A fire alarm drawing in CAD is a layer of circles, squares and triangles joined by dashed lines. Move one detector and you edit the symbol, the parts list and the riser diagram — three places, three chances to forget one.
A fire alarm system in revit behaves differently: every detector is a device with a connector, the circuit is an object that ties devices to a panel, and the schedule recounts whenever the model changes. Fourteen steps on Revit 2027, from loading families to circuits and schedules. For the wider subject, see the Institute's Revit MEP course.
What the system is made of
Whether you can circuit something later depends on its category, not on how it looks.
| On the drawing | Category in Revit | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke and heat detectors | Fire Alarm Devices | Systems › Electrical › Device ▾ › Fire Alarm |
| Manual pull stations | Fire Alarm Devices | as above |
| Horns, bells, strobes | Fire Alarm Devices | as above |
| The fire alarm control panel | Electrical Equipment | Systems › Electrical › Electrical Equipment |
| The circuit that ties them together | Electrical Circuit | Create Systems › Fire Alarm |
| Wire | Wires | Convert to Wire › Arc Wire |
Autodesk's Create Data, Telephone, and Fire Alarm Circuits page makes two points worth remembering. First, for this kind of circuit "Revit does not check voltages or the number of poles for connectors". Second, a panel family used for such circuits must sit in the Electrical Equipment category, have its Part Type set to Other Panel and carry a single connector of the matching type.
How many detectors, where they go and how zones are split is the designer's work, under the codes in force and the approved submission. Revit records the result and counts it.
Loading fire alarm devices
Local MEP templates rarely carry fire alarm content. Start the Device command with no such family loaded and Revit offers to load one.
Step 1. Go to Insert › Load from Library › Load Autodesk Family. Autodesk's online content browser opens.
Step 2. Type fire alarm in the search box. The results narrow to alarm content; the tree under Browse › Electrical › MEP › Information and Communication › Fire Alarm is the folder route to the same thing.
Step 3. Tick the checkbox on each tile you want and click Load. This article uses four: Smoke Detector, Fire Alarm Horn - Ceiling Mounted, Manual Pull Station and Fire Alarm Control Panel. Change the search term and the ticks are lost, so load in batches.
Searching smoke detector revit online turns up the same Autodesk content. A manufacturer's family loads the usual way, through Insert › Load Family pointed at the .rfa file.
The view you draw the fire alarm plan in
This is where the time goes if nobody warns you. The ceiling plan in the fire protection template carries a plumbing view template, and that template switches the electrical categories off. The result: the whole Electrical panel on the ribbon greys out, and any device you do place triggers "None of the created elements are visible in Reflected Ceiling Plan".
Step 4. With the ceiling plan open, click the View Template cell on the Properties palette, switch it to Electrical Ceiling and click OK. Fire Alarm Devices and Electrical Equipment come back, and the Device command lights up.
The tidier habit is to duplicate the ceiling plan into a view of its own for fire alarm work and change the sub-discipline and template on the copy, leaving the plumbing sheet alone. View templates and filters are covered in controlling visibility in Revit; sprinklers and fire protection pipe are in modelling sprinklers in Revit.
Placing detectors, horns, pull stations and the panel
Step 5. Click Systems › Electrical › Device ▾ › Fire Alarm.
Step 6. Open the Type Selector and type Smoke Detector in the search box. The Autodesk family carries four types: Air Sampling, Ionization, Photoelectric and Plain.
Step 7. On the Modify | Place Fire Alarm tab, Placement panel, click Place on Face, then click the ceiling inside the room. The device hosts on the ceiling face of the linked architectural model, so it follows when the ceiling moves.
Step 8. A horn is the same job: switch the type to Fire Alarm Horn, keep Place on Face and click the corridor ceiling.
Step 9. Pull stations and the panel live on walls, so change the placement. For the pull station pick Manual Pull Station and click Place on Vertical Face, then click the wall. For the panel use Systems › Electrical › Electrical Equipment, pick Fire Alarm Control Panel and click the wall as well.
Creating the circuit, picking the panel and drawing wire
Step 10. Select the devices that belong on one fire alarm circuit. The ribbon becomes Modify | Fire Alarm Devices and the Create Systems panel offers a Fire Alarm button. Click it.
Step 11. The ribbon changes again, to Modify | Electrical Circuits. The Panel box reads None: the circuit exists but knows no panel yet. Click Select Panel in the System Tools panel, then click the control panel in the view. The Panel box takes its name.
Step 12. For wire, with the circuit still selected click Arc Wire or Chamfered Wire in the Convert to Wire panel. Revit runs wire through the devices and back to the panel. Wiring is optional: skip it and the circuit still holds all its data, the drawing simply has no wire linework.
A fire alarm control panel accepts the circuit because its family is in the Electrical Equipment category and carries a Fire Alarm connector. A home-made panel family without that connector will not be accepted by Select Panel.
Scheduling the devices
Step 13. Go to View › Create › Schedules › Schedule/Quantities, type Fire Alarm into Category name search, pick Fire Alarm Devices and click OK. On the Fields tab add Family and Type, Count and a location field such as Elevation from Level; to group by type, clear Itemize every instance on the Sorting/Grouping tab and tick Grand totals.
That is the whole fire alarm system in revit, data and all. The schedule replaces the list typed by hand: add or remove a detector and the number follows. Other schedule types and the Excel export are covered in schedules in Revit.
Riser diagrams and fire alarm cad symbols
Revit does not generate a fire alarm riser diagram from the model. There are two routes, both drawn by hand but anchored to the model.
Step 14. The first uses the plan itself: View › Create › Duplicate View ▾ › Duplicate with Detailing, then on the copy switch the linked model off in Visibility/Graphics and add linework with Annotate › Detail Line. The diagram keeps the real device positions, so a design change only costs you the connecting lines.
The second route is a drafting view: cut a section through the panel, use the building levels as the frame, then place symbols and lines. That diagram is not tied to the devices, but it is compact and looks like the drawing everyone expects.
People coming from CAD hunt for fire alarm cad symbols to drop into the drawing. In Revit each symbol already lives inside the device family, and it carries data with it.
| On the CAD drawing | In Revit 2027 |
|---|---|
| Blocks for detectors, pull stations, horns | Families in the Fire Alarm Devices category, with connectors and elevations |
| Dashed lines between devices | A Fire Alarm circuit that knows which devices belong to which panel |
| A parts list typed by hand | A schedule that recounts whenever the model changes |
| A diagram drawn separately | A duplicated view or a drafting view inside the same file |
When it does not behave
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The whole Electrical panel is greyed out | The view has the electrical categories switched off | Change the view template to Electrical Ceiling, or switch the categories on in Visibility/Graphics |
| "None of the created elements are visible" after placing | The device exists but its category is hidden in that view | Same fix; the device is there, no need to place it again |
| Device › Fire Alarm asks to load a family | No family in the Fire Alarm Devices category is loaded | Load one with Load Autodesk Family or Load Family |
| Clicking in the middle of the room places nothing | Placement is on Place on Vertical Face, or there is no ceiling there | Click Place on Face; with no ceiling use Place on Work Plane |
| Select Panel will not accept the panel | The family is not Electrical Equipment, or has no Fire Alarm connector | Swap the family, or add the right connector in the Family Editor |
| The circuit is made but Panel still reads None | Select Panel has not been used yet | Select the circuit, click Select Panel, then click the panel |
Frequently asked questions
Which category do fire alarm devices belong to?
Fire Alarm Devices, from Systems › Electrical › Device ▾ › Fire Alarm. The control panel belongs to Electrical Equipment.
Where do detector families come from?
From the online library through Insert › Load Autodesk Family, or from a manufacturer's .rfa through Insert › Load Family.
Does Revit check the voltage of a fire alarm circuit?
No. Autodesk states that this kind of circuit checks neither voltage nor the number of poles. Device and circuit calculations stay outside the model, under the codes in force.
Is wiring mandatory?
No. The circuit holds its data with or without wire. Wire is only there to give the drawing linework.
Can Revit draw the riser diagram by itself?
No. You build it by hand, either from a duplicated view with detailing or in a drafting view, then add symbols and lines.