3D Riser Diagrams in Revit - How to Create and Implement into Construction Documents

Oct 25, 2026

A technical training session explains how Revit tools can replace duplicated plan-view and traditional riser-diagram workflows with connected 3D riser diagrams for plumbing projects. The material covers learning objectives such as creating and annotating 3D views, addressing common struggles, and standardizing the approach for construction documents. It emphasizes benefits for accuracy, error reduction, time savings, and improved comprehension for stakeholders without plumbing design experience, including practical steps for creating plot-ready 3D risers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Learning Objectives

Description

Speaker

Why Use 3D Riser Diagrams

Benefits of 3D Risers

Create Plot Ready 3D Risers

Create

Manipulate

Annotate

BLD226484 3D Riser Diagrams in Revit: How to Create and Implement into Construction Documents Jessica Johnson EXP Learning Objectives 􀀃 Creating and Annotating 3D views 􀀃 Typical struggles and how to remedy or prevent 􀀃 Explanation of how to make this a standard practice 􀀃 Explanation of how to persuade your Project Manager to use 3D Risers in lieu of the traditional flat risers Description The traditional approach calls for engineers to produce both plan view and riser diagrams for plumbing work. This method calls for duplicated information. This is both wasteful and error prone. To achieve a connected BIM project, we need a way to connect the plan views to the riser diagrams. It can be accomplished using 3D riser diagrams. This demo will cover how to use Revit tools to produce 3D Riser Diagrams. We will discuss all the benefits to using 3D risersand how to get your project managers on board with using them for Construction Documents. We will provide examples of how to create, annotate, and manipulate 3D risers to plot clearly and accurately. We will also touch on the typical issues and how to fix or prevent those issues from happening. Speaker Jessica Johnson graduated from Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2016 with a bachelor’s in Architectural Engineering with an emphasis in Building Mechanical Systems. While studying she completed multiple internships where she began designing mechanical systems and utilizing Revit skills. After obtaining her degree, she accepted an offer to work for EXP as a Mechanical Designer. Jessica is currently working towards earning her PE. Since becoming a part of the EXP team, she has become a Revit Mechanical Lead and Model Manager. She trains fellow colleagues on the Revit best practices and skills. Jessica has been using Revit for six years nowand is very eager to continue to learn and teach others about new Revit tools and skills. Why Use 3D Riser Diagrams Benefits of 3D Risers Traditionally engineers have needed to produce both plan view and riser diagrams for plumbing work. By utilizing 3D diagrams designers only need to model the system once. This reduces the risk of duplicated information and errors. This also provides the opportunity to save the designer time and provide an addition opportunity to verify their work. By utilizing 3D riser diagrams, weare one step closer to achieving a truly connected, coordinated, accurate, and understandable BIM project. Not every person that looks at construction documents has plumbing design experience. Those people may not be able to look at a flat riser diagram and be able to visualize and comprehend the information that needs to be portrayed. 3D riser diagrams make it very easy to understand and visualize a system. Create Plot Ready 3D Risers There are four steps to creating plot ready 3D riser diagrams. Below shows step by step instructions to creating plot ready 3D riser diagrams. Create The first step to creating 3D riser diagrams is to create a section box showing the system. Prerequisite – Model System Before we can start creating plot ready 3D risers the associated piping system needs tobe modeled. The example that is shown in the demonstration is a sanitary and vent system of a restroom group within a large, two story data center. I will also include the domestic water riser for the same restroom group. Tab through system The easiest way to select an entire system is to tab through the system. To do this hover the mouse over a pipe within that system, press the tab button three times and left click to select the entire system. Create section box Once the entire system is selected, the next step is to create the section box that includes the system. To do this go to the View Panel on the Modify Tab of the ribbon and select the Selection Box Tool. This tool will surround the selection using a section box using the default {3D} view. The designer should then rename the section box so when maki

FAQs

Why use 3D riser diagrams instead of traditional flat riser diagrams?

3D risers reduce duplicated modeling effort by modeling the system once, lowering the risk of duplicated information and errors. They also help teams move toward a connected, coordinated, and understandable BIM workflow.

What are the four steps for creating plot-ready 3D riser diagrams?

The document states there are four steps, and it begins with Create and Manipulate, followed by Annotate. The remaining step is not included in the provided text segment.

How do you create a plot-ready 3D riser in the first steps?

Start by creating a section box that shows the system, after modeling the associated piping system. Then select the entire system (e.g., by tabbing through pipes), create the section box using the Selection Box tool, and rename it to keep it stable for later use.

Oct 25, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans