Revit Schedules with Desired Mechanical Equipment

Revit has objects divided into various preset Categories which makes it easy to manage.  However, it also creates issues when you use the Mechanical Equipment category since it includes so many different types of equipment.  These different types of equipment are typically scheduled separately, so some process needs to be used to separate Mechanical Equipment families into different schedules.

A good way to specify differences between types of equipment is to create a Shared Parameter that is assigned to all objects in the Mechanical Equipment category.  The schedule then uses a filter based upon that Shared Parameter to determine what elements will display in the schedule.  (This same Shared Parameter can also be used in a filter to show specific types of equipment in a view.)

The following process is one that I have found to work well with getting Mechanical Equipment to schedule as desired:

Setting up the Parameter

• Go to the Manage tab, and select the Shared Parameters command from the Settings panel.
• In the Edit Shared Parameters dialog box, make sure that your company’s Shared Parameters file is specified in the top box.
• Change the Parameter Group to be Identity Data.  This is for organizational purposes only and is not required, but it helps users to better understand where they should place this parameter when it is added later to a project or family.
• Select the “New…” button under the Parameters heading on the right side of the dialog box.
• In the Parameter Properties dialog box, create a new parameter with the following conditions:
  • Name = Schedule Designation
  • Discipline = Common
  • Type of Parameter = Text
• Pick the OK buttons to exit the dialog boxes.

Assigning the Parameter

• The Schedule Designation parameter may added to individual families or set up as a project parameter to be automatically assigned to all families in a project that belong to the Mechanical Equipment category.  In this article, we will use the latter process to ensure that every piece of Mechanical Equipment contains this parameter.
• In the desired project template or project file, go to the Manage tab, and select the Project Parameters command from the Settings panel.
• In the Project Parameters dialog box, pick the “Add…” button.
• In the Parameter Properties dialog box, select the Shared Parameter option. then pick the “Select…” button.
• In the Shared Parameters dialog box, select the Identity Data parameter group, then select the “Schedule Designation” parameter.  Pick the OK button.
• Back in the Parameter Properties dialog box, specify the following properties for the “Schedule Designation” parameter:
  • Type based
  • Group parameter under = Identity Data
  • Place a checkmark next to Mechanical Equipment in the Categories section on the right side.
• Pick the OK button.
• All Mechanical Equipment families that are loaded into the project file will now have this “Schedule Designation” parameter appear in the Identity Data section of the family’s type properties.

Creating the Filter in a Schedule

• Create a schedule based upon the Mechanical Equipment category.  Add the fields that are desired to be in the schedule.
• Be sure and add the “Schedule Designation” field.
• After adding the desired fields, go to the Filter tab of the Schedule Properties dialog box.
  • In the Filter by option box, select the “Schedule Designation” option.
  • In the box to the right of Schedule Designation, select the “equals” option.
  • In the empty box under “Schedule Designation“, type in the value that is specific for this schedule.
    • The schedule will only display items in this schedule that have this value typed in the Schedule Designation parameter for Mechanical Equipment families.
    • The text typed in this box must be EXACTLY like it is typed in the Schedule Designation parameter for families.
  • The following image illustrates having a schedule for Mechanical Equipment that are considered “VAV”.

  

  • Note that it is likely that you will want to make this field Hidden so that it does not appear in the schedule.  This is done in the Formatting tab by selecting this field and placing a checkmark next to Hidden Field.

Note that any Mechanical Equipment families that do not contain a value in this parameter will not display in any schedule.  Therefore, it is a good idea to have an additional working Mechanical Equipment schedule that uses the same filter as above, except that the value is empty (instead of the “VAV” example shown).  This schedule will display any Mechanical Equipment families that have not been assigned a value for the Schedule Designation parameter so that a value can be assigned.

It may also be advantageous to assign the Schedule Designation parameter to the Air Terminals, Plumbing Fixtures, and Generic Models categories.

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