By Dennis Collin
Every element that is created in Revit gets allocated a unique reference number known as an Element ID. This ID number can be searched for and used for all kinds of tasks whether it is diagnosing modelling issues, coordination or clash checking.
Ideally this property should be located under the instance properties section of the property palette. Unfortunately, the ID data is hidden away within the database and is only accessible via the Manage Tab and the ID query/selection tools or via the API or Dynamo scripting.
A useful add-in is the Element ID tool from BIMSOFT, it provides the user the ability to extract each elements ID and then create and write a parameter called ‘Element_ID’ which can then be referred to in schedules and coordination tasks.
Element IDs can be extracted from all elements in the project, or the user can decide to only extract ID from a selection of objects (useful in larger projects).
The Element ID add-in is available for Revit versions (2018-2022) and can be downloaded from the App store here:
https://apps.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/Index?id=1859461516722981709&appLang=en&os=Win64
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