2.1 Overview

BIM projects become more valuable to to the processes of design, documentation, construction and facilities management when they expand beyond simple geometric models and embrace data modelling. Properties and classifications, for example, enable relatively simple objects to play a wide variety of roles with no ambiguity. This is particularly true for costing. Even if costing could be solely determined by the geometry of construction elements, the effort involved would be prohibitive.

For example, a single chair object can represent a wide variety of products with different finishes or provided by multiple manufactures. The key is to carry this information in the object properties, classifications and (for Quantities) recipes.

However, this places a heavier burden on the BIM modelling and QA checking processes. Errors or omissions could result in costs incorrectly added, omitted, miscalculated, or assigned to the wrong item in the bill, all of which could have serious implications for estimating and quoting.

Quantities provides an array of tools to help avoid these problems at every stage of the modelling process, and the Quantities Info palette is the foremost, providing interactive viewing and editing facilities for managing element properties, classifications and recipes (for information about recipes refer to section 4, Defining Measurements, and particularly section 4.2, Measurement Recipes).

The standard ARCHICAD Settings dialogs and Info palette can be risky, because it doesn’t show variations between multiple element, or ineffective because it is impossible to apply or edit data across different element types. The Quantities Info palette is explicitly designed to target these issues, enabling viewing and editing in multiple elements even when they are of differing types. The source of unwanted variations can be quickly identified and remedied to a fine level of detail.

Note that the palette currently focusses on recipes, properties and classifications. This data will generally be summarised as element traits (to avoid repetition), but any exceptions will be noted as required. Only elements that contain these traits can be managed and measured by the add-on, primarily those that have a 3D body. The one exception is fill patterns, which sometimes play a role in denoting areas of material quantity (and therefore cost) within a building.