Revit New Version Upgrade Procedures

[Shah_H_]

Not a technical question, but more about office standards and procedures.
I'm curious how other firms typically handle this. Our office has the AEC Collection, so we always have access to the latest Revit versions. We also use BIM Collaborate, which makes it easy to upgrade projects through the Project Admin section.

That said, do most firms upgrade their Revit models every time Autodesk releases a new version? Is that considered common practice?

[RSomppi]

Yes it is common practice but not recommended if you do a lot of collaboration. Most BIM Execution Plans state a version that the project will stay in for the duration of that project. Also, sometimes there are unforeseen issues with new versions that come up after release to the masses so there could be a certain amount of risk for early adopters.

[mhiserZFHXS]

We rarely update the Revit version of a model if its in the middle of a project. Only sometimes if we happen to be wrapping up schematic design right as we adopt a new Revit version. 

We also don't usually adopt the newest major release of Revit for at least a couple months. The schema issues in R24 really eroded a lot of trust that new Revit versions are going to be reliable. Hopefully an issue of that scale is a one time thing, but you can't be certain. 

[Basam.Yousif]

Upgrading to the latest is recommended IF you can get away with it 🙂

Internal projects should always be started with the latest - to futureproof your office.

Other project consultants or stakeholders may not be willing to upgrade, or ask to stretch the timeline. Sometimes people are not into the latest technology, others have older computers that don't have the capacity for multiple Revit version installs, or rely on a certain addon or custom tools that are costly or impossible to get for newer versions, making them stuck with an old one.

You don't want your firm to be like this:

[TripleM-Dev.net]

Normally projects stay in the versions they are created in, only if it's a long running project (5+ years or so) we'll look into upgrading, but only if all consultants go with.

new projects start in the version which is at that time is determined to be "save" or if a specific version is determined externally.

For now my recomendation is Revit 2024, because in R2025 there are some issues for which I don't recommend it's save (some bugs now cause a modelling delays and workarounds, and some issues with IFC export)

And to note that from R2025 and up the .NET  Core is used some addins no longer (correctly) work.

Also we never use the latest version until at least the first major update is released (so minimal half year to a year)

Note that this all is for production models, some internal testing or small projects can be done in the newest version for testing. (This is a personal opinion due to experience with Revit over the past 10+ years)

[RSomppi]

Consultants don't always have the luxury of choosing the version. They often have multiple long term projects on multiple versions. It's not unusual or avoidable.

---

@Basam.Yousif wrote:

Upgrading to the latest is recommended IF you can get away with it 🙂

Internal projects should always be started with the latest - to futureproof your office.

---

Wow, what about contractual requirements? I've had projects that needed to be upgraded because consultants think they can "get away with it". We and other consultants were not ready for the latest and greatest and it took many man hours for everyone to get up to speed because someone didn't follow the BEP. One person, making unnecessary work for many. In fact, most of the places I've worked at were at least a version behind the latest and greatest. 

Your kind of advice is shortsighted and irresponsible.

[GaryOrrMBI]

We typically let the reliability of the new version be our first stage in the decision making process. Most times we wait at least until the first "point number" service pack (2026.1 is out now for example), then test it on "dummy" projects or on smaller projects. We skipped 2024 entirely since it didn't reach the point of being stable and trustworthy until 2025 was due to roll out.

Stage two, after we have decided that a version is reliable (and all of our templates and functions have been upgraded and tested on/for that version), we announce to the firm that we will be moving to that version. Starting with that announcement all new projects are started in the new version (unless there is a specific client requirement or contractual obligation to do otherwise).

Stage three, evaluate which projects are eligible for upgrading. This will depend on contractual obligations, consultant compatibility, and project stage. Once a project has reached 50% CDs they are not eligible for upgrading (a small change on Revit's back end can mess up a set of documents very quickly and at that stage it could cause considerable rework).

That's my 2 cents

-G