Learning how to change Revit units can affect many aspects of your projects, including length, area, volume, angle, and more.
You can change the units for the entire project at once, for a specific dimension family, or for a specific tag type.
In this blog post, you’ll learn three ways to change units in Revit and how to match them to the dimensions and tags already in the template or project.
Method 1 – Project Units
Details: Change units of the entire Revit project.
This affects all views and sheets and is useful if you want to switch between the widely used metric system and the imperial system used mainly in the United States. You can also combine metric and imperial units or set alternate units for dimensions.
Step 1 – Go to the Manage tab > Settings panel > click Project Units
This will open the Project Units dialog box, where you can see the current units for each category.
Step 2 – Select a Unit Type from the formats column
Click on the unit type you want to change, such as Length, Area, Volume, etc.
Step 3 – Drop-down the Change Units menu to make changes
Choose from different unit systems, such as Metric or Imperial.
Step 4 – Click OK
Changes will be applied to the project. You can click Apply to see the changes without closing the dialog box.
It’s the easiest and most comprehensive way to change units because it affects all elements and annotations in the project.
However, it does not change the names of the families loaded into the project. So a wall type named “3” bricks will not change when the project units are changed to metric.
It may also be inappropriate in some situations, such as when you want to keep the original units of some dimensions or labels. In these cases, you can use the following methods to override the project units for specific elements.
Method 2 – Dimension Units
Details: Change units of dimension families that you have created or placed in your views.
This option is useful if you want to override the project units for certain dimensions, or if you want to change the units of existing dimensions that may remain in the wrong format after you change the project units.
- Select the dimension you want to modify.
- In the Properties palette > click Edit Type.
- Duplicate the dimension type if you want to limit the changes.
- Enter a new name for the new dimensions type > click OK.
- Click the box in the Units Format field to change the units.
- Uncheck the “Use project settings” to change units.
- Drop-down the Units menu to select a system.
- Click OK.
- Click the “Alternate Units Format” box to add a second unit system.
- Click OK.
Note: Setting alternate units allows you to display both units in the same dimension component.
This method allows you to customize the units of each dimension type, which can be useful for displaying different units for different audiences or purposes. Learn how to match properties in Revit to apply the same family type to different dimensions in the view.
Unfortunately, this can be time-consuming if you have many different dimension families in your project, or if you want to change the units of other types of elements, such as tags.
Method 3 – Tag Units
Details: Change units of tags that you have created or placed in your views, such as wall tags or room tags.
To change the units of tags:
- Go to the Annotate tab > Tag panel > click Tag by Category.
- Click on the wall > left-click to insert the tag.
- Select the tag.
- Go to the Modify tab > Mode panel > click Edit Family.
- Select the label within the family view.
- In the Label panel, click Edit Label.
- Click Length on the menu > Add Parameter to Label.
- Repeat adding Length as a parameter for multiple units.
- Select the parameter > click Format on the lower toolbar.
- Uncheck “Use project settings” > select Units from the drop-down menu.
- Click OK.
- In the Family Editor panel, click Load into Project.
- Click “Overwrite the existing version and its parameter values”.
You can then display different units in Revit for different elements or annotations. For example, the area of a room in square meters and the elevation of a spot elevation in feet.
We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to change units in Revit and how to apply those changes to dimensions and tags. Let us know in the comments if you have any challenges with units.
Mohamed Fakhry has helped thousands of architects and designers find their next project with step-by-step guidance on his blog, mashyo.com. About Mohamed
His journey began during his university years when he recognized the need for information-rich 3D models to accelerate learning and improve production processes. Now, Mohamed shares his expertise through Revit tutorials that are accessible to all.
