Here is something I want to be upfront about: I am not a software developer. I cannot write code from scratch. I have never completed a “Hello World” tutorial. When it comes to programming, I am a complete beginner.
And yet, using AI, I built a fully functional custom tool inside Revit that automatically reroutes electrical conduit around structural beams and other obstructions. This is a job that normally means opening a section view, drawing a path manually around every beam, adjusting elevations, and hoping nothing clashes. It takes time, it is tedious, and it is exactly the kind of repetitive work that should be automated.
The Problem: Conduit Routing in Revit
If you have ever done electrical design in Revit, you know the pain. You place your panels and fixtures, you lay out your circuits, and then you hit the hard part: routing conduit through a crowded ceiling. Structural beams, ductwork, pipes, and cable trays all compete for the same space. Every beam crossing means manually adjusting your route — up and over, or down and around. Multiply that by hundreds of conduit runs across dozens of rooms, and it adds up to hours of work that nobody enjoys.
I have spent countless hours doing this manually. One day I thought: what if AI could write a script for me that handles this automatically?
The Approach: AI-Assisted pyRevit Development
Here is the approach I took. I did not try to learn Python from scratch. Instead, I treated AI as my coding partner. I described exactly what I wanted the tool to do in plain English, and the AI wrote the Python script. I tested it, found issues, described the bugs, and the AI fixed them. This back-and-forth continued until the tool worked reliably.
Step 1: Define the Goal Clearly
I started with a simple description: “I need a pyRevit tool that selects electrical conduit in Revit and automatically reroutes it around structural beams. When a conduit intersects a beam, the tool should route the conduit above or below the beam to avoid the clash.”
The clearer your description, the better the AI’s output. I specified the categories involved (Conduits and Structural Framing), the behavior I wanted (automatic elevation adjustment at beam crossings), and the constraints (only route around beams, not walls or other categories).
Step 2: Iterate on the Script
The first version of the script was rough. It found beams and conduits but did not handle the geometry correctly. Some conduits got routed through beams in the wrong direction. Others disappeared entirely. But each failure came with an error message, and I fed those messages right back to the AI. Within a few rounds, the script was working correctly on a test model.
Step 3: Test on a Real Model
The real test came when I ran it on an actual project model. The tool identified every beam-crossing, calculated the necessary offset, and rerouted the conduit automatically. What would have taken me two hours of manual drafting took about thirty seconds.
Watch the Tool in Action
The video above walks through the entire process — from describing the problem to the AI, through the iterations, to the final working tool running on a real Revit model. If you are curious about how this actually happens, watch it. It shows every step, including the parts that did not work on the first try.
What This Means for BIM Professionals
This changes everything for people like me. You no longer need to be a programmer to automate your Revit workflows. You need three things:
- A clear understanding of what you want to automate. You have to know the manual process well enough to describe it precisely.
- Patience for iteration. The first version will not be perfect. Test it, break it, and give the AI specific feedback.
- A willingness to try. The biggest barrier is thinking you cannot do it. If I can, anyone can.
The Bigger Picture
This conduit routing tool is just one example. The same approach works for re-hosting fixtures, validating panel schedules, batch-exporting data, checking circuit assignments, and dozens of other repetitive Revit tasks. Every hour you spend manually doing something in Revit that follows a consistent set of rules is an hour that could be automated.
AI did not replace my job. It made me dramatically more productive at the parts of my job that actually require human judgment — designing electrical systems, coordinating with other trades, and solving real engineering problems. The boring, repetitive parts are now handled by a script I built without knowing how to code.
If you work in BIM and you have been putting off learning automation because you think it is too hard or you are not technical enough, watch the video. Then open a chat with AI and describe one small thing you want to automate. You might surprise yourself.
Sittal Aryal 
Leave a comment