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Autodesk is moving more AEC work into Forma, but Australian firms do not need to rebuild their Revit workflows because of it.
Revit still handles detailed BIM authoring and documentation. Forma is growing around that work by connecting early design, project data, collaboration, and construction tools in the cloud.
Over the past week, we’ve had questions from BIM managers, design directors, and operations managers about where Forma leaves their existing Revit workflows.
The useful question is therefore not simply Forma or Revit? It is what still needs Revit, what Forma can already handle, and what is worth testing before changing the way projects run.
This article sets out to discuss it.
Is Autodesk Forma Replacing Revit?
Autodesk Forma may take on more work that happens in Revit over time, but Autodesk has not announced an immediate replacement or discontinuation date.
When Autodesk was asked in September 2026 whether Forma would eventually replace Revit, its answer was “Over time, yes”.
This response indicates that Autodesk’s plans encompass design and analysis, alongside coordination and documentation.
However, that does not give firms a date to migrate.
If your projects rely on Revit templates, trained staff, detailed discipline models, and controlled documentation, those needs still exist.
You do not need to remove a working Revit process because Autodesk is building more of its future AEC tools around Forma.
What matters now is where the work happens today, and where Autodesk is starting to connect it to the cloud.
What Stays in Revit, and What Is Moving into Forma?
Revit still does the detailed BIM work, while Forma is taking on more of the information that feeds, surrounds, and follows that work.
You can already see that split in three places:
- Revit still produces the detailed model.
- Forma can expose more project data and analysis in the cloud.
- The Connected Client then starts linking those two environments.
Revit Still Handles Detailed BIM Delivery
Revit remains Autodesk’s main tool for detailed architectural, structural, and building services modelling and documentation.
Teams still use it to build coordinated models, manage model information, and produce drawings and schedules.
That should guide any review of construction design software. Start with what the project team must actually issue.
If an architect, engineer, or modeller needs to create detailed discipline models, coordinate them, and produce controlled documentation, they still need an authoring tool that can do that work.
Forma Site Design and Forma Building Design can shape earlier decisions. Revit then carries those decisions into the detail needed for delivery.
Forma Is Making More Revit Data Available in the Cloud
Forma is making more project information available outside the full Revit file, so other workflows can use selected data without always passing around another .rvt.
The AEC Data Model shows how this is starting to work. In an enabled Forma project, selected Revit element properties can become available as granular cloud data.
Forma Data Management, formerly Autodesk Docs, still manages project files, but Autodesk is also building ways for other tools to work with the data inside those files.
The Revit model itself remains an authoring asset. Teams are not yet editing every Revit element through one shared cloud database.
Even so, the handoff can change.
Instead of sending another complete model whenever someone needs a piece of information, teams may increasingly make the relevant data available where the next decision happens.
That gives BIM leaders a more test:
- What does the next person actually need from the model?
- Can they get it without someone rebuilding or repackaging the information first?
Forma Connected Client Brings Cloud Context into Revit
Forma Connected Client lets Revit use selected Forma data and services while Revit remains the desktop authoring tool.
Revit is Autodesk’s first Forma Connected Client, and Autodesk has announced Civil 3D as the next.
In the Revit 2027 technology preview, a cloud model in an enabled Forma project can reference scenario models, bring in site context, and access selected Forma analyses.
That starts to show how Autodesk expects the tools to work together. A designer can keep authoring in a specialist desktop application while drawing more context from a shared cloud environment.
Autodesk supports the preview in Australian data regions, but it advises firms to use it for testing rather than production.
So the sensible next move is small: try the connection on a controlled project, see what reaches Revit cleanly, and keep live delivery on the proven workflow until the new one is ready.
What Does This Mean for Revit Users?
Revit skills still matter because teams must still turn approved design decisions into detailed models and documentation.
What may change is how information reaches them.
Let’s say a modeller might receive site context, early design information, or analysis through Forma rather than rebuilding it from another file.
That can remove some manual work, but someone still needs to check whether the incoming information is current, approved, and suitable for the project.
Those checks fall naturally across existing BIM roles:
- BIM managers decide which information, approvals, and standards govern the project.
- BIM coordinators check that information coming from other tools is current and suitable for coordination.
- Revit authors turn approved inputs into the model and documentation the project needs.
That is why existing Revit standards and training still have value. Firms can add new cloud workflows around them instead of replacing them before the project work changes.
How Do Revit and Forma Work Together Today?
As Autodesk construction software, Revit and Forma already cover different parts of the same project, from early studies through detailed design and construction.
The handoff becomes easier to understand when you follow the work from one stage to the next.
Early options can start in Forma, detailed modelling can continue in Revit, and other Forma products can then carry information through collaboration, document control, and site delivery.
| Project need | Tool today | What happens next |
| Site and early option studies | Forma Site Design | Site context and early decisions can feed later design |
| Early building design | Forma Building Design | Early schemes can move towards a geolocated Revit model |
| Detailed BIM authoring | Revit | Teams develop coordinated models, drawings, and schedules |
| Design collaboration | Forma Design Collaboration | Teams share and coordinate design work |
| Controlled project information | Forma Data Management | Teams manage files and the project record |
| Construction and field workflows | Forma Build | Project information moves into site and construction work |
The table also shows why a firm may use Revit and several Forma products without asking one of them to replace all the others.
Early Design Can Feed Detailed BIM
Forma can carry some early design work into Revit, which may reduce how much the detailed-design team has to rebuild.
During pre-construction BIM services, teams often develop site studies and schematic options before detailed BIM begins.
Forma Building Design can move an early scheme into a geolocated native Revit model. The Revit team can then develop it to the level required for coordination and documentation.
The useful measure is not whether a transfer works in a demo. It is whether your project information survives well enough to save work.
That’s why, on a pilot, check whether geometry, location, design intent, and other required information arrive correctly.
Anything that still needs rebuilding or checking should stay visible in the process before you roll the workflow out further.
Former Construction Cloud Products Now Carry Forma Names
Some Autodesk Construction Cloud products now use Forma names, so check what you already own before treating a renamed product as a new purchase.
Note two particularly relevant changes:
- BIM Collaborate Pro is now called Forma Design Collaboration
- Autodesk Docs is now called Forma Data Management
We recommend using the older Autodesk Construction Cloud software list to help your team match familiar functions with the current names.
This matters when a renewal quote lands on someone’s desk. A new product name may simply describe a capability you already use.
The same applies to the distinction between BIM Collaborate Pro and BIM Collaborate. Check what access each role already has before adding another licence.
Once the names are matched, the next question becomes much simpler: has the person’s job changed enough to need different access?
Should AEC Professionals Change Their Revit Strategy Now?
We suggest planning for Forma now, but change your Revit setup only when a tested workflow gives your team a better way to deliver real project work.
And do not start with a product announcement. Start with the people doing the work and what they need to produce. That turns the roadmap into three properly steps:
- Check who needs which tools
- Test one troublesome handoff
- Expand only when the new workflow works.
Match Licences to the Work People Do
Give people access based on what they create, coordinate, review, or receive. So, always review your construction tech stack role by role.
For each person or team, ask whether they:
- Author detailed BIM
- Coordinate models
- Review design information
- Manage the project record
- Contribute early design or site context
- Use project information without authoring it.
Those answers give you something concrete to compare with your Revit, AEC Collection, and Forma entitlements.
For reference, Autodesk says Forma Building Design is available with eligible Revit and AEC Collection subscriptions, while other Forma products cover different jobs.
Thus, check what your subscriptions already include before moving budget or buying extra access.
Test One Handoff That Currently Wastes Time
Pick a workflow where staff repeatedly export, rebuild, or verify the same information, then see whether Forma removes some of that work.
Site or schematic information moving into Revit is one possible test.
Use a controlled project that resembles your real work rather than a clean demonstration model.
Include the co-ordinates, geometry, permissions, information, and review steps your team normally deals with. Then record five things:
- What arrives correctly?
- What staff still rebuild?
- What someone must verify?
- Who owns the transferred information?
- Whether Revit can still produce the required project output?
Those results tell you more than a feature list. If the handoff saves work without weakening control, it may be worth expanding.
If you test Forma Connected Client in Revit 2027, keep it outside production while Autodesk still classifies it as a technology preview.
Expand Only After the Output Works
Do not scale a new workflow until it produces the result your project team needs. Set that result before the pilot begins.
For instance, the workflow may need to carry approved site context into Revit, reduce manual rebuilding, keep model ownership clear, and still let the team issue the required documentation.
If it does those things reliably, expand it.
If it does not, keep the existing Revit process for that part of the project and test again as Autodesk develops the connection.
That way, your technology choices follow the work instead of forcing the work to follow the technology.
What Should You Prepare Next?
The best preparation for transitioning from Revit to Forma is to clean up how your firm assigns licences, hands information between teams, and approves model inputs.
In the near future, we will see Autodesk more intensely connecting more project data across its AEC tools.
Firms will find that easier to use if they already know who owns each piece of information, who can change it, and what must be checked before another team relies on it.
Given that, you can start with six actions that also improve the current Revit workflow:
- Keep Revit where current deliverables need it. Do not remove authoring access until another workflow can produce the same required output.
- Match old ACC names with current Forma names. This can prevent duplicate purchases at renewal.
- Find one handoff your team keeps rebuilding. That gives a Forma pilot a clear job to solve.
- Test it away from live delivery. Use real project conditions without putting an active project at risk.
- Name who checks and approves incoming information. Cloud access does not remove the need for ownership.
- Expand only when the result holds up. If the pilot does not save work or support the required output, keep the current process.
These steps also show where the software is not the main problem.
If your teams still disagree about model ownership, handover rules, or who approves information, a new connection between Revit and Forma will simply carry that uncertainty into another system.
Interscale’s BIM consulting service can help map those responsibilities across current projects.
Interscale’s Forma implementation support service also can help you review existing entitlements and set up a controlled trial.
Book a free discussion with Interscale to review your Revit licence register and one representative project workflow.
You can then see what should stay in Revit, what is worth testing in Forma, and what does not need to change yet.
