As most Revit users know, a family that has types can be created in one of two ways: you can create the types within the family (which I’ll call “built-in” here) or you can create the types in an external txt file called a type catalog. For quite some time now, I have been pondering over the use and future of built-in family types. The more families I do, the more built-in family types just don’t seem like the right way to go. They feel more like a shortcut.

There are a number of standards offering a list of shared parameters for manufacturers to make use of when developing families for their products. But which standard should a manufacturer follow? I will argue that none should be followed, but that all should be taken into account.