Time to phase…

Phases are a pretty difficult animal in Revit to wrap your head around.  The reason it is difficult is that the functionality works a little differently that is expected.   Architects have very specific uses for Phases while designing and working on a project.  Revit doesn’t always mesh with those uses exactly.

The most common problem with phasing is that users can’t get objects to display the way they would like to in a view.  This problem actually contains 5 different parts.  View properties, Phases, Phase filters, Graphic Overrides, and finally the properties for a object.  In order for the objects to display correctly all of these things must be setup correctly.  If any one thing is not correct, the objects in the phase will not look correct.  Three of these items are all controlled in the Phasing dialog box so let’s take a look at that first.

Above is the Phase Dialog showing the Project Phases tab.  The important thing to note here is that there are the words FUTURE and PAST in this dialog and your projects phases are in-between.  This is a time line of your project and where each phase is placed determines how it displays in relation to the phases around it. 

There is not an indication of what the current phase of the project is.  This is something that is set in the View properties, as each view can have a different phase set as the phase for that view.  A common mistake with Project Phases is that users create a Demolition phase.  Demolish is actually already defined in Revit as a Phase Status and creating a project phase for just demolition is a very frequent offender of display problems.  This is where Revit doesn’t exactly work like an Architect thinks.  

It’s pretty common to say for an Architect that there is a phase where all the demolition occurs before you actually start any new construction.  However, Revit sees demolished objects differently.  It sees demolished objects as a state of being for the object and not a phase of the project.  Revit does this so that a object that is demolished during construction can also be shown as a existing object at certain points in the project (like when showing existing conditions). 

I am going to flip over to the Graphics override tab which should help to explain this further.

This dialog tells you the four statuses that any object in Revit can have at any time.  These are the only phase statuses that are available; unfortunately, you cannot add your own to the list.   The phase status of an object is determined by which phase the view is set to display in view Properties.  If your view is set to the phase of Existing, any object that was created in the Existing phase (has a property saying it was created in Existing) will display as having a phase status of New.  This can be a little tricky to wrap your head around because in Revit we name our Project Phases very similar to the Phase Statuses.

Instead of naming your Project Phases: Existing, New Construction, etc, try naming them: Phase 1, Phase 2, etc.  This makes understanding the statuses of an object easier.  Here’s a list to show you how Revit determines the Phases Status of an object.  This is right out of the Revit help file…

• New: Element was created in the phase of the current view.
• Existing: Element was created in an earlier phase and continues to exist in the current phase.
• Demolished: Element was created in an earlier phase and demolished in the current phase.
• Temporary: Element was created and demolished during the current phase.

It’s important to note that you do not have a Future phase status.  This means that you cannot display items in Revit that appear in a future phase.  You only have the ability to show what was and is done up to and including the phase that is set in the view properties of the view.   You can work-around this problem if you need to, but it can require changing all your graphic overrides and it might be easier just to draw the objects you need to future in the phase for that view and then manually override the display of the objects that are future.

Phase filters allow you to control how each of the above Phase Statuses display in a view.  For each phase status you only have three choices for each filter. 

• By Category - The display settings in Visibility and graphics for that view will be used to display any objects in that Phase Status. 
• Not Displayed –Any object that is that Phase Status will not display in the view
• Overridden – Any object that is that Phase Status will use the Graphic override that is set on the Graphic Overrides tab of the Phases dialog.  

With phase filters you can create as many filters as you want by adding new filters if needed or you can delete them as needed.   One thing to note about Phase Filters is that for Overridden objects, you only have one choice of the overrides used. 

All Phase filters have to use the same set of overrides on the graphics override tab and different phase filters can’t have different overrides.  Sometimes is necessary to use a filter that is set to By Category but use visibility and graphics to change the display of the objects of that Status to get the look you would like for your view.

The last two things to look at are view properties and object properties. 

     

View properties have a Phasing section that controls the phase for the view, and the phase filter that is being applied.  These two are taken right from the Phases dialog box. 

Almost every element or object in Revit has Phasing properties as well.  There are two properties here, Phase Created and Phase Demolished. This is exactly how it looks.  The phase that the object was created in and if the object was demolished, the phase it was demolished.  These two properties along with the Phase property for the view determine the Phase status for the object. 

In closing, phasing is a very powerful tool once you understand how it all functions work together.   It can take a little experimentation to get the display you would like, but just about any look is possible with the phasing.  

I know that this is along post, but hopefully, it has given you a little insight into phasing, how to works, and how you can use it. 

Comments

[David Thigpen]

One problem with phasing that tech support had not been able to explain to me is in a phase, trying to show demo items with existing and new (show all), the door jambs do not show up. Seems that the infill covers these up. Windows are okay. In residential plans somtimes we want to show demo this way rather than a separate demo plan. Any fix for this?

[Harlan Brumm]

A simply little fix for this issue is to add a symbolic line to the door family on top of the edge of the wall at the opening of the door. When the family is reloaded into the project, this will display the symbolic line on the wall edge when the door is placed in a existing wall.

A window will have the same bahavior, but by default the window frame is set to display in the family in a plan view, but again the wall edge does not display. Adding this symbolic line does not impact the family when it is displayed normally as this symbolic line is just on top of the edge of the wall opening.

Why this happens is a little more complex. What is occuring is that the geometry of the demolished infill is actually displaying as if it is joined to the wall because both the wall and the demolished wall are shown in the phase filter for that view. Change the phase filter (or make a new one) so that it does not display demolished objects and the wall edges will display again. Hopefully, this is helpful.

[Maria Espinoza]

trying to figure out why the phases are only mapping in one direction

Scenerio:
Core and shell central (118) is linked to interior buildout central(119) and vice versa overlay. Both link in structural central and copy monitor grids.
118 shows all existing demo and new from 119
119 shows only new from 118
Both show copy monitored grids from each other. The revit link properties show phase mapping as equall. They appear to be correctly positioned with regards to elevation. When I vv per view and change revit link by linked view globally it doesn't show. When I change linked view via custom and select the matching view (plan elevation and 3d)it shows. I want to use view templates and am trying to avoid the by linked view. Shouldn't this be bidirectional? Each file has existing on an existing workset as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
OH Phasing we have display by show all in all phases and seems to work pretty well in each file. We need to demo in domolition phase. demo shows as existing in the existing phase and demo in demo and does not show in new construction. Phase created for all objects in both files is existing.

Thanks in advance
Maria
bewildered

[Harlan Brumm]

This sounds like a complex issue and there could be a lot of variables. I would recommend contacting your reseller or Autodesk Product Support for assistance resolving this issue. For the demo in demolish problem, you should not create demolish phases in Revit. Demolish is a phase State in Revit and will cause problems if you create a phase called demolished. I would combine the demolish phase with the next phase in the Phases dialog box. Hope this helps

[Roderick]

I'd like to show existing walls as white filled and new walls as gray filled in a floor plan. I was hoping the Graphic Overrides in Phasing dialog box would do the trick, but no luck. Have you run across this issue?

[Harlan Brumm]

You can show this. You will need to make sure that your phase filter for your view is set to Override the objects with a New phase status. By default most phase filters are set to By Category so you will need to change this for the phase filter you are using in your view. Hope this helps.

[George Duncan]

Got a question that has me stumped. How can you break up a large floor plan into separate phases, including the demolition phases?

For example, a project has several departments within the same floor. The goal is to demo just portions of the floor and build new. When complete, demo another portion and build new. This creates an issue with MEP because they're not sure where the phases end on the model. Is there a way to assign a portion of the plan as phase 1, phase 2, phase 3 etc, and also demo 1, demo 2 and demo 3? Then, for example, have a view that shows phase 1, demo 2, and remaining existing?

[Harlan Brumm]

So the correct way to have this work for Revit is to create phases for Existing, Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 and then create different views for each Phase and set the view properties for each view to the phase that that view needs to display. So for a view that needs to show Phase 1, set the Phase for the view to Phase 1. Then use the demolish tool in that view to demolish everything you need to demolish in that Phase. When you switch to another view, like Phase 2, and start demolishing objects, the demolished objects in Phase 1 will not display. You should be careful not to create any phases just from demolished objects. Demolish is a phase state in Revit and should not be a actual phase. If you need more help, I would recommend contacting your local Autodesk Reseller or Autodesk Product Support and we will be happy to help.

[ndelalio]

Is there a way to demolish an opening into a wall that is an existing phase? I want to cut an opening in an existing wall and have the opening show up as demolished, so far I am only able to demolish the whole wall or place an opening in a wall but not to demolish a portion of a wall.
thank you.

[NancyM]

Ont thing that is important to note is that Phases CANNOT be reordered in time. They can be merged with a prior or later phase, but not 'moved up or down' in the timeline. For firms who don't know the sequence of various sub-projects, they may wish to consider Design Options rather than setting up Phases which are then fixed in time!

[Matthew Barbour]

Is there a way to have a demolished wall appear as transparent in plan? ie no fill at all?

The problem I have is where an existing wall which has been demolised crosses a new wall the white fill of the existing wall shows up and not the black fill of the new.

Is this a wall properties thing ie "joint properties or a demolished properties thing?

Help!!

[Mike Ryley]

Is There a way to show an Overall Demo Plan for a Multiple Phased project?