Pipe Flanges defined at the connector, not in the Pipe type

[Wish List System]

Summary: Not all pipe fittings and accessories for a given pipe type have flange connections. Flange connections should be defined at the pipe connector on the family

Description: It is not uncommon to have a piping system where the fittings have a different connections type from the pipe accessories. Elbows and tees might be welded connections yet the valves and other piping accessories might require flange connections.

Currently if you define a pipe type in Revit MEP with a Connection Type of Flanged, Revit will insert a flange between every connection between pipe and fittings or accessories. If the Connection Type is not Flanged and you manually place flanges, some modifications to the piping will remove the flanges.

It is the pipe connector in the family that should be driving the flange connection type since the family is built for the connection type. The pipe connector parameter should also be able to be linked to a family parameter to control connection type through parameters.

Product and Feature: Revit MEP - MEP Pipe (Rigid

Submitted By: Joe Fields on 07/24/2012

[jseck]

I posted a similar wish on the Autodesk Revit Ideas site almost two years ago and think it deserves serious consideration by Autodesk. http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-.../idi-p/5334891

For anyone modeling mechanical piping in Revit, multi-connection type pipe systems can be a pain because of the way routing preferences handle flanges. I agree with Joe Field's suggestion for making the connectors control the placement of flanges. It's very common to have welded pipe runs (e.g. bends and tees are welded) where you have in an inline valve that requires flanges on each side. In that case, you place the valve, pull the pipe back from the valve, place a flange on the end of the pipe and then drag the flange back over to the valve. Instead of it being a one-click process, it takes four actions. I worked on a project in which this had to be done hundreds of times. I recently upgraded that project from 2013 to 2016 and most everywhere I had manually placed those flanges were gone after the upgrade! I assume that during the upgrade process the pipe types are reapplied and since flanges aren't defined for welded pipe they get removed.

I'd like to expand on the idea. I think it's still valid to define the flange family within the routing preferences of the pipe types. However, whether or not that flange gets placed should be dependent on a connector setting. Otherwise, Revit wouldn't know WHICH flange to place when called for.