A downloaded receptacle drops neatly into a wall. Then the architect moves that wall 200 mm. The receptacle stays where it was, floating in the middle of the room. The power plan still prints a symbol, so nobody notices until the model is coordinated against structure.
Electrical device families in Revit that are built properly never do that. The device holds on to the face of its host, and when the wall moves the device moves with it. This article walks through 15 steps in Revit 2027: the face based template, the category swap, the plan symbol, the electrical connector and the final placement on a wall face. A switch is the same job with a different category. To learn the whole electrical package on one sample building, see the Institute's Revit MEP course.
Generic family skills — reference planes, solids, parameters — are covered in how to create a family in Revit. What follows is only the part that belongs to electrical devices.
Why a device needs a face based family
Electrical devices almost always sit on something. Receptacles and switches go on walls, detectors on ceilings, floor boxes in slabs. Revit offers three ways to arrange that, and only one of them follows the host when the host moves.
| Family kind | Can be placed on | When the wall moves |
|---|---|---|
| Non-hosted | anywhere, at a set elevation | stays put |
| Wall based, ceiling based | exactly one host type | follows |
| Face based | any face: wall, ceiling, floor, reference plane | follows |
The third kind is the face based family, and it is the default choice for receptacles, switches and detectors. Revit ships no file called "Electrical Fixture face based", so the recipe is to open the generic template Metric Generic Model face based.rft and then change the family category to electrical fixtures.
Changing the category does more than rename the family. Autodesk's page About Categories for MEP Families puts it in one line: "The family category specified when a family is created determines which family parameters are activated". The Electrical Fixtures category activates exactly the parameters a device needs, including the one that keeps the nested symbol readable in plan.
Steps 1–4: open the face based template and swap the category
Step 1. Go to File › New › Family, switch to the English folder and choose Metric Generic Model face based.rft. The family opens with a thin box already in it. That box is a placeholder host: it stands in for the wall that will carry the device.
Step 2. On the Create tab, click Family Category and Parameters. Type Electrical Fix into the Category name search box to filter the list, then pick Electrical Fixtures. That is the category for a receptacle. A switch belongs to Lighting Devices and a smoke detector to Fire Alarm Devices.
Step 3. In the same dialog, tick Maintain Annotation Orientation. This parameter decides whether the nested symbol shows in plan while the device itself sits on a vertical face. Skip it and the power plan comes out empty, even though the model is full of receptacles.
Step 4. Check Properties once more: Family reads Electrical Fixtures and Host still reads Face. Those two lines are the whole declaration of a face hosted device.
Steps 5–7: the device body and its visibility
Step 5. Build the body with Extrusion: a rectangle the size of the cover plate, 15 mm thick, sketched on the face of the placeholder host. Electrical devices do not need modelled detail. A solid of the right size is enough for coordination and enough to read in section.
Step 6. Select the solid and click Visibility Settings on the Modify | Extrusion tab. The Family Element Visibility Settings dialog controls which view directions show the solid and at which detail levels.
Step 7. For a receptacle, clear Plan/RCP and clear the Coarse level if you want the plan to show only the symbol. That is how most electrical documentation reads: a symbol in plan, the real shape in section and in the 3D view.
Steps 8–10: the plan symbol as a generic annotation
Step 8. The symbol has to be a separate annotation family, because only annotation keeps its printed size when the view scale changes. Go to File › New › Annotation Symbol and pick Metric Generic Annotation.rft. The template carries a red note; delete it before drawing anything.
Step 9. Draw the symbol with the Line command on the Create tab: a circle, a horizontal diameter and two pins. Draw it at the size it should print, because a generic annotation is measured on paper and not in the model. Save the file with a plain name, without accented characters.
Step 10. Load the symbol into the device family with Load into Project, then place it with Annotate › Detail › Symbol, clicking exactly on the origin. The symbol is drawn in the plan view of the family, so it will appear in the plan views of the project.
A nested symbol is the difference between a receptacle family that documents itself and one that only exists in 3D. It is also why the orientation parameter from step 3 matters: without it, a symbol drawn for a vertical device is invisible from above.
Steps 11–12: the electrical connector
Step 11. On the Create tab, click Electrical Connector, choose the Work Plane placement and pick the Ref. Level plane. The exact spot matters less than on piped equipment, because wiring in the project stops at the edge of the device.
Step 12. Select the connector and change System Type to Power - Balanced. Then set Number of Poles to 1, Voltage to 220 V, Apparent Power from the design, and Load Classification to Power for a receptacle. A switch takes the Lighting group and joins a switch system in the project, which belongs to the electrical modelling workflow.
Without a connector the receptacle is only a box: it joins no circuit, reaches no panel schedule and adds nothing to the connected load. Connectors for the other disciplines are covered in MEP equipment families.
Steps 13–15: load into the project and place on a wall
Step 13. Save the family under a plain name and click Load into Project, then tick the project you want it in.
Step 14. In the project, run Component and pick the new type. Properties reads New Electrical Fixtures and carries the three lines of a face hosted device: Schedule Level, Elevation from Level and Host.
Step 15. Hover over the wall face and click. The status bar spells out the rule: "Click on Host Face to place Instance, Space Bar to flip the instance left/right". The space bar flips the device to the other side of the wall.
One last test settles it: select the wall and move it. The device has to travel with it. If it stays behind, either the family was not built from a face based template, or the click landed in empty space instead of on the wall face.
What changes for a switch
The workflow is identical. Three things differ.
| Item | Receptacle | Switch |
|---|---|---|
| Family category | Electrical Fixtures | Lighting Devices |
| Load group on the connector | Power | Lighting |
| Job in the project | joins a power circuit | joins a switch system that controls lights |
Everything else carries over, which is why electrical device families in Revit are worth building once and reusing. The switch symbol is a separate annotation family too, usually with a character for the number of poles. If the symbol has to face a different way on different walls, nest two symbols in the family and drive them with two Yes/No parameters.
When the symbol hides or the device will not host
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No symbol in plan | Maintain Annotation Orientation was never ticked | tick it in Family Category and Parameters and reload |
| The symbol scales with the view | it was drawn with model lines, not in an annotation family | redraw it in the Generic Annotation template |
| The device will not go on a wall | the family came from a non-hosted template | rebuild from the face based template; it cannot be converted |
| The wall moves and the device stays | the click landed on a reference plane, not on the wall face | delete it, place again, and watch the status bar for Host Face |
| The receptacle joins no circuit | no connector, or System Type is still Power | switch to Power - Balanced and set the voltage |
| Receptacle load lands in the lighting group | Load Classification is wrong | fix it on the connector and reload the family |
Three things you often hear
| What you hear | What Revit 2027 does |
|---|---|
| There is a dedicated template for face hosted receptacles | There is not; open the Generic Model face based template and change the category |
| Model lines are fine for the plan symbol | Model lines grow and shrink with the view scale, so the printed symbol comes out wrong |
| A face based device can be dropped anywhere | It needs a real face; a click in empty space places nothing |
Frequently asked questions
Should a receptacle be Electrical Fixtures or Data Devices?
A power receptacle is Electrical Fixtures. Data and telephone outlets belong to Data Devices or Communication Devices, because they carry a different kind of connector.
Where is the mounting height set?
In the project, in the Elevation from Level box of each instance. The family can hold a Default Elevation parameter as a starting value, but the real number is always editable outside.
Do I need a label parameter for the circuit number?
No. Revit assigns the circuit number when the device joins a circuit. If you need extra information on the drawing, create a shared parameter and build a tag that reads it.
Can one family cover both single and double receptacles?
Yes. Use several types in one family and a Yes/No parameter that switches the geometry of the second outlet on and off.