How to Create and Change Wall Types in Revit

Five steps in Revit, or one sentence in Mira.

Do it with Mira
Quick answer

Select a wall, click Edit Type, then Duplicate, and name the new type. Click Edit next to Structure to set each layer's function, material and thickness. To change walls to the new type, select them and pick it in the Type Selector.

Or, just ask Mira, a free add-in, to swap every wall of one type to another on a level.

The manual way

How to do it in Revit

  1. Step 1: Start from the right kind of wall

    Revit has three wall families, and they're all system families: you make new wall types by duplicating an existing one, never in the Family Editor.

    • Basic Wall: one assembly of layers, top to bottom. Most walls in a project.
    • Stacked Wall: basic wall types stacked vertically, such as a masonry base under a framed wall above.
    • Curtain Wall: a grid of panels and mullions.

    This page covers basic walls, the ones you build layer by layer.

  2. Step 2: Duplicate a close wall type

    Select a wall that's close to what you need. To start fresh, click Architecture tab › Build panel › Wall and pick a type. In the Properties palette, click Edit Type, then Duplicate. Name the type the way your template does, for example by its type mark and assembly.

  3. Step 3: Build the layers

    1. Next to Structure, click Edit to open the Edit Assembly dialog. Click Preview to see the wall as you build it.
    2. Click Insert to add a layer, or select one to change. Use Up and Down to order them from exterior to interior.
    3. For each layer, set its Function, Material and Thickness. Keep the structural layers inside the Core Boundary lines.

    Layer functions decide how walls join. A Structure [1] layer joins before a Finish 2 [5] layer, so get the functions right before you worry about corners (Autodesk Help: Edit Layers in a Compound Structure).

  4. Step 4: Set wrapping and identity data

    Under Default Wrapping, choose how layers wrap at doors and windows (at Inserts) and at wall ends (at Ends). Click OK. Back in Type Properties, fill in Type Mark, Fire Rating and Description under Identity Data, so tags and schedules read them. Click OK.

    To see the layers in a view, set its Detail Level to Medium or Fine.

  5. Step 5: Change walls to the new type

    Select the walls, then pick the new type in the Type Selector.

    To change every wall of one type, select one, right-click, choose Select All Instances, then Visible in View or In Entire Project, and pick the new type. To change only one level, open that level's plan and use Visible in View.

What to watch for

The wall holds its Location Line. A swap to a thicker or thinner type changes more than the wall. If the Location Line is set to Wall Centerline, a thicker type grows on both sides. If it's set to Finish Face: Exterior, the wall grows inward. Set the Location Line before a swap, not after.

Doors and windows stay hosted, but check them where the wall's faces moved, along with dimensions to those faces.

Rooms and joins update. Room areas follow the new faces, and corners rejoin by layer function.

Making one wall type is easy. Templates end up with forty: "EXT - Brick on Stud" and "Ext Brick 6in Stud" as two types of one assembly, half of them missing a Type Mark or a Fire Rating. Those gaps show up later, in a wall schedule with blank rows, in tags that print a question mark, and in a code review that can't tell which walls are rated. Offices drift apart as each one fixes its own copy of the template. A wall type is part of your firm standards, and so are the wall section and architectural details drawn from it.

Or, just ask Mira to do it.

Mira is an AI thinking partner for Revit that automates the work you repeat and builds tools your team needs.

  • Type this in Mira

    Swap every instance of Wall Type A with Wall Type B on Level 2.

    Mira describes what it's about to do, asks before changing anything and captures an after-screenshot, so you can check the result before you save.

EfficiencyChange wall types on a level in Revit
Riverside_Medical_Center_ARCH.rvt — Level 2
FileArchitectureStructureAnnotateAnalyzeViewManagePirros
Level 2 ×A-501 Details3D View
Wall Type A wallsResult
Level 2, east wing (8)to Wall Type B
Level 2, west wing (7)to Wall Type B
Level 2, core (3)to Wall Type B
Level 1 (7)unchanged
Level 3 (6)unchanged
18 walls swapped on Level 2
Mira by PirrosLevel 2
Pirros
ChatSkillsHistory
Swap every instance of Wall Type A with Wall Type B on Level 2.
Reasoning
Thought for 3s
Query(Wall Type A)
31 walls, 18 based on Level 2
Plan(18 walls to Wall Type B)
Approved
ChangeType(Walls x 18, Level 2)
Swapped, screenshot checked
Wall types swapped18 walls
From
Wall Type A
To
Wall Type B
Other levels
13 walls, unchanged
After-screenshot
checked
Message Mira
Mira can make mistakes. Verify before you commit.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Can't find what you're looking for?
Get in touch.

Select the wall. Its family and type show in the Type Selector at the top of the Properties palette. For every wall at once, make a wall schedule with Family and Type, Type Mark and Fire Rating.

The family is the kind of wall: Basic Wall, Stacked Wall or Curtain Wall. A type is one version of it with its own layers and values, such as an exterior brick-on-stud assembly. You make new types; you can't make new wall families.

Three system families: basic walls built from layers, stacked walls that combine basic wall types vertically, and curtain walls built from panels and mullions.

Select the walls and pick the new type in the Type Selector. To change every wall of a type, right-click one, use Select All Instances, then pick the new type.

Usually the wall's faces moved. The wall holds its Location Line, so a thicker type grows to one or both sides, and the doors move with it. Set the Location Line before you swap.

There's no right number. Keep one type per assembly your firm actually builds, named consistently, with Type Mark and Fire Rating filled in. Remove unused types each time you update the template.

Related Revit how-tos

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