Walls type schedule

[silvermat]

Hello everyone!
I am looking for the best way to create a schedule/legend with all types of walls I use in the project (or only for selected ones).
My goal is to create a table with ID, 2D view, and multiline custom text where I can write materials with detailed information about them.

I usually make it in the model on the lowest level, but I want to remove everything that is not my building from my model.
I moved the rest of my legends into Independent 2D view, but it doesn't work with walls.
There is an example of what I want to get (or something close to it)

Operating system used: Windows

[Rastko Pecar]

this came up while I was surfing the internet: https://archibites.tech/product/wall-type-label/

[g r a n t]

Hello. I've been trying to figure this out for a few years now. I was new to ArchiCAD in 2021. It seemed very complicated and I'm sure there is a better way. Through some brute force I've managed to figure out the following (similar to other contributors): Create short sections of the wall types on a lowest most storey. That storey does not show in the model. Then use the Wall Tag and NCS Skin List Tag. I've modified both tags for my use and saved them as my favourites. What I don't like is having these walls in the model. I thought about creating a master template of standards (walls, interior details etc.) and hotlink it into project models as needed. I've not tried that yet so that may create other issues. Still stumbling along. 

 

[Javier H]

I, like many others do and as has been discussed, create my “standard wall types” on the ground floor and place them on a dedicated layer.

For each of them, I generate a section to obtain a visual representation of the wall, along with a diagram showing the layers/materials that make up the assembly (identified by their tag), including the thickness of each layer and the total wall thickness. In the drawings, I then place the section image together with the corresponding diagram for each wall.

Working this way means everything is automated once I’ve created the sample wall, its section, and its corresponding diagram. In my template I already have 10 sample walls with their sections and diagrams, so in each specific project I only need to adjust each wall type according to its composition.

[qbic-ft]

https://archibites.tech/product/wall-type-label/

[Rastko Pecar]

Move them to a dedicated design option or renovation status and they wont show up in your schedules or otherwise "polute" your data.

[Rastko Pecar]

I've been grinding composite reports for some time now and here is the latest method I developed.

I have steered away from schedules (otherwise I like them a lot) because they are too rigid for this purpose. For example, you can set skin thickness units only via calculation units, which is a global setting. Skin list label is better in this regard because it allows to show skin thicknesses in centimeters despite the drawing uses other global unit setting. Working with labels in general is much nicer because it allows you working by seeing the information side by side model elements, which schedules don't allow. 

My end result for a facade wall looks like this:

The specification for walls starts with some general remarks. Following is the specification for a facade wall SF-1 with title and skin list. At the bottom are remarks which refer to SF-1 specifically.

All elements are modeled in a dedicated design option, so it does not "pollute"my model. All this can also be done on a dedicated renovation status.

My working area is a dedicated section that looks like this from far:

Everything is arrayed on a matrix of A4s (green lines: paper size of my final assembly report) and arranged vertically in groups: 

- horizontal assemblies (slabs, roofs)

- vertical assemblies (walls)

- add-ons (build-ups that complement above general types such as suspended ceilings, floor composites, service channels adjacent to walls, ect.)

In the horizontal axis I arrange group sub types:

- slabs (slab on ground, floor slab)

- roofs (inclined roofs, flat roofs)

- walls (facade walls, interior walls, partition non-load-bearing walls)

- add-ons (floor, ceiling, wall build-ups)

Here how my working view looks for SF-1: 

Green line work is a trace-referenced master layout (matrix 4x4 A4s) and gives me the boundaries of an A4 page and informs me how much space per page I have,

blue line work is live, associative geometry that is the basis for data (code, name and specifications come from these elements)

Purple is dead, non-associative geometry that is there just to make things nicer, see the image below: 

Above image also shows how logic of add-ons works. Using "add-ons" I can keep my composites to a minimum required (easier to manage & concise documentation) and describe all situations (bathroom:tiles on facade wall, tiles on internal wall, tiles partition wall)  without writing a new composite for each specific situation (hard to mange, data sprawl). I report only what is added on top, bottom or sideways but still represent the base composite graphically (greyed out geometry). 

About reporting assembly data - back to SF.1 again:

The information comes from 4 separate sorces:

- titles: "VERTIKALNE KONSTRUKCIJE" and "FASADNE STENE" are both dead text, because these never change in content

- remarks: above general remarks  and below remarks for SF-1 come from keynotes, but could also be dead text. Keynotes are nice because you can keep all your remarks, specifications and other texts in one place.

-  assembly specification: here I combine a normal autotext label (bolded text) and a skin list label (skin thicknesses and material specification). This allows me to acess the information which is stored in the attribute (composite name, code, U value, building material thickness&description) and the information that is stored on the element level (total thickness). 

The nice thing about this method is that you can report an assembly which is modeled with 2 composites:

the above flat roof is modeled with slab tool for the structural part + roof tool for the top layers. To report such a composite you just stack 2 skin list labels together and write the sum of their thicknesses into the total thickness. This manual summation is a small drawback because it can lead to errors so one has to keep in mind to double check the values for such combined composites.

This is mostly it. The method is not so hard to set up, really nice to maintain/edit and it produces reports fast.

To create a new assembly report you just copy-paste an element (and all labels) below previous one (if fits on same page) or to the right (to a new page), change the composite&keynote and all information should be there. Just remember to create new layouts if you create new assemblies on horizontal axes.

It is also quite flexible because it allow to report an assembly via one, more-than-one composite or as an add-on. This supports diverse modeling practices and lets the designer to chose the modeling technique most appropriate to the task. It is also flexible in the sense of information breakdown.

Designer can decide wether to structure the informations by general groups only, or go down a level into sub-groups. I had projects where I reported all my walls (3 composites) on single page and projects when each assembly has a full page spec. The arrangement of composites in section & layout work allows for a quick adaptation to project size or the level of complexity, while at the same time guaranteeing consistency of project documentation.

Hope you find this useful!

[Javier H]

Wow, visually it’s flawless, no doubt! But that’s all done manually, right? I think the idea we all have in mind is to make it as automatic as possible.

[Rastko Pecar]

Its manual in the set-up phase, but once all the framework is set (headings, elements, labels & specifications) and part of your template, all you have to do is copy-paste the element and labels, change the composite, keynotes and total thickness (if using combined composites approach). Plus taking care your layouts are capturing everything. This is done in minutes, all the content comes trough automatically and is is reflected throughout the documentation set (general plans, details, assembly reports). That is what is most important to me and this method does this much better than exporting schedules in excel/word for finalization that I used to do in the beginning.

[g r a n t]

Wow.....thanks.