New in Revit 2017 - In-Place Stair Category

One of the new features in Revit 2017 that I do not like is the ability to create in-place families with the 'Stairs' category.  I pleaded with the Autodesk development team not to include this in the software but too many other people wanted it, so I lost out.

Do Not Use it!

Whatever you do, do not be tempted to use this new feature - it is a really bad idea.
Why?

• In-place stairs do not host railings.

 

 You don't need any more reasons after that!  But here are some anyway:

• You cannot use any of the stair features like stair numbers or arrows
• You cannot mix and match in-place with component stairs
• You can create unusual shaped stairs using the component sketch tool 
• It was much faster for me to model the staircase shown above using the component sketch tools than it was to model it in-place by creating forms and cutting with voids. 
• In-place families are a (necessary) evil in Revit - but they cause so many problems.  They should only be used as a last resort when absolutely nothing else will do the task.
• If you move or copy an in-place stair, it does not move the elements (including forms) within it - so you have to edit the family to repeat the move process
• In-place families included within groups just make duplicates of the family - they don't necessarily move when the copies of the group move;  they don't update in the duplicates if you update one
• The list could go on . . . .

If you want to know more about how to create unusual shaped stairs using the component sketch tool, please attend my presentation 'Making Component Stairs Work For You' at RTC North America on July 16th 2016 in Scottsdale, Arizona.