Drilling Points (Field Points)

General

Our software and Revit families can be used to provide or export field points for pre-installing anchors in floors, or to be used by drilling or surveying equipment.

To achieve this, our Revit families of hangers and supports come with 'Drilling Point' nested shared families. When hangers are inserted using MEP Hangers software, these points are placed right at the intersection with the structural element (floor, wall, beam, etc.).

These drilling points can then be populated with values of X, Y and Z coordinates or can be exported as DWG floor plans.

Drilling Pointsʼ parameters

Visibility of the drilling points in your Revit project can be adjusted as needed. To disable or enable drilling points, go to the type properties of the hanger family and change the 'Drilling Points Visible' parameter value.

Size of the drilling point mark can be changed in the type properties of the 'M_Drilling Point' family (or 'I_Drilling Point' for imperial) using the 'Mark Radius' parameter.

Exporting DWGs

One way to provide locations for anchor placement or drilling is through DWG floor plans. Since the Drilling Point families are shared nested components, their visibility can be controlled using Revit’s Visibility/Graphic Overrides, leaving only them visible in the view. Standard Revit functionality can then be used to export DWG files.

Using Numbers & Coordinates Functionality to Fill X, Y, Z Values

The Numbers & Coordinates functionality included in the MEP Hangers tool can batch-number Revit elements or batch-extract data such as room or space information and X, Y, Z coordinates.

There are several sample configurations available to achieve this. These configurations are provided as examples and can be modified according to your preferences.

For an in-depth explanation of different settings and configuration setups, refer to this page.

X, Y, and Z Coordinates into a Single Parameter

To populate X, Y, and Z values into one parameter, use the Batch Numbering command (hangers must already be placed in the model). Then, run either configuration 001 or 004, depending on the hanger library you are using (Mechanical Equipment or Structural Connections).

The Comments parameter of all Drilling Points in the model will now be populated with X, Y, and Z values:

You can adjust this configuration or create your own. Changes may include writing values to a different parameter, using different prefixes and suffixes, or using only X and Y coordinates, among other options.

Both imperial and metric units are supported.

X, Y, and Z Coordinates in Separate Parameters

Alternatively, you can populate X, Y, and Z values in separate parameters. To do this, use sample configuration 002 or 005.

These configurations use the X Coordinate, Y Coordinate, and Z Coordinate project parameters included in the sample model. To make this work in your model, you may need to set different destination parameters for writing the coordinate values.

After running the configuration, all Drilling Points in the project will be populated with X, Y, and Z coordinates:

This configuration can also be customized to suit individual preferences. For more information about the Numbers & Coordinates functionality, refer to this page.

You can also submit a support ticket for assistance with setup.

To use these points in an outside software, create a Revit schedule with needed values, export the schedule, and load it into the outside software in Excel or .csv format.