Set up Revit for Loopbuild

Loopbuild prices your model from a material takeoff schedule. Revit already knows most of what we need, but a few fields have to be added by hand, once per project. Pick a category to see what it needs, or take the lot in one file.

Download plugin

LoopbuildSharedParameters.txt: 5 parameters, plain text. Load it once and reuse it in every project.

Pipes

Straight runs of pipe, priced by length. Material and, where it matters, pressure rating and jointing method.

3 parameters

Pipe Fittings

Elbows, bends, tees, reducers and couplers, priced per element. Angle is the field most often missed.

5 parameters

Pipe Accessories

Valves, strainers and other in-line accessories. Material is all we need to match them.

1 parameter

Setting it up, once per project

Download the shared parameter file and save it somewhere your whole team can reach: a network drive or your BIM standards folder, not your Downloads.
In Revit: Manage > Shared Parameters > Browse, and select the file. You should see a group called Loopbuild with five parameters in it.
Manage > Project Parameters > Add > Shared parameter > Select. Add each parameter, tick the categories listed in the table below, and pick Type or Instance as shown there.
Fill in the values. Type parameters are set once per pipe or fitting type; instance parameters (the angle, the reduced outlet) are set per element, so select all the 90° elbows at once and fill them in one go.
Create a schedule (View > Schedules > Material Takeoff, or a Multi-Category schedule) and add the LB_ parameters as columns, along with the built-in columns listed further down.
Export the schedule and upload it to Loopbuild, or send it straight from the Loopbuild Revit plugin.

If something comes back wrong

A row came back with no product at all.: Almost always a missing material. Check that LB_Material is filled in on that type, and that the column is actually in the exported schedule: an empty column exports as an empty value, which reads exactly like not having it.
My 45° and 90° elbows ended up on the same line.: LB_Angle is empty, or missing from the schedule. It has to be bound as an Instance parameter: as a Type parameter, every elbow of that type is forced to share one angle.
Our Revit runs in French. Do we have to rename anything?: No. French schedule headers are read as they are: Matériau : Nom, Quantité, Type and so on. Only the LB_ parameters have fixed names, and those stay in English in every language.
Our project is set to metres, not millimetres.: That's fine for the built-in Size and Length columns: the unit is read from the value itself. Just type LB_Size_Secondary in millimetres (63, not 0.063). It is a text field precisely so that project units cannot change it.