Page 1264 - Chief Architect Reference Manual

Creating an Accurate Materials List

information such as price or manufacturer. Lists are found in the Preferences dialog.
See “The Master List” on page 1279. See “Preferences Dialog” on page 103.
•The MATERIALS LIST panel lets you spec-
Materials List Management ify which Categories are initially included

Select Tools> Materials List> in new Materials Lists.
Materials List Management to open •The REPORT STYLE panel lets you specify
a list of saved Materials Lists associated with which columns are initially included in
the current plan. See “Saving and Managing new Materials Lists, as well as modify the
Materials Lists” on page 1276. appearance of all Materials Lists.
•The MASTER LIST panel lets you specify
Materials List Preferences the current Master List file and the col-
A number of settings that affect the umns used in it.
appearance and contents of Materials

Creating an Accurate Materials List

In order to take full advantage of Chief • Specify Object Information and Compo-
Architect’s Materials List capabilities, there nents information in objects’ defaults dia-
are several things to keep in mind. logs or in the Library Browser before
• The accuracy of your Materials List is creating a Materials List and ideally,
directly related to the accuracy of your before placing the objects in the plan.
model. Floor and ceiling heights, wall • Bear in mind that using generic objects
lengths, and structural settings all directly like geometric shapes from the library to
affect Materials List calculations. represent objects that aren’t available in
• It takes more than just making your draw- Chief Architect can result in items being
ing look right to generate an accurate calculated in the Materials List in a man-
Materials List. If, for example, you use ner that you might not expect.
CAD lines to draw an item on a floor
plan, that item will not be included in the Object Information
Materials List. A better way would be to Code, Comment, Manufacturer, and Supplier
use a symbol or structural element. See information can be specified for many
“Architectural vs CAD Objects” on page objects before a Materials List is created. See
166. “Object Information Panel” on page 685.
• If you use custom materials, make sure You can add this information to some objects
their material definitions are set up cor- before they are created in their defaults
rectly. See “Creating Materials” on page dialogs.
1021.

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