What is it?

A single source of truth for approving design decisions.

RevitCDE is an intelligent plugin that turns ordinary Revit work into an organised digital approval process. It is a single source of truth for designers, lead engineers and clients, where every decision is documented and linked to specific model elements.

Process transparency

You always know who made a decision, when it was made and why it was made for a specific sheet, view or discipline.

Error reduction

The system captures a composition snapshot at submission time, so the reviewer checks exactly what the author sent.

Documentation automation

Approval statuses can be output automatically to sheet title blocks, schedules and internal reports.

Order in communications

All comments are stored in a single event log instead of being lost in private messages or email.

Architecture · audit · 4D/5D

RevitCDE is not a file repository. It is a model-level control layer.

Instead of treating a file as the smallest unit of control, RevitCDE links approval status, tasks, estimates and audit events to exact Revit elements and sheets.

Element-level CDE

The system works with the ProjectGuid + ElementUniqueId pair, so decisions are tied to model components, not only to PDF files or folders.

Tamper-proof statuses

Shared Parameters stay visible in Revit, while Extensible Storage remains canonical. StatusGuardUpdater rolls back manual edits and logs tamper attempts.

pHash version control

Perceptual hashing compares the visual structure of approved sheets and ignores export noise, but detects meaningful geometry or annotation changes.

4D/5D in the model

Work packages connect model elements with schedule.db and estimate.db, enabling CPM schedules and EVM metrics such as PV, EV, AC, SPI and CPI.

Scalable storage

A global registry plus isolated project databases, PostgreSQL JSONB and hot/cold storage keep heavy projects predictable over long lifecycles.

On-premise by design

ASP.NET Core and PostgreSQL can be deployed in a closed corporate contour, preserving audit evidence and data sovereignty for sensitive projects.

Less reworkApproved sheets cannot silently become dirty: changed geometry or documentation is marked for re-check before it reaches construction.

One chain: model · schedule · costProject managers see schedule and cost deviation from model-linked work packages instead of waiting for disconnected monthly reports.

Legal audit trailAppend-only events record who approved, rejected, changed or attempted to falsify a status, supporting internal control and disputes.

Current scopeThe strongest value is inside Revit-based design workflows. Mobile field use, browser 3D viewing and broad IFC federation remain future expansion areas.

How does it work?

A simple three-step process.

Who is it for?

01

Select and submit

The designer selects the required sheets, views or model elements and sends them for review with one click through the plugin interface.

02

Review and decide

The responsible person reviews the request and returns a verdict: Approved, Comments or Rejected.

03

Instant status

The approval status is automatically shown in element properties and on Revit sheets, so the whole team sees the current project state.

Designers

To receive feedback quickly and keep confirmation of approved decisions for sheets, views and model elements.

Lead engineers and lead architects

To control delivery quality, manage review routes and make decisions without paper bureaucracy.

BIM managers

To keep order in the model, enforce company regulations and maintain a transparent audit trail for all approvals.

What RevitCDE does

Model and project-documentation approval without leaving Revit.

Composition snapshot at submission time

When the author submits a sheet or view, the exact composition of model elements is captured and later edits are visible separately.

Status directly in Revit Properties

Five Shared Parameters (RevitCDE_Status, RevitCDE_ApprovedAt, RevitCDE_ApprovedBy and others) are visible in Properties and schedules.

Append-only decision log

Every submission, decision and recall is written to a non-deletable ApprovalEvent log, so the history remains readable.

Sequential and parallel routes

A sequential route can be lead → chief project engineer → client. A parallel route gathers approval from several independent sides at the same time.

Server-side ME aggregation

If the same model element is approved on several sheets, the server aggregates statuses using the rule “AwC dominates”.

Multi-target 2021–2027

One plugin builds for Revit 2021–2027 through per-version MSBuild configurations and #if REVIT2021||REVIT2022 directives.

Revit plugin

WPF interface, Shared Parameters + Extensible Storage for statuses. StatusGuardUpdater rolls back status edits outside the CDE flow.

ASP.NET Core server

.NET 8, EF Core, PostgreSQL, JWT authorisation, BCrypt for passwords, atomic request submission and uniqueness control for pending requests.