Product Roundup: underbim (ub.Suite Edition 1)

Overview

underbim was created around one idea: BIM technology should make real work easier. It is a focused, independent company built on about 25 years of hands-on BIM and Revit experience, starting in October 2001. It took shape as underbim around a decade ago, when practice, consultancy, and development came together under one identity. Its current product line, ub.Suite, turns real workflows into focused Revit software.

Key Takeaways

• Practice first: underbim did not start as a software company looking for problems to solve. It grew out of years of work with BIM models, project teams, training, and real production constraints.
• Workflow before software: The approach is to observe the real problem, structure the workflow, and then build a focused tool around it. Anything Revit already does well natively is kept, and unnecessary steps are removed.
• One person across the whole chain: The founder identifies workflow problems, analyzes them, designs the solution, writes the software, and understands how it behaves in a real BIM environment.
• Focused, ownable products: ub.Suite is a collection of focused tools that extend Revit where everyday workflows can be made clearer, faster, and more effective. It is licensed perpetually, with no subscription required to keep using the Edition purchased.

From BIM Practice to Software

Over the years, underbim has worked across BIM consultancy, implementation, training, automation, and custom development. Its process has three steps:

1. Observe: Find the real problem by looking at the work itself, including recurring friction, repetitive operations, information gaps, and model-control needs.
2. Structure: Reduce the problem to a clear sequence of steps, preserve what already works natively in Revit, and remove unnecessary steps.
3. Build: Develop focused software around the workflow instead of forcing the workflow around the software.

BackupMover: Keeping Revit Backups Out of the Working Folder

Overview

ub.BackupMover is an Autodesk Revit add-in from underbim, a Portugal-based BIM consultancy that has worked in BIM, Revit training, consulting, and software development since 2001. It is one of eight independent add-ins in ub.Suite Edition 1, which launched in late October 2026, and is positioned as a file safety utility. Its tagline, "Move the backups. Keep the folder clear," sums up the approach. It finds genuine Revit project and family backup files beside the current document and moves them into a controlled subfolder, keeping the working folder readable. It can run manually or automatically after each Save.

Note on sources: This summary is based mainly on underbim's full BackupMover product page, which covers the workflow, feature explorer, detection rules, manual and automatic modes, destination handling, and licensing. Background on how Revit creates backups comes from Autodesk documentation, Autodesk forums, and Revit community blogs. An independent review or hands-on test was not found, and gaps are listed under Open Questions.

The Problem Area: Revit Backup Files

Revit creates backup files automatically whenever a model is saved or synchronized. Where they go and how they behave depends on the type of model, and the sources below describe several recurring problems:

• Backups are saved beside the model, with no setting to change it: For standalone (non-workshared) models, Revit places backups in the same folder as the project, named like "project name.0001.rvt," "project name.0002.rvt," and so on. Forum answers confirm there's no built-in way to choose a different location. Once the maximum backup count is reached, Revit overwrites the oldest backup.
• Folders fill up with clutter: The numbered backup files pile up next to the files people actually work with, and they're easy to mistake for real project files. Revit family files create the same kind of backups.
• Cloud sync and server replication get overloaded: Users report that OneDrive uploads every backup, which wastes bandwidth and data. An IT manager described tens of gigabytes of extra data slowing synchronization between four offices.
• Workshared models use a separate backup folder: Revit stores central and local model backup information in a folder named [model name]_backup next to the model. Autodesk says not to delete or rename files in it, and to keep the folder with the model if it's moved or copied, renaming it to match if the model is renamed. Backups in this folder are incremental, so they aren't ordinary .rvt files.
• Manual and scripted workarounds: Common approaches include deleting backup files by hand, batch files with wildcards, Dynamo or Python scripts that move or delete files matching the numbered pattern, and older add-ins such as MoveBackup (later Wormhole for Revit), which moved backups into a subfolder or a chosen directory.

BackupMover addresses the clutter problem for standalone project and family files. Like the older add-ins, it moves numbered backups out of the working folder. Unlike broad scripts, it works only from the active document and applies strict matching rules, so it only ever moves files that are clearly that document's own backups.

Elevations: Top and Bottom Elevation Data for Revit Elements

Overview

ub.Elevations is an Autodesk Revit add-in from underbim, a Portugal-based BIM consultancy that has worked in BIM, Revit training, consulting, and software development since 2001. It is one of eight independent add-ins in ub.Suite Edition 1, which launched in late October 2026. Despite its name, it doesn't create elevation views. It's a vertical data tool. Its tagline, "Know where every element starts and ends," sums up the approach. It calculates each element's upper and lower elevations from its extents in the Revit model and writes them to usable instance parameters, using either Project or Survey coordinates as the reference.

Note on sources: This summary is based mainly on underbim's full Elevations product page, which covers the workflow, feature explorer, coordinate references, parameter output, and licensing. Background on Revit's elevation parameters and coordinate system comes from Autodesk documentation and community forums. An independent review or hands-on test wasn't found.

The Problem Area: Vertical Data in Revit

Knowing the absolute top and bottom elevation of elements matters for coordination, clearance checks, scheduling, tagging, and handing data to contractors or other software. Revit shows this information graphically, but it isn't consistently available as data that can be scheduled. Autodesk documentation and user forums describe several gaps:

• Built-in elevation parameters only exist for some categories: Ducts, pipes, cable trays, and conduit have detailed top, bottom, and centerline elevation parameters, and structural framing has Elevation at Top and Elevation at Bottom. Many other categories have no equivalent absolute elevation values.
• Level-relative values, not absolute ones: Parameters such as Elevation from Level give an offset from a level, not an absolute height. They're also unavailable in multi-category schedules.
• No level elevation in schedules: For elements such as columns, a schedule can show the base and top level names and offsets, but not the level's elevation as a number. That means you can't calculate the actual top or bottom elevation in a schedule or tag. This is a long-standing request on the Revit Ideas board.
• Annotation isn't data: Spot elevations can show heights relative to the Project Base Point or the Survey Point, but they're annotations in a view, not parameter values you can filter, schedule, or export.
• Dynamo workarounds go stale: A common fix is to add shared parameters and fill them with a Dynamo script. Forum users point out that values become outdated as heights and offsets change, unless someone remembers to rerun the script.
• Coordinate references cause confusion: Revit has an Internal Origin, a Project Base Point (the project's local zero), and a Survey Point (the real-world reference, often sea level). The same element can have very different elevation values depending on which reference is used.

Elevations addresses this gap. It works the same way across whichever categories you choose: it calculates top and bottom values and writes them to parameters you control, with the coordinate reference stated explicitly.