Are you wondering how to effectively use Revit design options? How do you create, manage, and apply them to your model?

Design options allow you to explore different design scenarios for your Revit project. You can create multiple versions of the same model and compare them side-by-side without affecting the main model.

This allows you to test different ideas, present them to your audience, and choose the one that best meets your design goals.

Here’s a 7-step guide.

Complete as much of the model as possible

Creating as much of the model as possible before adding options will save you time and effort later because you won’t have to repeat steps for each option.

For example, if you are designing a building, you should create the basic structure, such as walls, floors, roofs, doors, windows, and so on, before you create design options. These elements are likely to be common to all options and don’t need to be changed.

However, if you are designing something that has more variations, such as furniture, fixtures, finishes, etc., you should create them after you create design options. These elements will likely be different for each option and will need to be modified.

Create Design Options

Assign a design option to each problem. This allows you to easily navigate the solutions to a main problem and its subproblems.

Steps

  1. Go to the Manage tab > click Design Options.
  2. In the Design Options dialog box, click on New under Option Set.
  3. Enter a name for the option set and click OK.
  4. Click on New under Options to create a new option within the option set.
  5. Enter a name for the option and click OK.
  6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to create more options within the same option set.
create design options in Revit

It’s best to create design options for each design problem that you want to solve. A design problem is a specific aspect of your project that has more than one possible solution.

If you are designing a kitchen, some of the design problems may be cabinet layout, color and material of appliances, style and location of furniture, etc.

You can name the design option set according to the design problem it represents. For example, “Kitchen layout” or “Facade transparency”.

Add elements to the design option

To add elements from other sources to a design option:

  1. In the View Control bar, drop-down the Design Options selector.
  2. Insert or load the elements that you want to add to the option.
  3. Place or position them anywhere in your model.
add elements to design options

You can also add elements from the main model or from other sources, such as families or groups.

To add elements from the main model to a design option:

  1. Select the elements that you want to add to the design option.
  2. Go to the Manage bar > Design Options panel > click Add to Set.
  3. In the Add to Design Options set window, select sets.
  4. Click OK.
transfer elements to design option

Dedicate a view to each option

Use dedicated views to view and compare your different options.

Dedicated views are views that are assigned to a specific option set or option. They allow you to isolate and display only the elements that belong to that option set or option.

To create a dedicated view for an option set or option in Revit:

  1. Go to the View tab > Create panel > drop-down Duplicate View.
  2. Select Duplicate with Detailing or Duplicate as Dependent.
  3. Type a name for the new view, such as “View – Option 1” > click OK.
  4. Go to the Properties palette > Visibility/Graphics Overrides > click Edit.
  5. For each design option set, select the design option to display in this view.
dedicated views for options

You can create multiple dedicated views for different option sets or options and arrange them on sheets or on your screen. This makes it easy to see and compare your different options and choose the best one for your project.

Learn more about duplicating views

Annotate options with dedicated views

To add option-specific annotations, you must use dedicated views.

  1. Assign a design option to each dedicated view.
  2. Add annotations and other view-specific elements to each view.

You can also use filters, visibility graphics, and view templates to control how your options are displayed in dedicated views.

Learn more about annotations

Dedicate a schedule to each option

As with views, duplicate your schedules and then assign a schedule to each option.

To dedicate a schedule to a design option:

  1. Duplicate the main model schedule.
  2. Rename the new schedule to “Schedule – Option 1” to distinguish it.
  3. Open the new schedule.
  4. Go to the Properties palette > Visibility/Graphics Overrides > click Edit.
  5. For each design option set, select the design option to display in this schedule.
schedules for design options

You can create multiple schedules for different option sets or options and arrange them on sheets or on your screen to view and compare data about your different options.

Learn more about schedules

Apply the options

Applying an option means making it the primary option and deleting all other options within the same option set.

This will update your main model with the selected option and remove any unnecessary elements.

To apply an option to the main model in Revit:

  1. In the Design Options dialog box, select the option you want to apply.
  2. Click on “Make Primary” under Options.
  3. Click on “Accept Primary” under Option Set.
  4. Click “Accept Primary” to confirm.
apply option

✨ Tip: Apply the option only after you have selected the best one for your project.

I hope this was useful! Thanks for reading.