Revit Room Schedule to Compare Actual versus Program Area

When designing a building, we will often start out with a Program of Requirements that defines the required square footage of each room that is needed in the facility.  As the building is divided into rooms with walls and room separator lines, actual room sizes become defined.  Since the floor plan is continually modified throughout the design process to create a functional and code-compliant layout, room sizes continually change and sometimes become quite different than the desired area as established in the Program of Requirements.

Having a schedule that displays both the Actual area and the Program area is a great way to ensure that the actual room sizes remain near the program room sizes.  The following steps show how to create a schedule that not only shows actual and program areas for a room, but also shows the difference in both actual area and a percentage relationship.  Since projects typically desire that the actual area be within 10% of the program area, we will have the schedule flag the rooms in red that are not within the 10% tolerance.  Before the following process is followed, a Room-based parameter named “Program Area” needs created that will contain the required Program Area for that room.  The final schedule will be sorted by the Department parameter assigned for the Room.

1. On the ribbon, go to the View tab and select the Schedules function from the Create panel.  From the drop-down list, select the Schedule/Quantities option.
2. In the New Schedule dialog box, select Rooms from the Category section and name the schedule something like Room Area Schedule.  Pick the OK button.
3. In the Schedule Properties dialog box, choose the following Available fields:
   1. Department
   2. Name
   3. Number
   4. Area
   5. Program Area (This parameter should have been added as a Shared Parameter earlier.)
4. Select the Add Parameter… button in the middle of the dialog box.
5. In the Calculated Value dialog box,
   1. Type the Name as Area Difference
   2. Specify the Type as Area
   3. Type in the Formula of Area–Program Area (this is case-sensitive)
   4. Pick the OK button.
      
6. Select the Add Parameter… button in the middle of the dialog box.
7. In the Calculated Value dialog box,
   1. Type the Name as Area Percentage
   2. Specify the Type as Number
   3. Type in the Formula of Area/Program Area (this is case-sensitive)
   4. Pick the OK button.
      
8. In the Schedule Properties dialog box, go to the Sorting/Grouping tab.
9. Adjust the settings to match the following illustration.

 

10.  In the Schedule Properties dialog box, go to the Formatting tab.

11.  In the Fields area, highlight the Area Difference parameter.

12.  Place a checkmark next to Calculate totals.

13.  Pick the Conditional Format… button.

14.  In the Conditional Formatting dialog box, change the Background Color to Red and change the following conditions:

1. Field = Area Percentage (note that this is not Area Difference)
2. Test = Not Between
3. Value = 90
4. Value = 110

 

15.  Pick the OK button.

16.  In the Fields area, highlight the Area Percentage parameter.

17.  Pick the Conditional Format… button.

18.  In the Conditional Formatting dialog box, change the Background Color to Red and change the following conditions (identical to the Area Difference formatting):

1. Field = Area Percentage
2. Test = Not Between
3. Value = 90
4. Value = 110

19.   Pick the OK buttons to exit the dialog boxes.