Phases in Revit are used to simplify the creation of Renovation or Multi-Phases projects.

Instead of manually drafting dashed lines to represent demolished walls, using phases automates the process and produce the correct graphic representation much more easily.

All of this sounds confusing? Don’t worry, these tips got you covered.

1- CREATE ALL NECESSARY PHASES

To access all Phases options, go to Phases menu in the Manage tab. The first thing you need to do is set the phases you require.

RENOVATION PROJECT: In most Revit templates, the basic phases are Existing and New. For most project, this is all you will need. A common mistake is to create a Demolition phase. There is no need for that: demolished elements can be set for demolition in the New phase.

MULTIPLE PHASES PROJECT: If you have a big project with multiple construction phases, create as many phases as required. You can simply call them Phase1, Phase2, or use more descriptive terms.

2- SET ELEMENTS TO CORRECT PHASE

Each view is set to a specific phase. When creating a new element, it will be associated to the same phase as the view.

Below, we create a bunch of walls and doors. They are all set to New phase by default. Let’s say we decide the interior wall and door are existing element, you have to select them and set them to existing phase. As you see, they become gray when their phase is changed.

3- USE HAMMER TO DEMOLISH ELEMENTS

To demolish stuff in Revit, you need to use the Magic Hammer of Destruction, located in the Modify tab. Click on the element you want to demolish and it will be set to “demolished” in the current phase.

You can also simply select an element and set the “New” phase in Phase Demolishedproperties.

4- UNDERSTAND PHASE FILTERS AND GRAPHIC OVERRIDES

Phase Filters is how you decide to view elements relative to phases. Revit comes with a bunch of default phase filters that should cover most situations. You have 3 options for each element category: By Category, Overridden or Not Displayed.

When you select Overridden category, elements will display with the overrides selected in this menu. For example, in a demolition plan we set a graphic overrides to demolished elements so they appear with dashed lines and no cut pattern.

Overrides can be customized to fit your need. Below, we modify cut patterns and lines for existing and demolished elements.

Overrides can also be used for Materials. Below, we modify the material override for demolished elements.

Here is an overview of the some of the default Phase Filters available in Revit:

5- USE THESE PHASE FILTERS FOR YOUR VIEWS

Now that you understand how phase filters works, here is how you should use them for the most common view types:

6- CREATE SEPARATE WALLS TO DEMOLISH FINISH

A frequent renovation case is to demolish the finish of an exterior wall but keep the rest of the wall elements. In this case you should model two separate walls: one containing the exterior finish, the other containing the rest of the wall. Then, set the exterior finish to be demolished.

In the new plan, we add the new exterior finish, that display as white over the existing grey wall.

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