This article goes over the steps to prepare your BIM information to be uploaded as a catalog into Skema.

Once a catalog is created and uploaded, please refer to the Managing Your Catalog and Exporting Your Data KB Article.

This KB Article includes the following:

Disclaimer: The Skema Plug-In supports Revit 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The Skema Plug-In is available to download in two spots in the Skema Plug-In, through the plugin and connections tab.

Select the version you want to specifically download : 2022, 2023, 2024 2025.

Access through the Design catalog tab.

Access through the unit export tab.

After clicking Download Revit Add-In the Plug-In will begin to download. The Plug-In is currently unsigned and will cause a warning pop-up when downloading, click more info and then run anyway to finish installing the Plug-In. The download setup will open after this, click 'next' to continue with the installation.

The Plug-In should automatically install to the Addins folder for Revit, but please confirm that it does so.

After confirming it is installing in the right location, click 'Next' and then 'Install'. Once installation has finished, click 'Finish', the installer will close and you can open Revit now.

Once Revit is open a warning pop-up will occur due to the Plug-In being unsigned, select 'Always Load' to have the Plug-In load in properly.

After a brief loading time for the Plug-In to add itself, the Revit homepage will open. To make sure you have the Plug-In installed either open a project and look for the Skema tab in the top toolbar or click the home button to open a blank page and look for the Skema tab in the top toolbar.

Opening in a Project

Opening from the Homepage

Once you have confirmed you have the Plug-In installed you can start uploading catalogs with the help of the rest of this article. We recommend starting with the Skema Demo Catalog, provided below.

Feel free to use the Skema Demo Catalog as a test to upload information using the plug-in.

The Skema Plug-In is accessible through the tabs toolbar at the top of Revit. If you have multiple Add-Ins or Plug-Ins installed you may have to expand this toolbar to find the Skema Plug-In.

To open the Plug-In click the Skema tab and then click Upload Unit Catalog. You will then be prompted to login to your Skema account. You do not need to do anything at this time within the Plug-In, this step is just to familiarize you with using the Plug-In, using the Plug-In is discussed in the Uploading Catalog to Skema section.

To ensure that your catalog uploads as smoothly as possible we recommend starting a new project in Revit and copying your desired units into it. This limits the amount of data that needs to be analyzed for your catalog to be created.

Your units can be as detailed as you want within the new file, but at a minimum they should be at LOD 200 and contain:

If you want to include more detail you can include up to LOD 350:

To ensure the upload works as smoothly as possible, some things you should not include in your file are:

Linked files and 2D linework will create the biggest issues while trying to create a catalog, limiting extra views and sheets creates less area to be analyzed, increasing the speed the catalog can be exported.

Once your units have been copied or redrawn in a new blank file and cleaned up follow the steps below to prepare them for upload.

Each unit in your catalog must be created or organized as a model group. The name of the model group will be the name of the unit in the catalog. The model group should include any walls, furniture, and fixtures necessary for creating your desired unit.

All interior walls and corridor walls (walls containing and entry point into the unit) should be included in the model group. Exterior walls and shared walls should be excluded from the group, unless they are part of a balcony or are a "1/2 shared wall" that is included as part of a full volumetric modular unit.

All external walls must be classified as exterior walls within properties.

Exterior walls and shared walls will regenerate as part of the unit if included in the group. Skema will ignore those sections of wall when "shrink wrapping" the facade while exporting the project to Revit.

This means that for an exterior wall that has different sections, adding one section to the group will separate that section from the rest of the exterior wall and for shared walls a double "wall condition" will generate. This "double wall" condition is appropriate for modular units, but not for other construction types, so be sure to include or not include common walls in the group as appropriate.

In the case of a unit containing a balcony, define the balcony using room separation lines and create a room on the balcony. Additionally you will have to create a custom boolean parameter to the room that is labeled "IsOutdoor" and set it as true (it is critical that the "I" and the "O" in this parameter are capitalized and the rest of the characters are lowercase).

To add a parameter go to the manage section and select project parameters, the click new parameter. Set up the new parameter the same as the screenshot below.

When applying this to a room on a balcony it will appear as below.

You may have to go through and uncheck this box for other rooms within the file.

Once these steps have been completed, add the wall attached to the balcony, the room, and room separation lines to the group.

Ensure the origin has the initial state: Y-axis pointing upwards and X-axis pointing to the right.

Move the origin of the group to the left bottom corner so it should match the lower point of a unit to define the room bounding box accurately. The axis lines should run through the central line of each wall in the left bottom corner.

For units that have varying geometries and do not have two walls that meet at the left bottom corner of the unit, draw reference lines to find the bottom left corner and place the origin there.

Each group (unit) must contain rooms to morph them correctly. Each room should be automatically placed utilizing the central line of the walls bounding the rooms. Rooms and any room separation lines MUST be included in the Model Group.

The room names assigned in this stage will have the same room names in the Skema catalog.

Note: Ensure the "Room bounding" checkbox is active for all walls that should be bounding a room.

Make sure all your units and catalog elements are in one view before uploading them using the plug-in.

When you are ready to upload your catalog into Skema, select the Skema tab on the top of your screen and select the upload unit catalog button.

Login to the catalog upload tool with your existing Skema login username and password.

You can access existing catalog that you have made. To upload the data in your new catalog select the create new button.

Once you are in the template to create a new catalog, select the 'DEFINE UNITS' button.

Give the plug-in a few minutes to define the units.

Once the units are defined, you will get a pop-up that tells you all the generated files are in a folder.

Once this happens, go back to the Skema tab and select the 'Upload Unit Catalog' button again.

You will now see all your model groups in a list of units that will be included in your catalog. Here you can check which units you want to be-or not be-included in your catalog.

Notice the name of your catalog is the name of your file. This will also clarify how many units are in your catalog and what version of Revit your units are in.

When you are ready to create your catalog select the 'Create Catalog' button.

It may take a few moments for your catalog to load.

Once your catalog has finished upload select the 'Go to Catalogs' button to see your catalog in Skema. Refer to the Skema Catalog Manager article for more information on this feature.

Reference file(s):