Add equipment clearance zones
Edit and use families to create clearance zones for equipment.
Step-by-step guide
Edit and use families to create clearance zones for equipment.
- Open the project E04_02.rvt.
- Ensure the current view is Power > Floor Plans > 1 – Power.
- From the electrical room, select the switchboard SB1.
- On the ribbon, Modify | Electrical Equipment contextual tab, Mode panel, click Edit Family.
- From the Project Browser, open the view Ref. Level.
- In the Create tab, select the Reference Plane command.
- Place 2 vertical reference planes positioned at 0' – 4" with dimensions applied, as shown.
- Create a horizontal reference plane positioned at 3' – 0" from the front face of the switchboard, dimensioned as shown.
- In the Create tab, click Extrusion.
- In the Draw panel, click Rectangle.
- Draw a rectangle across the reference planes as shown.
- Select each lock icon to constrain the geometry.
- Click Finish Edit Mode to complete this step of creating the extrusion.
- From the Project Browser, open the Front elevation view.
- Drag the extrusion to the highest reference plane in the view using the triangular grip on the top.
- Select the lock icon to constrain the geometry to the reference plane.
- From the Project Browser, open View 1 from the 3D Views, and then select the new extrusion.
- Open the Materials Browser by selecting the More (…)button in the Material field of the Properties.
- In the Material Browser, select Glass from the list of Project Materials.
- Create a duplicate of the selected material.
- In the Identity tab, change the Name and Description of the new material to “Clearance Zone”.
- In the Graphics tab, change the Color to magenta.
- Change the Transparency to 75.
- Click OK to close the Material Browser.
- In the Family Editor, change the visual style to Shaded to see the effect of the new material applied to the clearance zone.
- Select the clearance zone extrusion.
- From the Properties, click the button next to the Visible parameter to associate a family parameter.
As there is not an appropriate parameter to associate, a new one will have to be created.
- Click the New Parameter button.
- Name the parameter “Clearance Zone”.
- Set it as an Instance parameter.
- Group the parameter under Graphics.
- Click OK to close both dialogs.
- Click Load into Project to load the modified family, and overwrite the existing version when prompted.
The clearance zone can be seen in this plan view and can assist in determining if the current placement of the switchboard is suitable.
- To hide the clearance zone, select it in the view, and in Properties, deselect Clearance Zone.
- Save the project.
- (Do not save the families for this example.)