” demolish in “New Construction” so it only appears when needed.
  • Doors/windows: Demolish the hosted component (not the wall) to auto-infill the opening; demolishing the wall removes hosted elements automatically.
  • When removing only a portion of a wall, Split Element first—avoid phase-mixing via edited profiles.
  • Groups: You can’t demolish a single instance inside a group—exclude or ungroup to manage selective demolition.
• Schedules that tell the right story
  • Add Phase Created and Phase Demolished to schedules for clear filtering.
  • Create dedicated schedules:
    • Existing to remain (Created = Existing, Demolished = None).
    • Demolition (Demolished = New Construction or your chosen phase).
    • New work (Created = New Construction, Demolished = None).
• Link coordination without confusion
  • Use By Linked View to respect a consultant’s phase graphics where appropriate.
  • Map host and link phases via Link Type Properties > Phase Mapping so “Existing” aligns with “Existing,” etc.
  • Document your firm’s phase naming so all teams stay synchronized. Need best-practice templates? Explore NOVEDGE resources and training.
• Quality checks before you print
  • Run a schedule to find elements Created = Existing but incorrectly Demolished = None when they should be removed.
  • Verify view templates: audit Phase and Phase Filter across all plotted views.
  • Use a 3D view with Section Box and Phase Filter = Show Previous + Demo to visually validate demolition scope.

A disciplined phasing setup clarifies scope, reduces RFIs, and streamlines takeoffs. If you’re standardizing phasing across offices or need licensing and implementation guidance, NOVEDGE can help you evaluate the right Revit configurations, add-ins, and training to accelerate adoption.

You can find all the Revit products on the NOVEDGE web site at this page.