When you have many electrical devices, light fixtures or other items in a Revit project file, it is easy to miss one getting placed on a circuit. While un-circuited devices will display in the System Browser, it is nice to be able to have a quick visual check on a plan view for any of them. We can do this through creating a custom View Filter. The following image shows the impact of using a filter to show un-circuited items.
To create a Filter, go to the View tab and select the Filter function from the Graphics panel. In the Filters dialog box, select the New… button. In the Filter Name dialog box, type in a name such as “Electrical – Uncircuited Devices”. Select the Define Criteria option and pick the OK button.
In the Filters dialog box, place a checkmark next to the Electrical Fixtures category. In the Filter Rules area, filter by Panel parameter, then select Equals from the dropdown list. Leave the next box empty. Pick the OK button when finished.
After the filter has been created, it needs to be assigned to a view. Go to the desired view and type VV or VG to go into the visibility graphics overrides for the view. In the Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialog box for the view, go to the Filters tab. Pick the Add button at the bottom of the dialog box. In the Add Filters dialog box, pick the Electrical – Uncircuited Devices filter and pick the OK button.
After adding the filter to the view, pick the Override button under the Lines heading. In the Line Graphics dialog box, pick on the Color and change it to Red. Pick the OK button.
Electrical Fixtures/Devices will now display as Red if they have not been circuited to an electrical panel. They will instantly change color from red as soon as you add it to a circuit.
This process works with the various categories that have the Panel parameter available. This includes:
- Communication Devices
- Data Devices
- Electrical Fixtures
- Fire Alarm Devices
- Lighting Devices
- Lighting Fixtures
- Nurse Call Devices
- Security Devices
- Specialty Equipment
- Telephone Devices
- Wires
Note that this process does not work with electrical panels or other items of the Electrical Equipment category. However, a similar process can be used to create a filter for Electrical Equipment that looks at the parameter Supply From instead of Panel as noted above.