Levels are the first thing you set up in a real Revit model, and for good reason. A level is a horizontal plane at a known height, and almost everything you build hosts to one: floors sit on a level, walls run from one level to another, columns start and stop at levels. They are the vertical skeleton of the project. There is no real AutoCAD equivalent, because a 2D drawing has no idea about height. So getting levels right early matters more than it first looks. Everything you model afterwards hangs off them.
Levels live in elevation, not in plan
Here is the rule that catches almost everyone on day one: you can only create and edit levels in a section or elevation view, never in a floor plan. It makes sense once you see it. A level is a horizontal line viewed from the side, so a top-down plan cannot show it.
A new project already has two levels, named Level 1 and Level 2, set up by the template. To see them, open an elevation. In the Project Browser, expand Elevations and double-click South (any elevation works; South is the usual habit). Now you are looking at the building from the side, and the two level lines are right there with their heads and elevation values.
If you ever go looking for levels in a plan view and cannot find them, this is why. Switch to an elevation or section first.
Creating and positioning levels
With an elevation open, the tool is on the ribbon under Architecture tab → Datum panel → Level. It also sits on the Structure tab → Datum panel → Level, the same tool, which is the one to reach for if you came in through structures.
There are two ways to place a level:
- Draw it. Pick the Line option, click a start point, move the cursor horizontally, and click again to finish. As you move, the line snaps into alignment with the existing level heads, and a temporary dimension shows the height above the level below. The heads and tails of aligned levels lock together, so dragging one moves the others with it.
- Pick Lines with an offset. Choose Pick Lines from the Draw panel, type an offset value (say 500 for a level 500 mm above an existing one), then click the existing level. Revit places the new level at exactly that distance. This is the cleaner way when you know the spacing.
To set or change a level’s height, click its elevation dimension and type the value. The level moves to the new position. You are always working in real heights here, the same as everywhere in Revit.
The trap: story levels, reference levels, and why Copy bites
This is the part that quietly causes the most grief, so it is worth slowing down.
When you create a level with the Level tool, an option called Make Plan View is turned on by default. That means each level you draw is a story level: Revit automatically creates a floor plan view and a ceiling plan view to go with it. You can tell because the level head shows up blue. A blue head is a link. Double-click it and Revit opens that level’s plan view.
If you clear Make Plan View before drawing, you get a reference level instead: a datum with no plan view, used for things like a sill height or the top of a foundation. Walls and other elements can still reference it as a base or top, you just do not get a drawing for it.
Now the trap. It feels natural to make new levels by selecting an existing one and using Copy or Array. Do not. Copying or arraying a level gives you the datum line but no associated plan view, and the head shows in plain black instead of blue. You end up with levels that exist but have no floor plan to draw on, which is confusing exactly when you are trying to start modelling. The simple tell: blue head means it has a view, black head means it does not. Make your levels with the Level tool, not by copying.
Renaming levels properly
The template names are Level 1 and Level 2, which tell you nothing on a real project. To rename, either click the level’s name in the elevation and type a new one, or right-click the level in the Project Browser and choose Rename.
Either way, Revit asks whether you also want to rename the corresponding plan views. Say Yes. This keeps the level and its views named the same, so “Ground Floor” the level matches “Ground Floor” the plan in the Project Browser. Skip it and the two drift apart, which gets messy fast.
One small naming habit that pays off: lead with numbers. The Project Browser sorts levels alphabetically, so names like “01 Ground”, “02 First” stay in the right vertical order instead of jumbling.
That is levels set up: drawn in elevation, positioned at real heights, made as story levels with the Level tool, and named so the project stays readable. With the vertical datums in place, the next step is the horizontal ones, the grids that locate your columns and walls in plan.
If you are still weighing up whether the move into BIM is worth it, the civil engineer to BIM roadmap lays out the whole path, downsides included.