Automatic Plumbing Routing (Cold Water, Hot Water and Drainage)

What it does

Automatic Routing detects the room (bathroom, laundry, utility area), reads the plumbing fixtures placed in it — in your model or in the architectural link — and creates the complete network connected to them: risers, branches, valves, material transitions and the drainage connection already at the code-required slope.

Before you start

This tutorial assumes you have already completed the Mapping procedures (Fixture and Template Mapping): the active template with the families loaded and the fixture and fitting roles mapped. If you have not done that yet, read the Mapping tutorial first — without it, routing will report missing families.

For Automatic Routing to work, you need two things in the model:

• Rooms — the program needs to know where to route.
• Plumbing fixtures — toilet, lavatory, shower, bidet spray, laundry tub, washing machine, drain, floor drain box — inserted and positioned inside the room, in your model or in the architectural link.

Where the rooms come from. There are three ways — use whichever fits your project:

• From the architectural link — if the architect already created the Rooms, Automatic Routing detects them on its own, including inside loaded links. Nothing to do.
• Created by you in the Architecture tab — if the model has no rooms, bound them first with Room Separator and then create them with the Room tool, both in the Architecture tab.
• Define Region on the plan — straight from inside the Automatic Routing window, without leaving the command. You draw the outline on the plan and the region becomes a room in the list (details in step 2 of "How to use it").

Prerequisites

• Mapping completed: active template with families and roles mapped.
• Plumbing fixtures inserted and positioned in the room (model or link).
• An existing room — or willingness to create one via Define Region.
• Being in a plan view of the correct level.
• Fluxor license with the Plumbing · Automatic Routing feature active.

How to use it

1. Open the tool. Open the level's plan view and check that the fixtures are in place. In the Fluxor ribbon, Plumbing panel, click Automatic Routing. The window opens in wizard mode ("Step 1 of N") and stays open while you interact with Revit.
2. Choose the room. The list shows the rooms detected in the model and in the loaded links, with the most relevant ones (bathroom, powder room, utility area…) at the top. When you select an item, the room is highlighted in green on screen; the "eye" button frames the room in the view.

   Cannot find the room? Click ✏️ Define region on the plan…, give it a name and choose how to draw it:

   • Rectangle — 2 clicks (opposite corners): the fast way for rectangular rooms.
   • Polygon — several clicks (close on the 1st point or press ENTER): for irregular outlines.

   The window hides and you draw straight on the plan, with automatic snapping to lines, walls, grids and DWG. Shortcuts: SHIFT locks orthogonal · BACKSPACE undoes · ESC cancels. When you finish, the region is saved in the model and appears in the list ready to be selected; to remove it, just delete the room that was created.

3. Choose the systems. Tick what you want to route — the systems are independent and can go together or separately:
   • Route water supply network — Cold Water (cold network only) or Cold Water + Hot Water (both networks, with the shower control chosen in the next step).
   • Routing mode — Through the wall (recommended when the points are concentrated on one wall), Through the floor (the trunk runs below the floor, enables Resolve interferences automatically) or Mixed (Wall + Floor) for bathrooms with two or more wet walls.
   • Route drainage network — independent of the water supply: creates the drainage branches, the toilet spine, floor drain box/drains and applies the code-required slope.

   Click Next. If both systems are ticked, the configuration of each appears on separate screens.

4. Configure the materials — water supply network. The materials come from the pipe types in your template:
   • Pipe Type — Cold Water: usually solvent-weld PVC (brown).
   • Pipe Type — Hot Water (if CW+HW): CPVC or PPR.
   • Ø of the trunk/riser: 20, 22 or 25 mm — the program suggests the diameter according to the material, and you can change it.

   Material compatibility: a cold PVC network works alongside hot CPVC or PPR — the program inserts the correct transitions automatically (do not mix CPVC and PPR in the same network). If a fitting for the chosen material is missing, the "Missing families" panel warns you before running.

   Other options on this screen: pipework depth (only in Through the floor mode), riser position (automatic at ±25 cm from the shower axis, or manual), gate valve for each riser (with a family thumbnail to check) and the shower control (single-lever or mixer tap).

5. Configure the materials — drainage network.
   • Pipe Type — Drainage: usually drainage PVC (white).
   • Routing elevation (cm): elevation of the toilet network relative to the level — negative is below the level.
   • Include trap on the washing machine (when a machine is detected) and Coordinate the sink outlet (bypass beams) are optional.
   • Realistic preview is on by default; turn it off for a lighter preview on more modest machines.
6. Review the fixtures in the room. The table lists the fixtures detected in the room. For each one, tick USE (or WATER / DRAINAGE, when both systems are on) and choose the TARGET: Copy the original family from the link or Replace with the family from your template, with a side-by-side preview. A fixture that already exists in the room is reused, not duplicated.

   If the "Families missing for this routing" panel appears, use Load (downloads from the Fluxor Library) or Find (opens the Mapping) on each item — or Load all — before continuing.

7. Summary and execution. The last screen shows the full summary: room, systems, mode, materials, valves and fixtures. Click Run. The window hides and the program asks for the final clicks on the plan (riser position, toilet target…), always with a live preview of the route:
   • TAB cycles through the route/option · ENTER or a click confirms
   • R straight-line route · C aims at the riser · L free outlet
   • ESC cancels the step

   At the end, a dialog summarizes what was created (imported fixtures, reused ones, warnings).

Video

Rooms

Families

Common errors