Revit
Revit is Autodesk’s building information modeling platform for designing, documenting, coordinating, constructing, and managing buildings and infrastructure.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Revit is a building information modeling (BIM) software platform used across architecture, structural engineering, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, construction, and building operations. It originated in Massachusetts in the late 1990s as an attempt to bring parametric modeling—an approach established in mechanical computer-aided design—to the fragmented workflows of building design. Its founders, Leonid Raiz and Irwin Jungreis, had previously worked on PTC’s Pro/Engineer software and created the company first known as Charles River Software in 1997. The company later adopted the name Revit Technology Corporation. The central idea behind Revit is that a project can be represented by an information-rich, coordinated building model rather than by a collection of disconnected drawings. Users create walls, floors, roofs, doors, structural elements, equipment, spaces, and other objects as intelligent model components. Plans, elevations, sections, schedules, details, quantities, and three-dimensional views are generated from the same underlying model. Changes made in one view can therefore flow through related documentation, helping teams reduce inconsistent drawings and improve coordination. Revit’s scope expanded beyond architectural modeling. Separate discipline-oriented capabilities support architectural design, structural systems, and building services such as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical design. The platform is also used by contractors for coordination, constructability review, quantity-related workflows, sequencing, and communication with project participants. Because the model can contain geometry and non-geometric information, Revit is commonly associated with lifecycle-oriented BIM practices extending from conceptual design and documentation through construction, operation, renovation, and eventual decommissioning. Autodesk announced its acquisition of Revit Technology Corporation in February 2002 and completed the transaction on April 1, 2002. Autodesk described the product as complementary to its existing building-industry applications and positioned it as a way to extend model-based design to additional architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator users. After the acquisition, Revit became part of Autodesk’s AEC portfolio and was developed as Autodesk Revit, while continuing to serve as a distinct product identity. Today, Revit is primarily sold and supported as Autodesk software and is commonly used alongside other Autodesk tools and cloud services. Its market position rests on coordinated parametric modeling, discipline collaboration, documentation automation, and interoperability within broader AEC technology workflows. The product is not an independent listed company: the original Revit Technology Corporation was acquired and is no longer an independent operating entity, while the Revit software brand remains active under Autodesk. Specific current leadership, revenue, pricing, and market-share information for Revit itself is not separately disclosed in the cited materials.
History
Revit began as a Massachusetts software venture focused on applying parametric modeling to architecture and construction. Charles River Software was founded in Newton, Massachusetts, on October 31, 1997, by Leonid Raiz and Irwin Jungreis. Both founders had experience with PTC’s Pro/Engineer mechanical-design environment, and their new company sought to adapt rule-based, object-oriented modeling concepts to buildings, where conventional CAD workflows often represented plans, elevations, sections, and schedules as separate documents. The company raised venture funding and assembled a team of software developers and architects. Development targeted Microsoft Windows and used C++ in the early product work. Rather than treating a building as a set of unrelated lines, the software represented building elements as parametric components with relationships and properties. This made it possible for users to generate multiple views and documentation from a shared model and to propagate design changes through associated drawings and schedules. In 1999, Dave Lemont became chief executive officer. The company recruited additional industry and technology advisers as it moved toward commercialization. In 2000, Charles River Software changed its name to Revit Technology Corporation, aligning the corporate identity with its principal product. The product’s early differentiation was its emphasis on integrated building information and coordinated documentation rather than only geometric drafting. Revit Technology Corporation operated as a privately held technology company and obtained additional venture financing during its development. Autodesk announced an agreement to acquire the company on February 21, 2002. Autodesk characterized Revit as a parametric building modeler that could support design, coordination, and information management across building projects. The announced transaction was valued at $133 million in cash, subject to customary approvals. The deal closed on April 1, 2002, and Autodesk announced completion on April 2. Following the acquisition, Revit became part of Autodesk’s building-industry business. Autodesk maintained the Waltham office in the near term, and Dave Lemont was appointed an Autodesk vice president responsible for Revit product development and customer services, reporting to Phil Bernstein within Autodesk’s Building Industry Division. Under Autodesk, Revit developed from an architectural modeling product into a broader BIM platform serving multiple AEC disciplines. Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP-oriented workflows helped extend the product into structural systems and building services, while contractors and owners adopted models for coordination, documentation, quantities, construction planning, and lifecycle information. The platform’s defining model-based approach remained consistent: users work with a coordinated digital representation from which drawings, schedules, views, and data can be derived. Revit is now an active Autodesk product brand rather than an independent company. It occupies a central position in Autodesk’s AEC software portfolio and is used in professional building design and construction workflows internationally. The available reference material does not establish a complete chronology of every release, current product executive, subscription change, or regional operating unit, so those details are not asserted here.
- 2002
Autodesk announces acquisition
[3]Autodesk announced an agreement to acquire Revit Technology Corporation for $133 million in cash.
- 2002
Acquisition completed
[2]Autodesk completed the acquisition after the transaction closed on April 1, integrating Revit into its building-industry business.
- 2000
Company renamed Revit Technology Corporation
[1]Charles River Software adopted the Revit Technology Corporation name.
- 1999
Dave Lemont becomes chief executive
[1]Dave Lemont joined as chief executive officer while the company advanced commercialization and product development.
- 1997
Charles River Software founded
[1]Leonid Raiz and Irwin Jungreis founded Charles River Software in Newton, Massachusetts, to develop parametric technology for building design.
Products and positioning
A professional BIM platform for coordinated, information-rich building design and construction workflows.
Building information modeling software
Autodesk Revit
The core BIM application lets architects, engineers, contractors, and owners create and coordinate an information-rich digital building model. Users can model physical and functional components, attach properties and relationships, and produce plans, elevations, sections, schedules, details, and three-dimensional views from the same project database. The platform supports design development, documentation, coordination, and information exchange across the building lifecycle.
Architectural design software
Revit Architecture workflows
Architectural workflows use parametric walls, floors, roofs, doors, windows, rooms, materials, and other building elements to develop designs and produce coordinated documentation. The model-based environment connects conceptual and detailed design with drawings, schedules, visualizations, and presentation views, helping architectural teams manage revisions without maintaining every representation as an independent file.
Structural BIM software
Revit Structure workflows
Structural workflows support the modeling and documentation of structural framing, foundations, reinforcement, analytical representations, and related systems. The shared model can be coordinated with architectural and building-services information, giving structural teams a common environment for reviewing design intent, producing documentation, and communicating changes with engineers, contractors, and other project participants.
Building systems BIM software
Revit MEP workflows
Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing workflows provide tools for representing building services, spaces, equipment, distribution systems, and associated documentation. By placing these systems within a coordinated building model, project teams can review spatial relationships and potential conflicts with architectural and structural components while developing drawings, schedules, and construction information.
Brand decisions
2002
Autodesk acquires Revit Technology CorporationM&ABackground
Autodesk wanted to expand its building-industry portfolio beyond conventional drafting and add parametric, model-based design capabilities for new architecture, engineering, construction, and owner-operator segments.
Action taken
Autodesk announced the acquisition on February 21, 2002, and completed the purchase on April 1 for $133 million in cash.
Aftermath
Revit became an Autodesk product and was developed within Autodesk’s building-industry business. The software’s model-based approach was subsequently extended across architectural, structural, MEP, and construction-oriented workflows.
Acquisition consideration. $133 million cash (Announced February 21, 2002; completed April 1, 2002)
Recent events
- 2002
Autodesk announces agreement to acquire Revit Technology Corporation[3]
M&A
Autodesk announced a proposed cash acquisition of Revit Technology Corporation, describing Revit’s parametric building technology as complementary to its building-industry software portfolio.
- 2002
Autodesk completes acquisition of Revit Technology Corporation[2]
M&A
The acquisition closed on April 1, 2002. Autodesk said the transaction would broaden its model-based design offering and retained Revit’s Waltham, Massachusetts office during the integration.
Sources4 sources
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