01Project settings

  • Units. Length in millimetres with no decimals for drawings, area in m² with two decimals, volume in m³. Manage → Project Units, once.
  • Project information. Every value a title block shows — client, address, project number, stage, author — as a Project Information parameter. Typed once, on every sheet.
  • Phases. At least Existing and New Construction, with phase filters that show demolition and new work in your office colours. Adding phases mid-project is painful.
  • Starting view. A cover or “read me” view, so the file does not open wherever someone last left it.

02The graphic standard

  • Line weights per scale (1:50, 1:100, 1:200), plus annotation and perspective weights. These few numbers decide how every printed sheet looks.
  • Line styles named for what they are. Pen 03 Dash tells you the weight you get. Line 7 tells you nothing.
  • Object styles: cut and projection weights and colours for every category, checked on paper, not only on screen.
  • Line and fill patterns: a short set, named for the material, drawn at the size they are used. Drafting and model patterns kept apart.
  • Materials with their cut and surface pattern and a colour, so sections and elevations are right without overrides.

Test: print one plan at 1:100 and one section at 1:50. If you reach for a marker to make anything thicker, the line weights are not finished.

03Text and dimension styles

  • Text types by height and colour, both in the name: 2.5mm_Black, 2.5mm_Red. A name that says what it is stops people making their own.
  • Dimension styles for linear, angular, radial and arc dimensions, spot elevations and coordinates, with the same font and ticks as the text.
  • One font across text, dimensions, tags and schedules.
Revit dimension styles named by text height and colour: 1.5mm, 2mm and 2.5mm in black and red
Black for ordinary sizes, red for values set by the zoning plan — and the colour is in the name.

04Annotation families

  • Tags for rooms, doors, windows, walls, floors, stairs and materials, loaded and set as the default for their category.
  • Level and grid heads, section and elevation marks, callout heads, a north arrow, a scale bar.
  • Only the tags you use. Every extra family is one more to pick wrongly.

05Views, view templates and the browser

  • View templates for plans, ceilings, elevations, sections, details and 3D, each with scale, detail level, visibility and filters.
  • Filters for what you want to see differently: fire ratings, phases, structure, demolition.
  • A Project Browser sorted the way your office works — by sheet, discipline or stage — so a new colleague finds a view without asking.
  • The typical views already made: one plan per level, four elevations, two sections.

06Sheets and title blocks

  • Title blocks in the ISO sizes you print: A4 to A0 for presentation, A3 to A0 for working drawings.
  • Labels that read Project Information and sheet parameters — never typed text.
  • A revision schedule inside the title block.
  • A starter set of numbered, named sheets, so the drawing list exists on day one.
Working title blocks in ISO A3, A2, A1 and A0, drawn to scale one inside the other
One title block on every format, A3 to A0. It keeps its size and its corner, so the sheet size can be decided late.

07Schedules and legends

  • Empty, formatted schedules for doors, windows, rooms and areas, walls, floors and materials, and a sheet list.
  • Legends for symbols, wall and floor build-ups, door and window types.
  • One header style and font in every schedule, so they read as one set.

08Families

  • Keep it lean: the wall, floor, roof and ceiling types you actually build with, and a small set of doors, windows and furniture.
  • Go parametric where sizes change on every project: windows, doors, kitchens, wardrobes, parking.

09Hygiene before you save

  • Purge unused families and types, delete imported CAD, clear the warnings.
  • Test it on a small real project and print a full set before anyone else uses it.
  • Save as .rte, one per Revit year, and write down what changed between versions.

The checklist

Tick what your template already has. Your ticks stay in this browser.

Want it on paper or for the whole office? Download the PDF version: the 15 steps in build order, with the menu path in Revit for each one and boxes you can tick right in the PDF. Free, no sign-up.

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How DATUM does it

The DATUM Revit template is this checklist, built and used on real projects in Sofia: 14 pens with the weight in the name, 34 fill patterns, 18 text types named by height and colour, ISO title blocks from A4 to A0, working sheets ready to draw on, legends, schedules and parametric families — in a Bulgarian and an International edition. If you would rather build your own, the list above is the order we would build it in.

DATUMThe DATUM Revit templateEvery line of this checklist, already done. BG and International editions.See what is inside →

Questions

What is the difference between a Revit template and a Revit project?

A template is an .rte file. Opening it does not change it: Revit starts a new, unsaved project (.rvt) from a copy of it, with every setting, family and view the template holds.

Where are Revit templates stored?

The templates that come with Revit sit in C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RVT 20xx\Templates, one folder per Revit version. You can point Revit at your own under File → Options → File Locations, and they then appear on the start screen.

Can I use a template from an older Revit version?

Yes. A newer Revit opens and upgrades an older template. It cannot go the other way: a template saved in Revit 2026 does not open in Revit 2024. Keep one template per Revit year your office uses.

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