How to tag pipes in Revit: create, edit, and change the default pipe tag

A pipe tag is an annotation family that reads values from the pipe, usually its size. Many offices add the system and the elevation. Revit places the tag, and the tag family decides what it says.

This guide covers the job in order. You load a tag, place one, tag a whole view, build or edit a tag, change the default, and deal with fittings and parallel pipes. RayCAD is a Revit plugin for MEPF tagging and annotation, and under each step you will see where it slows down on a real project and what RayCAD does at that point.

What do you need before you tag pipes?

• Pipes in the view. A plan, where the pipes are visible.
• A loaded tag for each category. Pipes, pipe fittings, and pipe accessories each have their own tag category. A pipe tag does not cover the others.
• Pipe tags turned on in the view. Check the Annotation Categories tab in Visibility/Graphics (VG) and the view template.

How do you tag a pipe in Revit?

1. Load a pipe tag

1. Go to the Annotate tab and open the drop-down arrow on the Tag panel.
2. Choose Loaded Tags and Symbols.
3. Click Load and browse to a pipe tag. The tags that ship with Revit sit in the Annotations folder of your Revit library, under Piping.
4. Check that the tag name now appears next to Pipe Tags, then click OK.

The last tag you load for a category becomes the default for it. The tags that ship with Revit show the pipe size, so a tag with a system or an elevation is a custom tag.

2. Tag one pipe with Tag by Category

1. Open the plan.
2. Go to Annotate, Tag, Tag by Category, or type TG.
3. Set the options on the Properties palette or the Modify | Tag tab. Orientation can be Horizontal, Vertical, or Model. Turn Leader on to draw a leader, and choose Attached End or Free End.
4. Hover over a pipe and click it.
5. Drag the tag to move it. Press Esc twice to leave the command.

If you want the text to sit directly on the pipe line, turn the leader off before you click.

3. Tag every pipe in the view with Tag All Not Tagged

1. Open the view. Select the pipes you want tagged, or select nothing to tag everything.
2. Go to Annotate, Tag, Tag All.
3. In the Tag All Not Tagged dialog, choose All objects in current view or Only selected objects in current view.
4. Select Pipe Tags. Select Pipe Fitting Tags and Pipe Accessory Tags too if you want those tagged.
5. Set Leader, Leader Length, and Tag Orientation, then click OK.

Three limits matter here. It tags every pipe that meets the filter, so a long run gets a tag on every segment. It skips pipes that already have a tag, so a second pass with a different tag type adds nothing. It runs on the active view only.

How do you create a pipe tag in Revit?

Pipe tags are category based, so start from an existing tag of the right category and edit a copy.

1. Select a pipe tag in the model and click Edit Family. You can also open a pipe tag family from your library.
2. Choose Save As and save the family under a new name.
3. Select the label and click Edit Label.
4. Add the parameters you want from the list on the left, such as Size, System Abbreviation, or an elevation parameter. Add a prefix or a suffix, and use Break to start a new line.
5. For a value that needs its own format, select the parameter and click the format button. Clear Use project settings to set your own units, rounding, and unit symbol.
6. Click Load into Project.

How do you edit an existing pipe tag?

1. Select a pipe tag in the view.
2. Click Edit Family on the ribbon.
3. Change the label, the text type, or the leader settings.
4. Click Load into Project. Choose to overwrite the existing version.

The tags already on the sheet update to the new version. The tag keeps its position.

How do you change the default pipe tag?

1. Go to Annotate, open the drop-down on the Tag panel, and choose Loaded Tags and Symbols.
2. In the row for Pipes, open the drop-down in the Loaded Tags column.
3. Pick the tag you want as the default.
4. Click OK.

You can also load the tag you want last, because the last tag loaded for a category becomes its default. To switch the tags that are already placed, select them and pick the new type in the Type Selector.

To show the system abbreviation as a separate tag, load a system abbreviation tag for the Pipes category, and turn the leader off when you place it so the text sits on the pipe.

How do you tag pipe fittings and valves?

Each has its own category and its own tag.

• Pipe fittings. Elbows, tees, and reducers use Pipe Fitting Tags. Most offices tag only fittings that carry information.
• Pipe accessories. Valves and strainers use Pipe Accessory Tags and usually show a mark or a type.

How do you tag a bundle of parallel pipes?

Revit has no command for a bundle. Most offices do one of two things by hand. They place a tag on each pipe with leaders to reach it, or they build a text block and match each row to a pipe.

Both take time, and both go wrong when a pipe moves. A reader who sees a tag between two pipes cannot tell which one it labels.

What goes wrong with pipe tags?

What else breaks when you tag pipes by hand?

Missed tags. A pipe without a size or elevation tag becomes a question from the fitter. Whatever RayCAD could not place goes in a list with the reason, and it takes you to each item. See how that reduces RFIs.

Model changes. When the design changes, tags drift away from the pipes they describe. RayCAD's Retag tool re-tags the elements you select, and replaces the tags and the ring on the pipes you choose.

Teams then try to automate the job with Tag All, Dynamo, pyRevit, a macro, or an AI-written script. Each one reaches the same limit. Placing a tag is easy. Placing it where it reads cleanly, in your firm's layout, across every view, is where they stop. See build vs buy.

How does RayCAD tag pipes end to end?

You pick the views. RayCAD reads the model, decides where tags belong, places them, and lists anything it could not place for you to review. A click-saver plugin makes each manual action faster and leaves the deciding and placing with you.

RayCAD tags pressurised pipes with size, system abbreviation, and elevation, and tags gravity pipes with size and system abbreviation. You set the angles that count as flat, sloped, and riser pipes, and a minimum pipe length keeps stubs clean. Pipe tagging works in floor plans today.

Install RayCAD on any Revit from 2021 to 2027 and try it free, or email us for a demo and onboarding. The pipe elevation page covers the elevation side. Length labels have their own guide.

What building a pipe tagging script yourself really costs

• Time. Whoever builds and maintains the script is doing software development instead of the billable engineering and drafting work they were hired for.
• The AI loop.With Claude or ChatGPT it becomes an endless loop of “fix this”, “now fix that”. Each fix can break a case that worked before, and nobody on the team owns the code.
• Cost. Hours spent building and maintaining scripts, times your hourly rate, against $200 per month for RayCAD for the whole company.

You can build a pipe tagging script, and this page shows how. For production MEPF sheets, RayCAD is the cheaper and safer choice. Try it free for 15 days.