A scope box in Revit is an invisible box that limits how far grids, levels and reference planes run. On a long building it is the only tidy way to make each part of the drawing set show only its own grids.
This article runs from scope boxes through to work planes — two pieces of setting-out that beginners overlook, and that spoil a whole drawing set when they go wrong. To learn modelling and documentation end to end, see the Revit Architecture course.
What a scope box in Revit is, and where to draw one
A scope box is a project element, not a view setting. Draw it once and every view can use it.
Run View › Create › Scope Box. The button is active only in a plan view — which is why people hunt for it in vain while standing in a section or a 3D view. Click two opposite corners to draw the rectangle.
Three fields in its Properties are worth knowing.
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name | The box name. It is all the drop-down shows when assigning a datum, so give it a meaningful one at the start |
| Height | The box height. A plan shows only the four sides; the height is declared here |
| Views Visible | Which views display the box. Change it to hide the box while keeping its effect |
Once it exists, you can resize it in a 3D view by dragging the handles on its faces. Autodesk sets out the method on Resize a Scope Box.
Assigning grids and levels to a scope box
Drawing the box does nothing on its own. Each datum has to be assigned to it before the box governs anything.
Select the grid, open the Properties palette, find the Scope Box field under Extents, pick the box name and click Apply. Autodesk documents the sequence on Apply a Scope Box to Datums.
| No. | Component | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The scope box edge | A thin dashed rectangle. A plan shows only the four sides; the height is declared in Height |
| 2 | The grid head rises | After assignment the head jumps to the top edge of the box, noticeably higher than unassigned grids |
| 3 | The grid tail stops early | The grid ends at the lower edge of the box while the others still run their old extent |
Two consequences follow. First, the 3D extent is now the box's business, and can no longer be dragged by hand; to lengthen the grid, enlarge the box. Second, drag the box and every datum assigned to it moves with it — one edit fixes the whole set.
Drawing and editing grids, along with the 2D and 3D extent mechanism, is covered in grids and levels in Revit.
How a scope box differs from a section box
The two names look alike, yet the things behind them are not alike at all.
| Scope Box | Section Box | |
|---|---|---|
| Belongs to | The project, shared by many views | Exactly one 3D view |
| Acts on | The length of grids, levels, reference planes | The geometry displayed, nothing else |
| Switched on | The Scope Box field in each datum's properties | The Section Box field in the view's properties |
| Turn it off | Datums return to their former extents | The whole model returns, with nothing lost |
Put briefly: a section box is a way of looking, a scope box is a way of organising the set. Turning a section box off costs nothing; removing a scope box changes the extent of every datum on it.
Scope boxes earn their keep on split drawings. A long plan has to be cut across several sheets using dependent views and a matchline, and each sheet should then carry only its own grids. Autodesk uses exactly that example on Control Visibility of Datums Using Scope Boxes.
The box is assigned but the grid still does not show
This is the commonest complaint, and almost every case is one of the four below.
- The view's cutting plane misses the box. A scope box governs only views whose cutting plane passes through it. A box that stops at level four leaves the plans above it showing nothing.
- The grid is a Multi-Segment grid. A multi-segment grid carries no Scope Box parameter, so the field is greyed out. Autodesk states this limitation plainly; it is not a fault.
- The Grids or Levels category is switched off. Type VG, open Model Categories and switch the row back on. That dialog is covered in hiding and showing elements in Revit.
- The 2D extent was dragged by hand in that view. Select the datum, right-click and choose Reset to 3D Extents to return the head to the box edge.
The second cause wastes the most time, because a greyed field looks exactly like a software fault. Whenever the Scope Box field is greyed out, check first whether the grid is a multi-segment one.
Reference planes in Revit: drawing, naming and hiding
A reference plane is the green guide line drawn with Architecture › Work Plane › Ref Plane, or by typing RP. It never prints and it carries no head symbol.
The ribbon carries a Draw panel with Line and Pick Lines, an Offset box, and a Subcategory panel. The subcategory lets you group reference planes and switch a whole group on or off.
The palette holds only Scope Box, Name and Subcategory. Name it as soon as you draw it. The reason is practical: only a named reference plane appears in the work plane list. Autodesk makes the same point on Reference Planes.
Use reference planes to mark a canopy edge, a roof ridge, the centre line of a secondary grid — anything that has to be snapped to repeatedly. In the Family Editor they become the skeleton of the whole component, as shown in how to create a family in Revit.
Work planes in Revit and the Work Plane dialog
Everything you draw sits on a work plane. It is a virtual two-dimensional surface that Revit uses as the origin for the sketch.
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| Current Work Plane | The plane in use. Show paints its grid onto the view; Dissociate detaches the selected element from it |
| Name | Choose from a list of levels, grids and named reference planes |
| Pick a plane | Click a face in the model, such as a wall face, to adopt it. The shortcut is PK |
| Pick a line… | Click an existing line to adopt the plane that line was sketched in |
Pick a plane reaches further than most people expect: it takes any plane that can be dimensioned, including faces in linked models and faces of an extrusion. The dialog also offers Pick a new host when a work plane-based element is selected, as set out on Work Plane Dialog.
Here is the part that trips people. In plan views, 3D views and drafting views, Revit sets the plane for you. In elevations and sections you must set it yourself, and Revit asks the moment you run the tool. About Work Planes states this directly.
The work plane also decides something few people expect: Rotate and Mirror run in a 3D view only when a work plane is set. An extruded roof needs a vertical plane too, as described in how to create a roof in Revit.
One practical habit: before sketching in a 3D view, click Show on the Work Plane panel. The pale grid that appears reveals the plane in use. You can snap to that grid, but you cannot align or dimension to it.
Shared coordinates and the Project Location panel
The three origin points of a Revit file are covered in linking CAD into Revit. What is left is the set of coordinate commands, on the Manage tab, Project Location panel.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Acquire Coordinates | Takes the shared coordinate system from a linked file, usually a survey drawing. True North comes across too |
| Publish Coordinates | Pushes this project's shared coordinates out to a linked file |
| Reset Shared Coordinates | Returns the shared coordinate system to its original state |
| Specify Coordinates at Point | Type the real coordinates of a known point and Revit moves the survey point to suit |
| Report Shared Coordinates | Click a point to read its shared coordinates |
| Relocate Project | Moves the whole project against the shared system, leaving internal geometry untouched |
| Rotate True North | Rotates true north; plans set to True North rotate with it |
| Mirror Project | Mirrors the entire project |
| Rotate Project North | Rotates project north, which turns the whole model on the plan |
One Autodesk rule is worth pinning up: derive shared coordinates from one file only. That file defines the coordinates for every other file. Acquire from it, then publish out to the rest, rather than letting each party declare its own. About Shared Coordinates says exactly that, and the step-by-step sequence is on Acquire Coordinates.
The safe modelling rule is simple: keep the model close to the internal origin. Never build at real-world coordinates tens of kilometres away. Real site coordinates belong on the survey point, not on the building.
Try it: scope boxes for a long block
A thirty-minute exercise. Work on a model that already has walls and grids.
- Open the level one plan. Run View › Create › Scope Box and draw a box over the left half of the building.
- Select it, set Name to
LEFT-PARTand set Height to the building height. - Draw a second box over the right half and name it
RIGHT-PART. - Select a grid in the left half. In Properties set Scope Box to
LEFT-PARTand click Apply. Watch both ends of the grid. - Assign the remaining left-hand grids. Compare them with one still unassigned.
- Open a 3D view, select
LEFT-PARTand drag its top handle down below level three. - Open the level four plan. Note what happens and explain it using cause one above.
- Select an assigned grid, right-click and choose Reset to 3D Extents. Note the change.
- Open any elevation. Type RP, draw a reference plane and name it
CANOPY-PLANE. - In that same elevation, run Work Plane › Set, choose
CANOPY-PLANEby name, then click Show and study the grid.
Step 7 is the one worth doing carefully: it shows on screen why a scope box depends on the cutting plane of the view.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the Scope Box button greyed out?
The command is active only in plan views. If instead the Scope Box field in a grid's properties is greyed out, that grid is usually a Multi-Segment grid, which has no such parameter.
How does a scope box differ from a section box?
A scope box is a project element that limits datum extents across many views. A section box crops the geometry of exactly one 3D view.
After assigning a box my grid vanished from some plans. Is something broken?
No. Those plans have a cutting plane that misses the box. Raise the box height and the grid returns.
Why is my reference plane missing from the work plane list?
Because it has no name. Select it, type a name into the Name field, and the list picks it up at once.
How many files should shared coordinates come from?
Exactly one. That file defines the coordinates for the whole project, and the rest receive them through Publish Coordinates.
Related articles
- Grids and levels in Revit — 2D extents, 3D extents and Propagate Extents
- Linking CAD into Revit — the three origin points and five positioning options
- Hiding and showing elements in Revit — Visibility/Graphics and view range
- Linking Revit models — positioning by shared coordinates between disciplines