An apartment power plan looks simple enough: a handful of receptacle symbols and a few curves heading for the board. Then the client asks how many outlets this floor has, and which circuit is carrying what, and the 2D sheet has no answer. A symbol is a piece of linework; it carries no data.
Revit electrical circuits come in three separate layers: place the devices, group them into a circuit, then draw wire for the installer to read. The circuit is the layer that carries the data; the wire is only a 2D annotation. This article walks through thirteen steps in Revit 2027, with a screenshot at each one and a note wherever the 2026 release changed the rules. For the electrical model end to end, the Institute runs a Revit MEP course.
Three layers: devices, circuits and wire
These three are different in kind, and mixing them up is why so many electrical models produce no schedule at all.
| Layer | What it is in Revit | What happens when you delete it |
|---|---|---|
| Device | A receptacle, switch, luminaire or board family with an electrical connector carrying voltage, poles and load | Delete the device and the circuit loses that element |
| Circuit | The logical link between devices and a panel, carrying rating, voltage and load | Independent of wire: a circuit exists with no wire drawn |
| Wire | An annotation line living in one view only | Deleting wire leaves the circuit untouched |
So the order is devices first, circuit second, wire last — and the wire is only there to make the sheet readable. The classic beginner's mistake runs the other way: draw a curve with the Line tool, assume the circuit exists, then find the panel schedule empty.
The file used here
The screenshots come from a copy of the Institute's electrical sample file linked to the Snowdon Towers architectural model that ships in the Samples folder of Revit; getting and linking both files is covered in Revit MEP sample files. You need a floor plan that shows the architectural walls and the Properties palette open. What the software covers for building services is set out in what Revit MEP is.
Steps 1–4: place receptacles and switches
- Open the floor plan and go to Systems › Electrical › Device, click the drop-down arrow and pick Electrical Fixture. The same menu holds Communication, Data, Fire Alarm, Lighting, Nurse Call and Security for the low-voltage families.
- Open the Type Selector at the top of the Properties palette and pick the socket type. The sample file holds single and double sockets, three-pin flush sockets, floor sockets and junction boxes for wall and ceiling.
- On the Modify | Place Devices ribbon, switch Tag on Placement on if you want the symbol lettered as you place it, and note Rotate After Placement for devices that need turning straight after the click.
- Move the cursor over the wall and click. Each click is one device.
Once they are down, read the Host row in Properties, because this is where most of the confusion starts. A revit receptacle family comes in two flavours: face based, which attaches to the face of a wall — including a wall in a linked model — and level based, where Host reads Level rather than a wall name.
For a level-based family the mounting height goes into Elevation from Level, say 400 for a skirting socket and 1200 for a switch. A face-based family measures from the wall face and travels with the wall when the architect moves it. Switches are placed exactly like sockets; only the type in the Type Selector differs.
Steps 5–7: create the Power circuit and pick a panel
- Select the devices that share one circuit: click the first, then hold Ctrl and click the rest.
- The ribbon changes to Modify | Electrical Fixtures. Click Power on the Create Systems panel.
The button only shows up when the family has an electrical connector. A beautifully modelled family with no connector will never offer Power — the usual trap with libraries downloaded from the web.
- The circuit forms immediately: Revit draws a dashed box around the selected devices with two small controls for generating wire.
The ribbon now carries an Electrical Circuits tab with the circuit tools.
Pick the panel from the Panel box on the ribbon, or click Select Panel and then the board in the view. The list only offers panels whose distribution system matches the voltage and pole count of the circuit.
An empty list means the board is not ready, not that the circuit is wrong: the panel family needs an electrical connector and a Distribution System assigned first. Voltages, distribution systems and panel schedules are covered in electrical panels in Revit.
Steps 8–10: revit wiring on the plan
- With the circuit selected, click Arc Wire or Chamfered Wire on the Convert to Wire panel. Revit joins the devices and adds the home run arrow towards the panel.
- To draw by hand, go to Systems › Electrical › Wire; the drop-down offers Arc Wire, Spline Wire and Chamfered Wire. Snap to the connector of the device rather than to its symbol, or the wire will stay behind when the device moves.
- Reshape a run with the blue grips on it: drag a vertex to change the curve, right-click for Insert Vertex or Delete Vertex. Wire lives in the view where it was drawn, so deleting it on one plan leaves every other plan alone.
Steps 11–13: read the circuit, set the cable size, edit the circuit
- Select the circuit and read the Properties palette. This is where the question "what is this circuit carrying" gets answered.
- Select a length of wire and Properties switches to the wire data: hot, neutral and ground conductors, and the size.
- Revit electrical circuits are edited with Edit Circuit on the Electrical Circuits tab. According to the Autodesk page Add Components to a Circuit, everything outside the circuit dims while the tool runs; click Add To Circuit, pick the devices, then Finish Editing Circuit. Dropping devices works the same way through Remove From Circuit. Since the old wire stays put, expect to tidy a few runs afterwards.
Wire and cable settings: what the 2026 release moved
Anyone used to the older releases goes looking for wire sizes and voltage drop in Electrical Settings. In the 2027 release the Wiring branch is display only: the gap where wires cross, the tick marks for hot, neutral and ground, the home run arrow style.
Conductor sizing moved into a dialog of its own: Manage › Settings › MEP Settings › Electrical Conductor and Cable Settings, with four tabs — Conductor Details, Conductor Sizes, Cable Sizes and Cable Types. You declare conductor material, temperature rating and insulation, then build cable sizes and cable types out of them.
With sizes declared, select the circuit and set Cable Type and cable size in its Properties; the Autodesk page Adjust Cable Sizes describes exactly that. The software no longer picks the size for you, so the cable table in your template has to follow the standard the project works to.
Coming from CAD
CAD users start by hunting for a block library of receptacle symbols. In Revit the symbol is already inside the device family: every family carries 3D geometry for coordination and a 2D symbol for the sheet.
| On CAD | In Revit |
|---|---|
| Insert a receptacle block | Place the device family; the 2D symbol comes with it |
| Draw a curve to suggest the wiring | Create the circuit, then Convert to Wire; the wire belongs to the circuit |
| Letter the circuit number as text | Circuit Number comes from the panel and a tag reads it out |
| Count the outlets by hand | A schedule counts them by type and by floor |
Small residential jobs often keep power and plumbing in one file. That works, but separate them by view: filter the pipes out of the power plan and the other way round, so the printed sheet stays clean. Switching categories on and off is covered in showing and hiding elements in Revit, and tray and conduit in cable tray in Revit.
When revit electrical circuits will not work
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No Power button when a device is selected | The family has no electrical connector | Use a family that has one, or add a connector in the Family Editor |
| The Panel list is empty | No panel matches the distribution system, or none has been assigned | Place the board, give it the right distribution system, then pick again |
| The socket will not attach to the linked wall | The family is not face based | Use a face-based family, or accept Host = Level and set Elevation from Level |
| Wire stays behind when the device moves | The wire snapped to the symbol, not to the connector | Delete it and redraw, snapping to the connector |
| Wire Size reads None | No cable size has been declared in the file | Declare Cable Sizes and Cable Types, then assign a Cable Type to the circuit |
| Deleting the wire seems to delete the circuit | The circuit is still there, only the annotation is gone | Select a device and check Circuit Number in Properties |
Three things worth unlearning
| Often heard | What the 2027 release actually does |
|---|---|
| Drawing wire creates the circuit | Wire is annotation in one view; the circuit comes from the Power button |
| Revit sizes the conductors from current and voltage drop | Automatic sizing and voltage drop were removed in the 2026 release; you assign the cable |
| Clicking on a wall attaches the socket to that wall | Only a face-based family attaches; the others take Level as their host |
Frequently asked questions
Can I create a circuit before there is a panel?
Yes. The circuit forms and keeps its rating and voltage; pick the panel later from the Panel box or with Select Panel.
Is wire compulsory?
No. The circuit stands on its own. Draw wire only when the sheet has to show how the installer should run it.
Where do I set a socket at 400 mm?
In Elevation from Level for a level-based family, or from the wall face for a face-based one.
Why is the Power button missing?
The family in use has no electrical connector. Open it in the Family Editor and check.
Wire Size says None — where is that fixed?
Declare sizes in Manage › MEP Settings › Electrical Conductor and Cable Settings, then assign Cable Type and cable size to the circuit in Properties.