On a CAD drawing a column is two parallel lines and a mark. In a model it is a member with a section, a material, a start level and an end level, and it carries both quantities and reinforcement.
Structural columns in Revit are placed with the Structural Column command on the Structure tab, Structure panel, shortcut CL. This article walks a full frame in Revit 2027: choosing a family and a section, setting the base and top levels, dropping a whole bay at grid intersections, stacking columns onto the floors above, then slanting one. If you want the whole modelling and documentation workflow, the Institute runs a Revit Structure course.
Structural columns in Revit versus architectural columns
This is the first thing beginners get wrong. On the Architecture tab the Column button has a drop-down with exactly two entries.
The two are not two names for the same thing. Autodesk puts it plainly on About Placing Structural Columns: "Structural elements such as beams, braces, and isolated foundations join to structural columns; they do not join to architectural columns".
| Behaviour | Structural column | Architectural column |
|---|---|---|
| Beams, braces, isolated foundations join to it | yes | no |
| Has an analytical model for data exchange | yes | no |
| Takes reinforcement | yes | no |
| Merges into a wall in plan | no | yes |
| Can be placed in bulk at grid intersections | yes | no |
Engineers use the first one. Cladding columns, wall piers and decorative columns belong to the architect and use the second; that side is covered in the article on columns in Revit.
What to prepare before you place a column
Three things. A grid, because columns snap to intersections and stay tied to them afterwards; the article on grids and levels in Revit covers that. All storey levels, because a column runs from one level to another rather than to a free number. And a structural plan, a Structural Plan view whose Discipline is set to Structural.
The model used here is a four-storey reinforced concrete house, grids 1 to 4 and A, B, levels 1F to RF. If you are new to the discipline, read what Revit Structure is first.
How to place columns in Revit: the command and the section
Step 1 — Open the structural plan of the floor
In the Project Browser open Structural Plans and double-click the floor, then zoom to the bay you are about to build. The command also runs in a 3D view, but snapping is far easier in plan.
Step 2 — Start the Structural Column command
Go to Structure › Structure › Column, or type CL. On the Structure tab the button has no drop-down: one click takes you straight into the structural column command.
Step 3 — Read the six panels of the contextual tab
The ribbon switches to Modify | Place Structural Column. Six panels decide almost everything, so read them once before you click.
| No. | Panel | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mode | Load Family brings in another column family from an .rfa file |
| 2 | Rotate | Rotate After Placement lets you spin the column right after the click |
| 3 | Placement | Choose Vertical Column or Slanted Column |
| 4 | Levels | The Height – Depth pair, the target level and the unconnected height box |
| 5 | Multiple | At Grids places at intersections, At Columns follows architectural columns |
| 6 | Tag | Tag on Placement labels the column as it lands |
Release 2027 has no Options Bar at all. Everything older tutorials tell you to set "on the Options Bar" now lives in these six panels.
Step 4 — Pick the family and the type
Open the Type Selector at the top of the Properties palette. The Search box above the list filters by name, which is worth using once a project carries several families. Most Recently Used Types below keeps the ones you just used.
Step 5 — Duplicate a type to get the section you need
The shipped library has no sections matching local documentation. The fix is not to hunt for another family but to duplicate a type and change two numbers. Click Edit Type in Properties, click Duplicate, name the type after the section, then edit the two dimensions.
Naming a type after its section is a good habit: the name tells you the size without opening a dialog. The model here uses names such as 220x300, 220x400 and 220x220.
Step 6 — Set the material and read Section Shape
In the same dialog, Materials and Finishes holds Structural Material, which decides the row a column lands on in a material takeoff, so do not leave it on By Category. Just below, the Structural group holds Section Shape: leaving it Not Defined is correct for a rectangular concrete column, and it only carries a real value for rolled steel families.
Step 7 — Choose Depth or Height, then the target level
The Levels panel is where beginners lose most time. Depth runs the column down from the level of the current view to the level chosen beside it. Height runs it up. Choosing Unconnected enables the number box below, and the column is exactly that tall.
Setting this before you click saves editing dozens of columns later.
Placing a whole bay with Revit At Grids
Step 8 — Click a grid intersection
Hover over the intersection of two grids; Revit shows the snap marker and two temporary dimensions to the nearest grids. Click once. To turn the column before placing it, press the space bar; each press rotates by 90 degrees.
Step 9 — Place a whole bay with At Grids
Click At Grids on the Multiple panel. The contextual tab renames itself to Modify | Place Structural Column > At Grid Intersection, and the status bar asks you to select grid lines. Drag a crossing selection from right to left so both directions are caught, then click Finish.
Revit drops a column at every intersection of the selected grids. Two grids each way give four columns; all six grids of a small frame give the whole set in one click.
Step 10 — Follow architectural columns with At Columns
When the architectural model is linked in and already carries architectural columns, At Columns places structural columns at the selected ones. The two models then line up without checking column by column.
Base and top levels, and stacking columns to the floors above
Step 11 — Read and correct the base and top
Select a placed column and the Properties palette tells you where it starts and stops.
The column shown has Base Level 2F with Base Offset −350 and Top Level 3F with Top Offset −50. A negative base offset means the foot of the column sits 350 mm below level 2F, that is, below the soffit of the beams of the floor beneath, exactly as it is cast. Scroll down and System Length reads 3900, the storey height. Column Location Mark names the intersection, and a ticked Moves With Grids means the column follows the grid when you move it.
A section makes it obvious: a column is not one bar from footing to roof but a stack of segments meeting at each level, and the marks are numbered by floor.
Step 12 — Stack floors with Paste Aligned to Selected Levels
Once one floor is right, do not model the next one again. Select the columns, press Ctrl + C, then open the arrow under Paste on the Clipboard panel.
Choose Aligned to Selected Levels and the Select Levels dialog lists every level in the project. Pick one or several, click OK, and the columns land at the same plan positions on those floors.
Check the Top Offset on the topmost floor afterwards, because a roof storey rarely has the same height as the others.
Slanted columns in Revit and checking the finished frame
Step 13 — Draw a slanted column
Click Slanted Column on the Placement panel. The ribbon changes noticeably, and that is the part worth noticing.
The Levels panel disappears, because a slanted column takes its levels from the two clicks rather than from a preset box. In exchange you get a Positioning panel with 3D Snapping, which lets you snap to members at other levels. The status bar asks for the start point, then the second point.
Autodesk's page About Placing Slanted Structural Columns lists three things to remember. The top is always higher than the base and cannot later be set below it. Slanted columns do not appear in graphical column schedules, so they lose the Column Location Mark parameter. Copy/Monitor does not apply to them either.
Step 14 — Check the frame by isolating the category
Select any column and type IC. Revit hides every other category, leaves Structural Columns on screen and frames the view in cyan with a Temporary Hide/Isolate label.
At this size you can finally read what matters: which columns run through several storeys, which stop after one, and where a gap is left. Turn the temporary mode off with the light-bulb button on the view control bar, as the article on hiding and isolating objects in Revit describes.
Structural column Revit family: extra sections and steel
Round columns, rolled steel columns and built-up columns are all Structural Columns; only the family differs. The two load buttons sit under Insert › Load from Library: Load Family opens an .rfa file on disk, while Load Autodesk Family pulls straight from Autodesk online content.
The online Structural Columns group holds 67 families sorted by material: Concrete, Light Gauge Steel, Precast Concrete, Steel and Wood. The Steel branch covers I sections, C sections, angles, round pipes and square tubes. Pick a family, click Load, and Revit opens Specify Types so you bring in only the sections you need instead of the whole family.
Place one tube column and the difference from concrete shows at once. Section Shape reads Rectangular HSS instead of sitting empty. Structural Material points at a steel material, so schedules separate cleanly, and Properties grows a Top Connection – Base Connection pair. Type Properties gains a whole Structural Analysis group carrying section area, weight per metre and moment of inertia about both axes, none of which a rectangular concrete column has. Joints between two steel members are made on the Steel tab, with Connection, Plate, Bolts and Welds; that tab does not place columns.
Sections from Autodesk content follow the American AISC series, which Revit reports in centimetres. Searching the web for a structural column revit family mostly returns American and European rolled sections, so local documentation usually still needs a family built in house.
One more thing to do after placement. A column does not climb to a sloped roof by itself. To make the top follow a roof, select it, click Attach Top/Base on the Modify | Structural Columns tab and pick the roof. Skip this and the column cuts through the roof, a mistake that only shows up in section.
When the column will not behave
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The column is nowhere to be seen in plan | It falls outside the view range, or the view discipline is not Structural | Adjust View Range, set Discipline to Structural |
| The Column button is greyed out | You are on a sheet, a legend or a drafting view | Open a plan or a 3D view |
| The column grows the wrong way | Depth is active where Height was needed | Switch it on the Levels panel before clicking |
| At Grids finishes but nothing appears | Only grids in one direction were selected, so there is no intersection | Add grids in the other direction, then Finish |
| Moving a grid leaves the column behind | Moves With Grids has been unticked | Tick it again in Properties |
| A slanted column has no Column Location Mark | Revit drops the graphical schedule parameters while a column is slanted | Not fixable; make the column vertical again |
| Deleting a column reports invalid dimension references | A dimension is tied to the column | Delete the dimension first, or use Remove References in the error box |
Five things you often hear that are wrong
| What you often hear | What release 2027 actually does |
|---|---|
| Height and Depth are set on the Options Bar | 2027 has no Options Bar; the Height – Depth pair sits on the Levels panel |
| Every Column button offers the two column types | On the Structure tab it goes straight to a structural column; the two-item menu is on the Architecture tab |
| Architectural and structural columns differ only in name | Beams, braces and isolated foundations join structural columns, not architectural ones |
| A slanted column keeps every parameter | It loses Column Location Mark, and Copy/Monitor does not apply |
| A column stretches up to the roof on its own | It stops at the level you set; use Attach Top/Base to follow a sloped roof |
In short, structural columns in revit follow a short loop: pick the type, set the section, set base and top, place along the grid, then paste onto the floors above. Once the columns stand, beams are next, and that is the article on drawing beams in Revit.
Frequently asked questions
Should I use a structural or an architectural column?
Engineers use structural columns, because only those join beams, braces and footings and only those take reinforcement. Cladding and decorative columns belong to the architectural model.
What is the fastest way to place columns in Revit across a floor?
At Grids. Start the Column command, click At Grids, drag a crossing selection over the grids in both directions and click Finish.
What does a negative Base Offset mean?
The foot of the column sits that far below the level you chose. In a frame it is normally used to take the column down past the soffit of the beams below.
Which views accept a slanted column?
Plans, elevations, sections and 3D views. In plan the two clicks take their levels from the command settings; switch on 3D Snapping to catch members at another level.
How do I make a column follow a sloped roof?
Select it, click Attach Top/Base on the Modify | Structural Columns tab and pick the roof. A column never attaches to a roof, floor or ceiling by itself.