Workflow: Design Options

Use this process to develop sets of design options for your building model.

In general, the process of using design options is as follows:

1. Decide on the areas for which you want to develop design options.

   Example: You want to create one set of design options for the entry of a building and a second set of design options for the roof.

2. Create the building model, including all elements that will be common to all of the design options. (This is the main model.)

   Example: Create the building first, including the foundation, floor, walls, and other parts of the building. Do not include any elements that will belong to the entry or the roof; those elements will be added using design options.

   Note: If you add elements to a building and later decide that those elements should be part of a design option, you can move them to the design option. See Move Elements from the Model to a Design Option.
3. Create a design option set for each area.

   Example: You create one design option set named Entry and another design option set named Roof.

   For instructions, see Create a design option set.

4. For each design option set, edit the primary option.

   When you create a design option set, Revit also creates a primary option for the set. The primary option is typically the preferred design or the design that you think will be chosen. It will be displayed in project views by default. Other design options will appear in views only when you specify.

   Edit the primary option to add elements to the design as desired. (See Edit a design option.) For an alternative approach, see Viewing the Main Model Without Design Options.

5. Create secondary options for each design option set.

   You can create one or more secondary options for each set. See Add one or more secondary design options.

   Example: For the Entry option set, you create secondary options named Revolving Door and Two Double Doors.

   In general, any elements that will be modified or referenced in an option should belong to the design option instead of the main model. See Referencing Elements in Design Options and Move Elements from the Model to a Design Option.

6. Create views that display each design option.

   By default, all project views display the main model with primary design options only. To see secondary options, create project views that show them. (These are called dedicated views.) You can then place these views on sheets to present the designs to clients. See Dedicate views to a design option.

7. Incorporate a design option into the main model.

   After the client has selected the desired option for each option set, you can incorporate the selected designs into the main model. This process deletes the design option set, so the other options in the set are no longer available, and the selected option becomes part of the building model. See Incorporate a design option into the main model.