Existing Building¶

Existing Building prepares an existing Revit model by reviewing its element phasing and removing identified demolished or redundant Existing Building content.

The workflow is completed in two stages:

Phasing → Cleanup

Complete Phasing first. After phasing changes are applied, Flow automatically reinspects the model and refreshes the Cleanup results before anything is deleted.

Ribbon: Flow → Project → Setup

When to Use Existing Building¶

Use Existing Building when preparing a Revit model that contains existing or previously modelled building information that needs to be brought into the standard Flow Existing Building state.

The workflow can:

• inspect phase-bearing model elements
• identify elements created outside the target Existing phase
• identify which of those elements Flow can update
• apply the target Existing phase where possible
• identify demolished elements
• identify Rooms
• identify Room Separation Lines
• remove the inspected Cleanup targets after confirmation

Before You Start¶

Open or activate the Revit project you want to prepare.

Select Inspect Project so the Existing Building status can be included in the Setup Overview.

If Existing Building requires attention, select the available review action to open Existing Building Review.

Opening Existing Building Review¶

Open:

Flow → Project → Setup

Select Inspect Project.

If Existing Building cleanup targets are found, open the Existing Building Review from the Current Project area.

The review window displays Phasing first, followed by Cleanup.

The Phasing section is marked Start here.

Existing Building Workflow¶

Use the workflow in this order:

1. Inspect Phasing
2. Review the Phasing results
3. Apply Phasing where required
4. Flow automatically reinspects Phasing
5. Flow automatically refreshes Cleanup
6. Review the refreshed Cleanup results
7. Clean Up where required
8. Flow automatically reinspects Cleanup

Do not use an earlier Cleanup count as the expected deletion count after applying phasing.

Inspecting Phasing¶

1. Select Inspect Phasing¶

In the Phasing section, select Inspect Phasing.

Flow examines the relevant phase-bearing elements in the active project.

2. Review the Phasing Summary¶

Flow reports:

• the number of candidate elements
• the number currently outside the target Existing phase
• the number of writable elements that can be updated
• the number of read-only elements that Flow cannot directly change

The actionable count represents writable elements that are currently outside the target Existing phase.

Writable and Read-Only Elements¶

Not every phase-bearing Revit element can necessarily be changed by Flow.

Writable¶

A writable element has a Phase Created value that Flow can modify in the current project state.

If it is outside the target Existing phase, it can be included in Apply Phasing.

Read-Only¶

A read-only element may participate in the phasing inspection but cannot be directly updated by Flow.

Flow reports these separately rather than treating them as successfully changed.

Applying Phasing¶

1. Review the Inspection¶

Before applying changes, check:

• the target phase has been resolved
• the number of elements outside Existing
• the writable count
• the read-only count
• the number of actionable writable elements

Apply Phasing is only available when Flow has resolved the target phase and there are writable elements outside that phase.

2. Select Apply Phasing¶

Select Apply Phasing.

Flow displays a confirmation before changing the model.

3. Confirm the Phasing Changes¶

Review the confirmation and proceed when the inspected result is appropriate.

Flow updates the applicable writable elements to the target Existing phase.

4. Flow Reinspects Phasing¶

After the update, Flow automatically runs the Phasing inspection again.

This determines how many elements remain outside Existing after the operation.

5. Flow Refreshes Cleanup¶

Flow then automatically reinspects Cleanup using the updated model state.

This is important because changing element phasing can alter which elements Revit now reports as Cleanup targets.

Expected Result After Applying Phasing¶

After successful phasing:

• applicable writable elements have been updated to Existing
• Flow has automatically reinspected Phasing
• the remaining elements outside Existing are reported
• Cleanup has automatically been refreshed
• the Cleanup counts now represent the updated model state

Flow reports the number of elements it directly updated and the number that remain outside Existing.

Revit May Change Additional Elements¶

The number of elements directly updated by Flow is not necessarily the total number of model elements whose phase state changes.

Revit can propagate phase changes to related or dependent elements as part of its own model behaviour.

For this reason, Flow distinguishes between:

• elements directly updated by Flow
• the model state found during the automatic follow-up inspection

Elements Excluded from Phasing¶

The Existing Building phasing workflow deliberately excludes elements whose names contain:

• architrave
• panel

The comparison is case-insensitive.

These exclusions preserve the behaviour established for the Existing Building preparation workflow and prevent those elements from being included in the direct phasing operation.

Reviewing Cleanup¶

After Phasing has been completed, review the refreshed Cleanup section.

Cleanup identifies direct targets including:

• demolished elements
• Rooms
• Room Separation Lines

The displayed count represents the elements Flow has directly identified for the Cleanup operation.

Cleaning Up the Existing Building¶

1. Review the Cleanup Counts¶

Check the number of:

• demolished elements
• Rooms
• Room Separation Lines

Confirm that the resulting Cleanup population is appropriate before continuing.

2. Select Clean Up¶

Select Clean Up.

Flow displays a confirmation showing the direct number of identified Cleanup targets.

3. Confirm the Cleanup¶

Review the confirmation and select Clean Up to proceed.

Flow asks Revit to delete the identified direct Cleanup targets.

4. Respond to Revit Messages¶

Revit may identify dependent or hosted elements that are affected by the deletion.

Where required, Revit can display its own native deletion warning or confirmation.

Review the Revit message and respond appropriately.

For hosted demolished elements, this can include Revit asking you to confirm deletion of the affected element or elements.

5. Flow Reinspects Cleanup¶

After the Cleanup operation completes, Flow automatically runs the Cleanup inspection again.

The Cleanup section is updated from the resulting Revit model state.

Expected Result After Cleanup¶

When all direct Cleanup targets have been removed, Flow reports:

Cleanup completed successfully.

No demolished elements, rooms or room separation lines remain.

The Clean Up action is no longer required while the inspection contains no Cleanup targets.

Direct Targets and Revit Dependent Deletions¶

The Cleanup count shown by Flow represents the direct targets identified by the Existing Building inspection.

Revit may delete additional dependent elements when those targets are removed.

The final number of elements affected by Revit can therefore be greater than the number shown in the Flow Cleanup confirmation.

Demolished Elements¶

Cleanup identifies applicable non-type elements that have a valid Phase Demolished assignment.

These elements form the demolished-element portion of the Cleanup result.

The exact population should always be reviewed before deletion.

Rooms¶

Existing Building Cleanup includes Revit Rooms identified by the Cleanup inspection.

Rooms are reported separately in the Cleanup summary so their contribution to the deletion count is clear.

Room Separation Lines¶

Existing Building Cleanup also identifies Room Separation Lines.

These are reported separately from Rooms and demolished model elements.

View Templates Are Not Changed¶

Existing Building preparation does not clear or modify Revit view templates as part of the Phasing or Cleanup workflow.

View-template management is intentionally separate from these model preparation operations.

If Apply Phasing Is Disabled¶

Phasing Has Not Been Inspected¶

Select Inspect Phasing first.

The Target Existing Phase Cannot Be Resolved¶

Flow must be able to identify the target Existing phase before it can apply changes.

No Writable Elements Require a Change¶

If there are no writable elements outside the target Existing phase, there is nothing for Apply Phasing to update.

Remaining Elements Are Read-Only¶

Elements that Revit does not allow Flow to modify remain reported but cannot be changed by Apply Phasing.

If Elements Remain Outside Existing¶

A successful Apply Phasing operation does not guarantee that every inspected candidate will end up in Existing.

Remaining elements can include elements that:

• are read-only
• cannot be directly changed in their current Revit state
• are otherwise outside the actionable writable population

Review the follow-up Phasing inspection rather than assuming a successful operation means the remaining count must be zero.

If the Cleanup Count Changes After Phasing¶

This is expected.

Applying phasing changes the Revit model state.

Flow therefore automatically runs a fresh Cleanup inspection after Apply Phasing so that the deletion preview is based on the updated model rather than stale inspection results.

Use the refreshed Cleanup count when deciding whether to proceed.

If Revit Displays a Deletion Warning¶

A native Revit warning during Cleanup does not necessarily mean Flow has failed.

Revit may need confirmation because deleting one of the direct Cleanup targets also affects hosted or dependent elements.

Read the Revit message carefully and choose the appropriate native Revit action.

If Revit prevents the deletion, resolve the reported model condition and inspect Cleanup again before retrying.

If Cleanup Cannot Be Refreshed¶

After Apply Phasing, Flow attempts to refresh Cleanup automatically.

If the phasing operation succeeds but the follow-up Cleanup inspection cannot be completed, Flow reports that the phasing update completed but Cleanup could not be refreshed.

Do not rely on the previous Cleanup count.

Run the appropriate inspection again before using Clean Up.

Repeating the Workflow¶

Existing Building Review can be reinspected as the model changes.

If Phasing still reports actionable elements, review the result before deciding whether another phasing operation is appropriate.

If Cleanup reports additional targets after subsequent model changes, review those targets before running Cleanup again.

Related Help¶

• Project Setup
• Reviewing a Current Project
• Project Setup Troubleshooting