Transition detail drawing from AutoCAD to Revit

[Prashanthr]

Hello Everyone,

I'm are currently working on a fire alarm system project in Revit, but our detailed drawings are still being produced in AutoCAD. I then combine the plan and detail drawings into a single PDF to send to the client. I'm are looking to transition our detail drawings fully into Revit.

Do you have any recommendations or faster workflows for doing this? Should we recreate all the details in Revit from scratch, or is it better to import our existing CAD details?

I also create riser diagrams that differ from project to project. In AutoCAD, I use several LISP routines that automate much of this process, but producing these risers manually in Revit is time-consuming. What would be the best approach to streamline this in Revit?

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[GHASEM_ARIYANI]

Hi, @Prashanthr 
I recommend gradually rebuilding your details natively in Revit over time. This will give you clean, native Revit drafting views that are easier to manage and reuse.
However, if you currently need to use your existing AutoCAD 2D details, you still can.
Here’s the workflow I suggest:
1. Create a separate Drafting View for each detail
Then insert the corresponding AutoCAD file into that Drafting View only.
The advantage of Drafting Views is that they can be referenced:
When you create sections or callouts, you can link them directly to these views, which is very useful.
2. Prefer “Link CAD” instead of “Import CAD”
If the DWG is linked, updates to the DWG will refresh in Revit.
If you import, you will need to delete and re-import every time you update the CAD file.
3. Manage lineweights via Import Line Weights
Revit assigns lineweights based on the DWG color table.
You can control all line thicknesses using:
Insert tab > Import panel > Import Line Weights
This ensures your imported details plot cleanly.
I hope this workflow helps you transition your detailing process smoothly into Revit.

[Prashanthr]

Hello @GHASEM_ARIYANI 

Thank you for your response. It was very informative. If I want to transition completely to Revit, do I need to recreate all the detail drawings from scratch and draft everything directly in Revit? Since Revit has fewer traditional drafting tools compared to AutoCAD, is it acceptable to import our existing CAD details into Revit, or would that create issues later in the workflow?

I’m still fairly new to Revit and have only been working with it for a short time, as most of my experience has been in AutoCAD. Because of this, I’m still trying to understand the best practices, so please bear with me.

Another concern is our riser diagrams, which vary from project to project. In AutoCAD, we use automated LISP routines that make the process much faster. What is the recommended approach for creating these risers in Revit, considering that doing them manually can be time consuming?

Additionally, I’m trying to understand how others manage standardized detail libraries in Revit, how much can be automated through families or templates, and whether there are tools or workflows that can help speed up this transition. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

[GHASEM_ARIYANI]

Your question is an excellent one, and the right approach really depends on your workflow strategy and the stage of design you are currently in.
In the early design phases, many details are not finalized yet, and sometimes you simply need a set of general, standard details for submissions to authorities or clients. In this situation, it is perfectly acceptable to use your existing AutoCAD details inside Revit as Drafting Views. This is a common and practical workflow.
However, as your Revit model becomes more developed and your design progresses, it becomes increasingly important to create details natively in Revit. Imported CAD details are not connected to the model; they only represent a static 2D snapshot. If your model changes for any reason, those CAD-based details will not update automatically, and you must manually review and adjust them. For this reason, relying on CAD details in advanced stages of design can introduce coordination issues depending on the project’s complexity.
One of Revit’s core principles is having a single, unified, coordinated model where all drawings, details, and annotations are connected and update automatically. That’s why native Revit details eventually provide the best accuracy and consistency.
Regarding Riser Diagrams, since the modeling in Revit is more precise and object-based, you can generate risers directly from your model—but the method is different from AutoCAD. Instead of LISP routines, you would typically use parametric families, or tools like Dynamo, or dedicated add-ins. These can automate a large part of the process and significantly reduce manual work.
Another important point is that anything you used as a “block” in AutoCAD is much more powerful in Revit as a Family. Revit families give you full parametric control with no geometric limitations, allowing you to build exactly what you need—although this does require improving your family creation skills. In fact, family creation is one of the strongest aspects of Revit and removes most of the limitations you would normally face in the project environment.
For automation, Revit provides robust options. With Dynamo and the Revit API, you can automate almost any repetitive task. Today, with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude, you can even generate scripts or plugins without deep programming knowledge—just basic familiarity with the Revit API structure is enough.
In summary, the ideal workflow depends on your stage of design and project needs. But overall, moving toward native Revit details, standardized Revit detail libraries, and parametric or automated riser diagrams will give you better coordination, higher accuracy, and a much smoother long-term workflow.

[gtarch]

I went through this about 10 years ago. 

I'm sure that you have lots of standard details and notes that do not need to be driven dynamically by the model - These must all ALL be re-built in Revit as individual Drafting Views.

But you can re-use the existing details, and it will save you time. Here's how to do it without adding lots of crap into your revit files.

Take your standard details and link them all into 1 revit file. This is a throw-away file, keep it separated from any of your Revit projects. Take those linked files and explode them, full explode down to the lines. These will have all sorts of weird ACAD materials, line-types and patterns, you have to get rid of all of them and assign line-styles and patterns in Revit that match your revit standards - DO NOT bring that ACAD import crap into your library file. Pyrevit has a nice wipe utility that can wipe that stuff in 1 step. It will clean all of the details at once. 

Then you group the individual details and copy paste them into individual drafting views in a working revit file, would make that the detail library file and clean up the drafting.  Text is a pain in the ass. You can then drop your standard details into your projects from the library file.

This is really a lot of work, but so is re-drawing 100s of details from scratch when your Revit skills may still be developing. When we transitioned, we had 100s of key details and we needed them immediately to keep production going and we want to get all the way out of ACAD in 1 step. This is something you can complete in a day or two perhaps. Over time you'll re-work and improve them and use them a base, after a time you'll have nice clean detail library. 

Revit purists will say never do this sort of thing, but depending on your situation, it can be a great time-saver to recycle that ACAD drafting into Revit. You may have some very intricate standard details that will not be so quick to re-draw in Revit. Maybe you have 40 or 50 key details, just do this with those details. Worst case use those details as "the bones" of your new details. Just be sure you clean and purge the ACAD stuff out as I've suggested.

[RLY_15]

If you were a heavy LISP user, then Dynamo/Python might be a natural transition.

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Creating-Automated-Documentation-Dynamo-2018

The presentation is somewhat old (2018) but the methodology is sound. The concept is to harvest the model for location and data of Fire Alarm components, generating the corresponding symbols within a templated detail view, and then pushing the data into the symbol families for project-specific representation. 

To that point, you would need to make Detail Component families for all of your Fire Alarm Riser Schematic components. If the linework is particularly complex I don't really have issues with the method of exploding CAD details to save on work, you just have to look into how to do proper cleanup of line styles afterwards to avoid drawing clutter.

[gtarch]

My method is just for those generic standard/typical details that are not project-specific. A simple set of fire alarm plans may have 2 or 3 sheets of these. All drafted, standard, and don't change from project to project. Or disabled access detail and notes, 3 or 4 sheets of those for a start. Every discipline has it's own.

Most construction plans have 100s of these sorts of typical 'drafted' details. People say, take them all live from the model. But that's not reflective of a lot of what's in a set of construction drawings. -->Like all of the standard notes and specs that get stuck into those typical details. They are essential to the drawings and the fact is you DON'T want them to change without some thought to it.

That said, a live 1-line sounds pretty cool. That's project-specifc. Don't the MEP functions do that? I'm an architect, so I don't live in that area.

[RLY_15]

The original post was in context of fire alarm where number/type of end devices, zones, etc. are project-specific. The structure of the details may be uniform across projects but they are often edited beyond using "Typical" as notation. It's ultimately up to each company as to how rich they want their details to be (ours for sure aren't), but that presentation is a strong proof of concept for how to approach a more live solution.

The MEP functions unfortunately do not natively do that at this time.

The closest we have to Autodesk support of system graphics is integration with Autodesk P&ID which, while getting regular support, does requires knowledge of that software before you're able to start mapping components. It also does not necessarily generate spatial relationships between components.