Can you lock the distance between two walls in Revit?

Short Answer

Yes — in Autodesk Revit, you can lock the distance between two walls by placing an aligned dimension and using Lock on that dimension. This is the most common professional method for keeping wall spacing fixed during edits. However, it can fail if the walls are not properly constrained or references are inconsistent.

What You Need to Know Before

Warning: Locking wall distance with a dimension can over-constrain the model, especially if the walls already have other constraints such as attached elements, groups, or pinned conditions. A common failure is a “Constraints are not satisfied” warning when one wall is later moved by another relationship.

How-to

• Command: Aligned Dimension

• Shortcut: DI

• Quick Steps:

  1. On the Ribbon > Annotate tab > Dimension panel, click Aligned.
  2. Pick the reference faces of the two walls you want to control, then place the dimension.
  3. Click the small lock icon on the placed dimension to lock the spacing between the walls.

Variables & Settings

• Key Setting: Prefer: Wall Faces in the Options Bar when placing the dimension

  This ensures you dimension to the correct wall references. If you dimension to the wrong core or finish face, the lock may control an unintended distance.

Why it Fails

• Cause 1 (Geometry): The dimension was placed to inconsistent wall references, such as finish faces on one wall and core faces on another.

• Cause 2 (layers/Locks): One or both walls may be pinned, inside a group, or constrained to other elements, preventing the lock from being applied cleanly.

• Cause 3 (Command/Logic): Revit cannot maintain the locked distance if the walls are already driven by conflicting dimensions, attachments, or sketch-based relationships.

Quick Fix & Best Practice

• Quick Fix: Delete the failing constraint, place a new Aligned Dimension using the correct wall faces, and then apply the lock again.
• Manager’s Verdict: Use locked dimensions for stable layout control between key walls, but avoid stacking too many constraints in dense models where flexibility is more important.

FAQ

Can you use EQ instead of locking a wall distance in Revit?
Yes, if you want equal spacing between multiple walls instead of one fixed distance.

Can locked wall dimensions break later?
Yes, especially after group edits, wall type changes, or added constraints.

Is pinning a wall the same as locking the distance?
No, pinning stops movement of one wall, while locking controls the relationship between two walls.

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