20 Sites to Download Revit Families for Free

20 Sites to Download Revit Families for Free

If you’re new to drafting and design you’re probably familiar with Revit by now, or you at least heard of it. AutoCAD has been around since the 1980’s and since it’s introduction has eventually become ingrained in the DNA of most design firms and offices and has become an integral part of the day-to-day activities of the design process. Is it time to change from AutoCAD to Revit? Check the infographic. It was almost 20 years later that Revit Families was introduced to the public.

Its acceptance in the design and construction industry was a gradual one but over time more and more professionals began making the transition or included Revit in their workflow. So, why switch to BIM? Recently, BIM achieved great benefits in the process of architectural design by saving time and money. In the last 10 years, it showed positive effects on the life-cycle of the building starting from its design phase to its demolishing! Here is a list of 30 useful websites for BIM design software users that might help.

We all need good content to populate our models, and if they are Free then even better! Here we are trying to help the Revit community by adding up a list of the most valuable resources to download Revit Families for free.

Websites to download Revit Families for free:

1. BIMsmith Market

BIMsmith is one of the world’s fastest-growing BIM platforms for AEC professionals. BIMsmith Market has a rapidly expanding library of tens of thousands of free Revit families that have been modeled by the BIMsmith team of in-house architects. BIMsmith Forge® is also available as a free Revit configurator for building multi-layer Revit assemblies like walls, floors, ceilings, and roofs in the cloud.

2. RevitCity

RevitCity is not just a place to download free Revit families, but it is also a central place where you can get your questions answered, share your latest ideas or creations, and easily find the content you are looking for.

3. RBI Water Heaters

Mestek has created a library of BIM objects for free download and use by the design community. Objects are available in the Autodesk Revit MEP.RFA format and many objects are also stored as.ZIP files. Please note that some objects require the saving of both an.RFA file and a.TXT file in order to function correctly.

4. BIM Object

BIMObject is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing digital content management system for BIM objects. According to the website, you can download 33,837 product families, 244,292 parametric BIM object, and 16,493,712 products.

5. Smart BIM Library

Another pretty good site with a large range, and easy to find Revit families. Both manufacturer specific and generic content, this is a great site to check out.

6. CAD Forum

CADforum has a CAD/BIM block library with more than 13.000 blocks. Also, it has some tips for AutoCAD 2017, Revit 2017 and Inventor 2017.

7. Modlar

Modlar has a large collection of manufacturer specific products to use with your projects. It is all completely free, you just need to be signed in to download the files.

8. SpecifiedBy (UK)

This is a great resource for manufacturer specific content from a huge range of product categories. They claim to have “the largest library of BIM content in the UK”, and the site is easy to navigate, search, and filter to find exactly what you’re looking for.

9. ARCAT

For CAD and BIM resources, ARCAT is a one-stop-shop. Their free, no registration system has everything from concrete to pollution control system.

9. BIMetica (Spanish)

Again, another BIM library with a large amount of Revit families. Some categories are empty however which can be annoying!

10. The National BIM Library

The National Bim Library offers a collection of free to download generic BIM components that are compatible with the major BIM products. NBS are better known for their specifications but have taken a strong interest in BIM recently. The library is still a little sparse but the basics are in place for a very useful resource.

11. RevitComponents

Some useful free components especially strong on furniture and interiors.

12. TurboSquid

This site offers components which you pay for but there is a small amount of free items. TurboSquihasve a Revit certification system that ensures the components meet minimum standards. Compare the prices to the time you might spend modeling the items.

13. BIM Catalogs

A good place to find manufacturer specific content, a bit hard to navigate and find products without knowing the manufacturer first. Worth a look however.

14. Polantis

This site offers a huge range of 3d content, however a lot of the Revit families are not “true” Revit familes, in the sense they have been created in other 3d programs and just imported and saved as a Revit Family file. Good site if your just after content for visualization purposes.

15. BIMbox

Another great site from the UK, BIMbox have a decent amount of Revit content available for Free download. Most of the content is geared towards interiors (Sofas, Tables, Shelving etc.) and the site is well presented. Most Revit content is IFC compliant which is great.

16. Familit

RFA files are family files that can either be loaded using Revit familyManager into a project or saved externally. At the moment familit.com offers 18.000 free families in English, German and French language.

17. BIM Catalogs

A good place to find manufacturer specific content, a bit hard to navigate and find products without knowing the manufacturer first. Worth a look however.

18. Bimstore

The Bimestore offers a library of BIM content by manufacturers in Revit, Microstation and ArchiCAD format. The content is free to download. You will need to register on the site first. They have an excellent guide to content creation.

19. CAD Notes

Very useful website maintained by Edwin Prakoso on everything related to AutoCAD, Microstation and Revit.

20. RubySketch

This site has a lot of SketchUp content – but also a whole heap of Revit families as well. A diverse range of products, with lots of Mechanical & Plumbing fixtures.

Revit MEP families

This section of our website was created to introduce Revit MEP, engineering and designing systems. It is a necessary part of any construction project. In practice, lots of designers usually customize their MEP Revit families due to the complexity of parameters and filters MEP families may have. However, to suit the needs of all designers, we have released the following types of objects available for a free download:

• Heating
• Ventilation
• Plumbing
• Sewage
• Electricity
• Technology

This opportunity to use our families uploaded here is particularly beneficial to aspiring Revit users who are still cutting their teeth on this program. The families introduced here would help complete your project in a short period of time. Sometimes even experienced users might come across particular problems that may take time to solve. With the aim to save your time, we offer you these MEP families.

The families are divided into the following groups:

• Revit MEP families (English)
• Revit HVAC families (not English)
• Revit plumbing families (not English)

You can always check out other families on this website and find products you need. If you have interesting ideas, you can reach out to us to share them over the contact page.

Продукты Revit

Приведенные ниже ссылки представляют собой шаблоны семейств, шаблоны проектов и библиотеки семейств, поставляемые для Revit 2021 и Revit LT 2021 на всех поддерживаемых языках и не во всех странах.

Чтобы применить файлы содержимого:

• Загрузите нужный исполняемый контент в локальную папку
• Запустите файл компонентов локальной папки, где он сохранен.
• Укажите требуемое местоположение содержимого (папка назначения по умолчанию — C:\Program Data\Autodesk\) и выберите «Извлечь». Файлы будут извлечены в папки RVT 2021 и RLT 2021 (если применимо).

• При извлечении файла может появиться сообщение об ошибке «Невозможно создать. «. Это связано с тем, что для Windows необходимо явным образом назначить права администратора, чтобы заменить существующий файл, находящийся в папке C:\ProgramData location. Это сообщение означает, что файлы уже присутствуют, и никаких дальнейших действий не требуется. Если требуется извлечь весь пакет и перезаписать существующие файлы, запустите исполняемый файл с помощью параметра «Запуск от имени администратора».
• ** Обозначение исполняемого файла, содержащего компоненты, уже установленные вместе с Revit 2021 или Revit LT 2021 по умолчанию
• * Замена исполняемого файла, содержащего компоненты, устанавливаемые одним из следующих: дополнительные семейства основания для США, семейства в британских или главных семейств (Германия)

Revit families download

What are Revit families?

Revit is Building Information Modelling (BIM), therefore each Revit building model is built from different parts, just like a real building would be. Real buildings are constructed from foundation upwards and would typically have walls various thicknesses and lengths, doors & windows various heights, color, type and so on. The same principle is used in Revit, which makes it an incredible and powerful tool to use.

But what are Revit families? – Revit families are amazing libraries of fully functional (BIM) templates & 3D models of various objects ( doors, windows, stairs and so on ), that can be downloaded from external sources, for example from our website. Revit families are crucial part of Revit, as each 3D building model is made from hundreds or thousands of different Revit families.

Below you can find some definitions of Revit families:

Model – Family Categories – Families – Types – Instance

The model – is the entire building in Revit as a whole.
Family categories – types of elements that a building can is made from: columns, floors, walls, doors, windows etc.
Families – different types of columns: for example, rectangular column, round column, rolled I-beam column.
Types in the family – the same looking rectangular column can be various sizes: 400×400, 500×500, etc.
Instance – there can be several 400×400 columns in one building. Each individual column is called a Instance.

Kinds of families in the Revit.

How to load Revit families?

1. Insert tab > Load from Library – Load Family
2. Double-click the category of the family.
3. Select the family that you want to load, and click Open.

Where are Revit family templates located?

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RVT xxxx\Family Templates\English_I\

Revit families creation

Families creation is a large and complex topic. Only when you know all the basic functions can you start creating families. Autodesk has made a detailed guide. You can download this manual from the link: Revit Family Creation: A Step-by-Step Introduction

Revit Families Download For Free

Categories of families with descriptions and pictures you can see below

The Top 15 Sites with FREE Revit Families

UPDATED DECEMBER 2020

This list has been compiled for anyone looking to download FREE Revit Families. Please let me know if any links no longer work and I will update 🙂

Looking to download FREE Revit Families? Start here:

We all need good content to populate our models, and if they are Free then even better! Sure the out-the-box Revit families do a great job, and of course we can always make our own. But creating families from scratch requires:

a) Family creation knowledge

b) A whole heap of free time!

Most of us work to tight deadlines and don’t have the required free hours in the day to build up our own Revit library. This is where online libraries can be so valuable. They can help you save time and dramatically increase your model options by downloading ready made content. A lot of the content available is manufacturer specific, meaning you can integrate ‘real-life’ products into your projects at an earlier stage, saving you modelling time and therefore $money$.

But there is a catch – Not all content is created equal. It can be hard to tell how a Family has been made, and how it will behave when brought into your model. A lot of Free Revit Families are Hit and miss, some are good, some are bad, and some are just plain crap! So beware of the families you download, you may end up spending significant time getting them up to your own standards.

In this blog post, I have compiled a list of popular BIM and Revit online libraries offering FREE content for you to download. Although they are numbered from 1 to 17, this is not a ‘rank’ list. Please check them out for yourself and let me know which ones you found the best.

BIMsmith is a great online resource with lots of Free Revit families to download. There is a good mix of products, but generally centered around Architectural families (lots of furniture, lighting, appliances etc.) which makes sense as the site and content is created by former architects.
They also have a cool tool called BIMsmith Forge, which helps you create flooring, wall, ceiling, and roof assemblies layer-by-layer that can then be downloaded as a system (real cool!). On top of that is MyBIMsmith which features free, private cloud storage for any of these families so you can save your favorite families or configurations and come back to download them later. Well worth signing up for!

In my opinion, this is one of the best sites to find FREE Revit Families. You can find a whole range of different families, both manufacturer specific and generic. The UK has been leading the way in BIM adoption and standards, and therefore all families available have been created to the NBS BIM Object Standard. This standardizes things like IFC and COBie parameters, meaning they contain a lot of data which is useful for interoperability.

Another great site from the UK. Similar to the NBS, BIMstore creates all FREE Revit Families according to the ‘BIM Store Bible’ which is a best practice family creation guide. Containing IFC and COBie parameters, with a wide range of content from UK Manufacturers – this is a great site to find content.

BIM Object now hosts all of the Autodesk Seek’s BIM content, which means you can find a huge range of manufacturer specific content from all around the world. Easliy search by brand, catagory, materials, building types and functional spaces.

Another BIM Library with a huge range, you can find manufacturer specific content, as well as User created generic content. A helpful feature is you can search by Country, so you can find families that are relevant to your location/market.

This site has a lot of SketchUp content – but also a whole heap of Revit families as well. A diverse range of products, with lots of Mechanical & Plumbing fixtures.

This is a great resource for manufacturer specific content from a huge range of product catagories. They claim to have “the largest library of BIM content in the UK”, and the site is easy to navigate, search, and filter to find exactly what you’re looking for. All Revit families are supplied by the manufacturers, (not by SpecifiedBy) so content quality could vary from product to product. Nevertheless this is a great site if your’e after Free Revit content.

Heaps – I mean HEAPS of Free Revit families, from 2009, 2010 and 2011 format. A massive range of content, quality can be a bit iffy but try your luck.

Similar to above – HEAPS of families for you to download (17096 at last check!). Created to no standard and by a lot of different users – quality is hit and miss but well worth a look.

10. Arcat

With lots of manufacturer specific and generic content, this site offers a good range of FREE Revit Families. I found it quite hard to browse for families however.

Another pretty good site with a large range, and easy to find Revit families. Both manufacturer specific and generic content, this is a great site to check out.

12. BIMetica (Spain)

Again, another BIM library with a large amount of Revit families. Some catagories are empty however which can be annoying!

A good place to find manufacturer specific content, a bit hard to navigate and find products without knowing the manufacturer first. Worth a look however.

This site offers a huge range of 3d content, however a lot of the Revit families are not “true” Revit familes, in the sense they have been created in other 3d programs and just imported and saved as a Revit Family file. Good site if your just after content for visualization purposes. UPDATE: Polantis assure me that most (if not all) 3D content is now made with Revit, so you should have no issues with them not being “true” Revit families.

Another great site from the UK, BIMbox have a decent amount of Revit content available for Free download. Most of the content is geared towards interiors (Sofas, Tables, Shelving etc.) and the site is well presented. Most Revit content is IFC compliant which is great.

This a great site with a TON of free Revit families as well as sketchup content. They offer manufacturer specific content from a very diverse range of products. The site is easy to use and the quality of the Revit families are amazing – check it out!

ProdLib is a software where you can download and manage families from within Revit itself. They also provide a Free web Library where you can download BIM files and documents from a slect group of manufacturers. Well worth exploring.

There is a ton of Free Revit Content available here (over 10,000!), similar to RevitCity and Familit – you are bound to find something that you are after so well worth a look.

Diane Butterworth create Revit Families specifically for the workplace industry (Office furniture etc.). They host a range of Free Revit families from a small number of manufacturers, developed to a high standard. Worth a look if you are after some workspace content.

This site offers a free, curated collection of various Revit families. It’s a bit different in that you download the whole collection rather than individual families. Keep that in mind if you prefer to just download single families.

This is a great site run by Chris Alby which offers a large number of Revit families – all for Free! You will find a good selection of architecture and interiors families in easy to find sections.

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This is by no means a definitive list, and the opinions given are my own. Check them out for yourself and let me know which ones you found best.

-Talk soon
P.S – I’d love to connect with you on Twitter: here

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