Imported site plan location in Z?

[Kirk Bricker]

Training?

I have a building drawn in Revit base on 0'-0" FFE. I bring in a civil .dwg file from a consultant to create a toposurface. I can locate the imported contours .dwg file in relation to a plan view and the x,y location. My question is how I locate this file in relation to the Z value. Do I use shared coordinates? Does Revit just place the contours at 0'-0" automatically? The contours might be set at a 900 ft Z elevation and it is difficult to locate the file in Revit after you place it.

[Gadget Man]

Imported DWG surveyor's file is placed on a "current" level with an offset of "0.00" (see picture below). You can change both after placement in a Element Property dialog box.

In my case, I always create a special shared level I call AHD (Australian Height Datum) which is an Australian version of a "Sea level" (0.00). This level is assigned the elevation of 0.00 (you guessed).

All my model parts (buildings, topography, etc.) are created then by either:

a) linking Revit files (if I use a linked Revit file containing my building/s) or
b) modelling all other geometry in the same file

For any method used I place all the project-related levels on their real elevations - e.g. if a Ground Floor FFL is to be at RL 57.500 then I place it 57.500 above my AHD (0.00)

Sharing co-ordinates you only have to do if you have two or more files to co-ordinate. If you create everything within one Revit file you have nothing to co-ordinate. Unless you want to co-ordinate the underlying DWG surveyor's file, but you need to do it only when you want to maintain the link between them (if it's likely that this DWG file will somehow change, so you can then simply reload it into project). I normally don't see the reason to do it, because even if you reload this DWG file you still have to re-create the topography manually, so what's the point? It's as easy to delete the old one and import new DWG then. But that's for me - other may feel different...

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[Kirk Bricker]

Thanks for the reply,

We have been creating our site plans in a seperate files and linking the both files into each other. This process has been workiing for us. I have never used shared coordinates in the 6 years of using Revit. At the beginning of the project I just move the building and site to match each other than motor on. If the building grows or shrinks I just adjust the site link to match. I am just a little fuzzy still how to match up a imported .dwg file in the Z, because there isn't anything to snap to in elevation and move the file where it needs to be.

Kirk

[Gadget Man]

... I am just a little fuzzy still how to match up a imported .dwg file in the Z, because there isn't anything to snap to in elevation and move the file where it needs to be.

Kirk

No, you don't phisically move the imported DWG file by dragging it.

You just specify its associated base level and any offset (you can leave it at 0.0).

So, if you highlight your DWG import in Revit (your normal working window) then you should be able to click on the Properties Button and there you can change its associated base level and/or, if this is not possible/convenient, you can specify the offset. It can be positive (up) or negative (down).

So, in other words, this is how you move your whole DWG file up or down in elevation.