Column reinforcement in Revit is three groups of bars. The vertical bars carry axial load and bending and run the full height of the column. The ties stop those bars from buckling and take the shear. The starter bars rise out of the storey below so the column above has something to lap onto. Those three groups raise three questions: where the ties tighten up, at what level the bars are lapped, and how deep the column bars reach into the footing.
The sixteen steps below use Revit 2027.2 with the English interface, on a four-storey model that already carries reinforcement. If the columns are not modelled yet, read structural columns in Revit first; for the whole documentation workflow, see the Revit Structure course.
Column rebar detailing rules to settle before opening Revit
Column ties are not spaced evenly over the height. At both ends of the column, where it meets beams and slabs, moment and shear are largest, so the ties close up. Along the middle they can open out. The dense length is usually called the joint zone.
The sample model does exactly that. The tags read 17 Ø6 a100 for the dense column ties, 7 Ø6 a200 for the sparse length, 5 Ø6 a100 inside the joint and 12 Ø6 a100 for the beam ties. Column C1.1 is 220×300, beam DX2.1 is 220×400.
On lap position the rule is one sentence: lap where the forces are small, stay out of the joint zone, and stagger the laps. The actual numbers belong to the design documents and the code in force. Revit does not generate them; it only keeps the drawings and the schedule consistent with the numbers you chose.
Cover taken from TCVN 5574:2018
TCVN 5574:2018, clause 10.3.1.2 and Table 19, gives minimum cover by exposure condition rather than by element name. The table lists 20 mm indoors at normal humidity, 25 mm at raised humidity, 30 mm outdoors and 40 mm in the ground. That is why an isolated foundation and a strip foundation always carry more cover than a column.
Preparing the views for column rebar
Step 1 — Open the structural plan of the storey
In the Project Browser, type the name into the Search box and double-click the result. The sample model uses MẶT BẰNG KẾT CẤU 2F. The plan is where you select the column and start the command, because all seven buttons of the Reinforcement panel are enabled there.
Step 2 — Open a vertical section and a cross-section of the column
Rebar only shows in views that cut through its host. The plan of the sample model hides rebar, so every check happens in two other view types. The vertical section runs the full height; the model calls it CHI TIẾT CỘT C1. One cross-section per segment with different detailing is named after the segment, such as CỘT C1.1.
The cross-section reads straight off as a shop drawing: 220 × 300, tags 1 and 4 both say 3x Ø16, tag 2 says Ø6. The three reinforcement settings to fix first are covered in rebar settings in Revit. This article belongs to the Revit Structure series of the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering.
Column reinforcement in Revit: vertical bars and ties
Step 3 — Select the column on the plan
Click the column section. It turns blue, the Properties palette switches to Structural Columns (1), and the ribbon shows the Modify | Structural Columns contextual tab. If it will not select, see the table at the end.
Step 4 — Read the cover and the constraints of the column
Scroll Properties down to the Structural group. Every bar placed later follows the Rebar Cover rows here.
| Item | Value in the sample column |
|---|---|
| Base Level −350.0 and Top Level −50.0 | 2F and 3F |
| Rebar Cover - Bottom Face and Other Faces | Rebar Cover 1 <25 mm>; Top Face is blank because the column continues upwards |
| Mark, Column Location Mark | C2.2 and B-2 |
Base Level and Top Level decide how long the vertical bars become when you choose Expand to Host in step 7.
Step 5 — Start the Rebar command
Keep the column selected. On the Modify | Structural Columns tab, the Reinforcement panel has three enabled buttons, Rebar, Path and Morphed; click Rebar. The same button sits first on the Reinforcement panel of the Concrete tab.
Three things change at once. The ribbon switches to Modify | Place Rebar. The Rebar Shape Browser opens along the right edge of the screen. Properties shows the bar type used last time, in the sample model Rebar Bar Ø12 with Style Stirrup / Tie.
Step 6 — Pick the bar type and the shape
In the type selector at the top of Properties, pick the vertical bar diameter; the sample uses Rebar Bar Ø16. In the Rebar Shape Browser click M_00, the straight bar; BS_M_T1 just above it is the closed rectangular tie.
As soon as M_00 is picked, Properties changes Style to Standard, Start of Bar and End of Bar to None, and Layout Rule to Single with Quantity 1. That is the state of one bar about to be placed.
Step 7 — Choose method, plane and orientation, then click the column
The three middle panels of Modify | Place Rebar decide where the bar goes.
| Panel | Options | For column bars |
|---|---|---|
| Placement Methods | Expand to Host, By Two Points, Sketch | Expand to Host: the bar stretches to the host, right for vertical bars running full height |
| Placement Plane | Current Work Plane, Near Cover Reference, Far Cover Reference | Current Work Plane when working in a section; the two Cover References are the cover faces near and far from the viewer |
| Placement Orientation | Parallel to Work Plane, Parallel to Cover, Perpendicular to Cover | vertical bars run along the cover, ties sit perpendicular to it |
Move the cursor into the column section and Revit previews the bar and shows three key tips next to the cursor. Space rotates or flips the bar, [ or ] cycles through the orientation options, Shift locks the orientation to the face under the cursor. When the preview is right, left-click, then press Esc twice. Autodesk describes the same keys on its Place Rebar page.
Step 8 — Set Layout Rule to Fixed Number for vertical bars
Click the bar you just placed. In the Rebar Set group of Properties, change Layout Rule from Single to Fixed Number and type Quantity. The number of vertical bars is a design decision, not a spacing, so Spacing stays empty.
| Item | Value in the sample set |
|---|---|
| Type and shape | Rebar Bar Ø16, Shape M_00 |
| Style | Standard, a plain bar rather than a tie |
| Start of Bar, End of Bar | both None, no hooks |
| Partition | CỘT C1, the partition name that groups bars in the schedule |
| Layout Rule, Quantity | Fixed Number, 3 — one row of three Ø16 bars |
Layout Rule has five values. Single is one bar. Fixed Number takes a count and Revit works out the spacing. Maximum Spacing takes a maximum spacing and Revit works out the count. Number With Spacing takes both. Minimum Clear Spacing takes the smallest clear gap between two bars.
Step 9 — Place the ties with shape BS_M_T1 and the Stirrup / Tie style
Start Rebar again, pick Rebar Bar Ø6, click BS_M_T1 in the Shape Browser. Properties switches Style to Stirrup / Tie and both bar ends to Hook. Place the tie in the column section as in step 7.
| Item | Value in the sample tie set |
|---|---|
| Style | Stirrup / Tie — unlike Standard for vertical bars |
| Stirrup/Tie Attachment | Interior Face of Cover Reference, the tie hugs the inside of the cover |
| Shape | BS_M_T1, closed rectangular tie |
| Hook At Start, Hook At End | Stirrup Seismic - 135 deg, seismic hooks bent to 135 degrees |
A hook is a named object, not a typed number; pick the right hook type and the schedule adds the correct hook length. Stirrup/Tie Attachment decides whether the tie hugs the inner or outer face of the cover, which is the real size of the tie.
Tie spacing at the joint and starter bars between storeys
Step 10 — Split the column height into tie zones
A column is several tie sets in a row, not one. Open the vertical section and place the zones one after another, each as its own set.
Segment C2.1 of the sample model sits between level 2F +3.90 and 3F +7.50, 3600 high, in three tie sets. From the bottom: 17 Ø6 a100 over 1600 at the foot, 6 Ø6 a200 over 1200 in the middle, then 5 Ø6 a100 over two 400 lengths just under the beam. Above slab 3F, column C3.1 starts again with 17 Ø6 a100 over 1600. That is the tie spacing at the joint the design calls for.
Step 11 — Set the tie spacing with Maximum Spacing
For ties, Maximum Spacing is the right rule: the engineer states that ties must not be further apart than a value, and Revit fits enough ties into the real length. The set in the picture has Spacing 100.0 mm and Revit computes Quantity 17. Change the storey height and the count follows. Typing a count into Quantity does nothing, because the field is greyed out under Maximum Spacing.
Step 12 — Place the starter bars and choose the lap position
Starter bars are the vertical bars of the storey below rising through the slab so the bars of the column above can lap onto them. In Revit they are an ordinary set of vertical bars hosted by the lower column. Start Rebar, choose By Two Points on the Placement Methods panel, click the first point at the foot of the column and the second at the lap level.
The picture shows one column running from footing M2 up through C1.2, C2.2 and C3.2, all 220×400.
Step 13 — Join bars with Splice or Insert Coupler
Click a bar and the ribbon shows the Modify | Structural Rebar contextual tab; to pick a single bar out of a set, press Tab first and then click.
The Splice panel has two buttons: Splice laps two bars, Insert Coupler adds a mechanical coupler. The Host panel has Propagate Rebar, which copies the whole set to identical columns. The picture was taken in a three-dimensional view, so the tab has no Presentation panel and Edit Sketch, Propagate Rebar, Remove Bar, Splice and Bending Detail are greyed out. Open a plan or a section and the buttons come back.
Isolated foundation and strip foundation reinforcement in Revit
Step 14 — Model the footing, then place the bottom bars
Footings do not live on the Concrete tab but on the Structure tab, Foundation panel, with three buttons: Isolated, Wall and Slab. Hover over Isolated and Revit shows a tooltip with an illustration.
| Button | What it does, according to the Revit tooltip |
|---|---|
| Isolated | Adds footings or pile caps; they attach to the bottom of columns, and a foundation family may need loading first |
| Wall | Creates a footing carried by a wall, constrained to it and moving with it |
| Slab | Adds a foundation slab that needs no other element to support it |
An isolated foundation and a pile cap use the Isolated button; Autodesk's Isolated Foundations page lists the multi-pile cap types too. A strip foundation under a load-bearing wall uses the Wall button; a strip foundation under a row of columns is modelled as a ground beam and reinforced like one, as in beam reinforcement in Revit. Bars inside a footing are placed with the same Rebar command as step 5, with the footing as host.
Step 15 — Check the starter bars inside the pile cap in a three-dimensional view
Pile cap MÓNG M1 of the sample model carries two piles. The cap cage and the starter bars of column C1.1 appear together, so the anchorage depth and any clash between the two cages are visible at once. The view uses Visual Style Realistic and has View Unobscured ticked for the rebar, so the bars show solid through the concrete.
Step 16 — Read the column rebar schedule
The schedule of the sample model is grouped by partition. Group CỘT C1 totals 119 bars, 361.20 metres and 322.53 kilograms; group CỘT C2 totals 120 bars, 866.24 metres and 812.97 kilograms. How to build the schedule is covered in rebar schedules in Revit.
When it does not work
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Clicking the column selects nothing | The Select Elements by Face toggle at the right of the status bar is off. Turn it on and click again |
| All seven Reinforcement buttons are greyed out | You are on a sheet or in a schedule. Open a plan or a section |
| Propagate Rebar and Splice are greyed out | You are in a three-dimensional view. Open a plan or a section and select the bar again |
| The preview bar points the wrong way | Press [ or ] to change orientation and Space to rotate, before you click |
| Typing a tie count into Quantity does nothing | Layout Rule is Maximum Spacing, so Quantity is greyed out. Edit Spacing, or switch to Fixed Number |
Frequently asked questions
How many vertical bars does a 220x300 column need?
The count comes from the calculation; there is no universal number. Column C1.1 in the sample model uses six Ø16 bars, two rows of three along the 300 side.
What tie spacing goes in the joint zone?
Take the value from the design documents and the code in force. The sample model uses a100 at both ends of the column and a200 in the middle, with Ø6 ties.
How are starter bars modelled in Revit?
As an ordinary set of vertical bars hosted by the lower column, placed with By Two Points with the second point at the lap level.
Why can't I edit Quantity on a tie set?
Because Layout Rule is Maximum Spacing and Revit derives the count from the spacing. To type a count, switch to Fixed Number.
Related articles
- Rebar settings in Revit — bar diameters, cover and bend radius
- Beam reinforcement in Revit — main bars, ties and anchorage
- Slab reinforcement in Revit — two-layer mesh, top bars and trimming bars
- Rebar schedules in Revit — bar schedule, lengths and weights
- Structural columns in Revit — model the columns before placing rebar