Revit 2024 - Reference Planes

By John Flanagan

Reference Planes

Reference Planes are used for modelling Families which are loaded into Revit Projects. They can also be used in Revit Projects to create specific/custom features.

How to create a Reference Plane:

1. Open any 2D view and go to the Architecture tab > Work Plane panel > Ref Plane > button.
2. Click twice to create a line (which is a 3D surface used for modelling objects).

You can use this newly made Reference Plane to model any sort of object as required for your Project.

The work plane is necessary for sketching operations such as creating an extruded roof and for enabling tools, such as Rotate and Mirror in a 3D view.

Setting Reference Planes

It is not necessary to draw a Reference Plane every time you need to use one.

You can use the Set Work Plane button and pick any surface of any Model element in your project to act as the Reference Plane surface for the next element you will model and create.

The Pick a Plane button also works for selecting model surfaces in Revit.  

Note: Grids can be used as Reference Planes.

When sketching you can snap to the work plane grid, but you cannot align or dimension to it.