Every Revit® model is a database. Walls, doors, windows, ducts, pipes — each element has dozens of parameters. The problem is getting that data out. Autodesk® wants you to use schedules inside Revit, or their cloud platform. Both require a license.

The RVT to Excel converter in the CAD2DATA Pipeline reads .rvt files directly. No Revit on the machine. Outputs a structured .xlsx workbook with all elements, all parameters, geometry data, bounding boxes, schedule views, and 3D geometry as COLLADA .dae.

What the converter extracts

Everything the model contains:

• Elements — every model element with ElementId, UniqueId, Category, Family, Type
• Parameters — all instance and type parameters, including custom/shared parameters
• Geometry — Area (m²), Volume (m³), Length (m), Perimeter
• Bounding boxes — Min/Max XYZ for each element (enable with bbox flag)
• Schedules — each Revit schedule view becomes a separate Excel sheet
• Materials — material assignments per element
• 3D geometry — COLLADA (.dae) export for visualization
• Sheet views — PDF export of drawing sheets (with sheets2pdf flag)

CLI reference

# Basic conversion
RvtExporter.exe "C:\Projects\Building.rvt"

# Full export with all options
RvtExporter.exe "C:\Projects\Building.rvt" standard bbox schedule sheets2pdf

# Just schedules
RvtExporter.exe "C:\Projects\Building.rvt" schedule

Revit® versions supported

2015 through 2026. All of them. The converter reads the native .rvt file format directly — no version downgrade, no intermediate format.

Linux installation

# Add DDC repository
echo "deb [trusted=yes] https://pkg.datadrivenconstruction.io stable main" \
    | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ddc.list
sudo apt update

# Install
sudo apt install ddc-rvtconverter

# Convert
ddc-rvtconverter input.rvt output_dir/

Yes, Revit data extraction on Linux. No Wine, no VM. Native binary.

Integration with AI assistants

The repo includes instruction files in AI_AGENTS_INSTRUCTIONS/. Open the project in Claude™ Code, Cursor™, or GitHub® Copilot and just describe what you want:

• “Convert all .rvt files in this folder to Excel with bounding boxes”
• “Show me all walls thicker than 200mm”
• “Create a cost estimate from this Revit model”
• “Compare parameter fill rates between two models”

The AI reads the instructions, calls the converter, parses the output, does the analysis. Natural language to structured data.

FAQ

Does it need Revit® installed?

No. Reads .rvt files natively. Works on clean machines with no Autodesk® software.

What about Revit families (.rfa)?

The converter handles project files (.rvt). Family files (.rfa) contain component definitions without project context — they’re a different use case.

Can I push data back into Revit?

Not yet. This is read-only extraction. For bi-directional sync, tools like Ideate BIMLink work, but they require a Revit license.

How fast is the conversion?

Depends on model size. A typical 50MB model takes 30–90 seconds. A 500MB model may take 5–10 minutes. Batch workflows run models in parallel.

Best choice for RVT to Excel® conversion

Need the complete guide with 4 methods, comparison table, and batch processing? Read the full Revit to Excel conversion guide. Also see our guides for DWG to Excel, IFC to Excel, DGN to Excel, and Revit to IFC.

Revit® and AutoCAD® are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. Excel® and Windows® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. GitHub® is a registered trademark of GitHub, Inc. Claude™ is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. Cursor™ is a trademark of Anysphere, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.