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How to Add a Ceiling Height Tag in Revit?

Published in Revit Annotation 5 mins read

Adding a ceiling height tag in Revit allows you to clearly annotate the height of ceilings on your floor plans, sections, or reflected ceiling plans, providing crucial information for construction and coordination. While Revit doesn't have a dedicated "Ceiling Height Tag" tool out-of-the-box like a Room Tag, you can achieve this by creating or modifying an annotation tag family to read the ceiling's height parameter and then placing it on your drawings.

Understanding Ceiling Height Tags in Revit

A ceiling height tag is an annotation element that displays the Height Offset From Level parameter (or a similar relevant parameter) of a selected ceiling object. This tag automatically updates if the ceiling height changes, ensuring accuracy in your documentation. It's an essential tool for detailing ceiling plans, ensuring that all necessary height information is readily available for contractors and other project stakeholders.

Step-by-Step Guide to Adding a Ceiling Height Tag

The process involves ensuring you have a tag that can read ceiling height and then placing and refining its appearance.

1. Preparing Your Ceiling Tag Family (If Custom)

Often, you'll need to create or load a custom tag family designed to read the specific height parameter of a ceiling. If you already have a suitable tag loaded, you can skip to step 2.

  • Create a New Annotation Tag Family:
    1. Go to File > New > Annotation Symbol.
    2. Select the Generic Tag.rft template and click Open.
    3. Delete the existing red text (if any) indicating insertion point.
    4. Go to the Create tab > Text panel > Label.
    5. Click in the drawing area to place the label.
    6. In the Edit Label dialog box, select Host_Height Offset From Level from the Category Parameters list. If this parameter is not available, you might need to create a Shared Parameter that is associated with Ceiling category and extracts its height. For standard ceilings, Host_Height Offset From Level is usually the correct parameter.
    7. Click the Add Parameter button (green arrow) to move it to the Label Parameters list.
    8. You can add a Prefix (e.g., "CLG HT: ") or Suffix (e.g., "'-0"" or "mm") if desired for clarity.
    9. Click OK.
  • Load into Project:
    1. Save your new tag family (e.g., "Ceiling Height Tag.rfa").
    2. Click Load into Project on the Create tab.

2. Placing the Ceiling Tag

Once your ceiling height tag family is loaded into your project, you can place it on your desired view (e.g., Reflected Ceiling Plan).

  • Navigate to View: Open the Reflected Ceiling Plan (RCP) or floor plan where you want to add the ceiling height tag.
  • Activate Tag by Category: Go to the Annotate tab on the Revit ribbon.
  • In the Tag panel, click Tag by Category (or TG shortcut).
  • Select Ceiling Element: Hover your mouse over the ceiling element you wish to tag. Revit will highlight the ceiling. Click to place the tag. A leader line will automatically appear, connecting the tag to the ceiling if enabled.

3. Adjusting Tag Text Size (As per Reference)

After placing the tag, you might find that its default text size is too large or too small for your drawing standards. The provided video snippet illustrates how to adjust the text size of an existing tag to enhance readability.

As observed in a Revit snippet, an initial tag text size of 3 millimeters might be considered too large for typical drawing scales. To refine its appearance and ensure clear readability on your drawings, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Tag: Click on the placed ceiling height tag in your view.
  2. Access Type Properties: With the tag selected, go to the Properties Palette and click Edit Type. This will open the Type Properties dialog box for that specific tag type.
  3. Adjust Text Size: Locate the Text Size parameter within the Graphics section of the Type Properties.
    • Change the value from the default (e.g., 3 millimeters) to your preferred smaller size, such as 1.8 millimeters. This adjustment will apply to all tags of this specific type.
  4. Confirm Changes: Click OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box. The tag's text size will update immediately in your view.

This table illustrates a common adjustment for tag text sizes:

Parameter Default (Example) Recommended (Example)
Text Size 3 millimeters 1.8 millimeters

Adjusting the text size ensures that your tags are legible without being overly dominant on the sheet, contributing to a clean and professional drawing set.

Best Practices for Ceiling Tagging

  • Consistency: Maintain consistent tag placement and text size across all your drawings for clarity.
  • Visibility: Use Visibility/Graphics Overrides (VG or VV) to control the visibility of tags on different views, ensuring only relevant information is displayed.
  • Leader Lines: Use leader lines appropriately to clearly indicate which element the tag refers to, especially in congested areas.
  • Tag All Necessary Elements: Ensure all unique ceiling heights are tagged, especially in areas with varying ceiling levels.

By following these steps, you can effectively add and manage ceiling height tags in your Revit projects, enhancing the clarity and accuracy of your architectural documentation.

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