Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide

for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Publishing, reproduction, paraphrasing or translation

without express prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

Trademarks
ARCHICAD® is a registered trademark of GRAPHISOFT.
All other trademarks are the properties of their respective holders.

Credits
Courtesy of GRAPHISOFT

--- 1st Revision, links last accessed: July 5, 2018 ---

If you have any comments, suggestions or clarifications, please contact:

GRAPHISOFT Singapore
152 Beach Road
#10-05 Gateway East
Singapore 189721

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................4
Getting Started .................................................................................................................................... 5
DESIGN STAGE WORKFLOW ...................................................................................6
Creating Topography from Surveyors’ Data ........................................................................... 6
Creating Topography from Point Clouds............................................................................... 10
Creating Topography by Extracting Data from AutoCAD .............................................. 21
Creating Topography by Referencing AutoCAD Drawings............................................ 29
Architectural Use of Topography .............................................................................................. 34
Creating Contour Lines of Meshes without Ridges ........................................................... 41
Creating Zones for Strata Plan and Room Area ................................................................... 44
Scheduling Zone Areas .................................................................................................................. 48
CONSTRUCTION STAGE WORKFLOW...................................................................50
Interoperability – Sharing an Editable Terrain Element................................................... 50
Saving the topography into a GDL Object ....................................................................... 51
Creating CSV file with the Topography Points ............................................................... 53
Importing the CSV to Revit...................................................................................................... 57
Saving the Top View as DWG for Boundary Exchange................................................ 59
Editing the Toposurface Boundary in Revit ..................................................................... 62
Cut and Fill Calculations ................................................................................................................ 65
Site Works and Excavation Calculation ................................................................................... 74
Excavated Site Model ................................................................................................................ 74
Final Site Model............................................................................................................................ 75
Cut and Fill Volumes .................................................................................................................. 75
AS-BUILT MODELS AND VERIFICATION WORKFLOW .........................................76
Verification of Property Data ....................................................................................................... 76
As-Built Models and Verification against Point Cloud Data ........................................... 78

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

INTRODUCTION
The objective of this document is to assist land surveyors in developing site models
and verify area and survey data using BIM. It is a generic step-by-step guide for
preparing the BIM site models that meet the requirements of architects in their BIM
submissions and providing a bridge between surveyed data and the final
deliverables.

As this only serves as a general reference guide on how to develop and use BIM
models, it shall not be regarded as a comprehensive guide that covers all scenarios.
Users are encouraged to adjust the steps according to their needs for actual use.

This document does not detail the terminology used in ARCHICAD, readers shall
refer to the respective ARCHICAD Reference Guide for further explanation.
This document does not cover engineering calculations nor design and analysis
methods or processes.

Users are recommended to read this guide along with the Code of Practice for BIM
e-Submission and the BIM Submission Template User Guide for additional
information on the overall BIM process with ARCHICAD.

This material is to serve as a reference for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD users only.

Although the guide presents the related land surveying functions through
ARCHICAD 21, later versions of the software shall also be used in the same or
similar manner. Should new features of later ARCHICAD versions affect the
workflow significantly the guide shall be updated accordingly.

The Windows and Mac versions of ARCHICAD are completely interchangeable and
compatible with each other and there are no differences in functionality except
minor interface characteristics.

Find the BIM Submission Template User Guides

at the CORENET website here:
https://www.corenet.gov.sg/general/building-information-modeling-
(bim)-e-submission.aspx

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Getting Started

To start working with BIM data in surveying, the following are required to be
installed and additional content downloaded:

• ARCHICAD (licensed) for BIM authoring and data verification

• Additional spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel

To follow the steps in this guide, additional files are provided during the training
by GRAPHISOFT.

Find the necessary GRAPHISOFT products

on the GRAPHISOFT website here:
http://www.graphisoft.com/downloads/

Find additional objects

on the GRAPHISOFT Singapore website here
(for users with active service subscription only):
http://www.graphisoft.com.sg/ssa/

Find more information on the ARCHICAD user interface

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/configuration/the-archicad-user-interface/

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

DESIGN STAGE WORKFLOW

Creating Topography from Surveyors’ Data

It is possible to import surveyors’ data to ARCHICAD directly as topography

elements. In ARCHICAD, these elements are called Mesh, which will have editable
surfaces mainly used for creating the terrain.

Find more information on how to create a Mesh

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/elements_of_the_virtual_building/construction_elements/meshes/cre
ate_a_mesh/

Find more information on the Mesh tool settings

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/user_interface_reference/tool_settings_dialog_boxes/mesh_tool_setti
ngs/

1 Go to File/Interoperability/Place Mesh from Surveyor Data….

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

ARCHICAD can import TXT or XYZ formats. The file should only contain the X, Y and
Z coordinates of terrain points, as seen on the example below.

2 In the Place Mesh from Surveyors Data dialog, set the Surveyors Unit as
per the units of the coordinates file.

3 Choose Original location, so the imported coordinates of the terrain points

will stay true to the original file they were exported from.

4 Make sure to set the correct AMSL (the elevation of Project Zero/Project
Origin above the Sea Level) in meters.
This should match with the Altitude settings of the project (under
Options/Project Preferences/Project Location…)

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Find more information on the Project Origin

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/interaction/origins/

Find more information on the Project Location and Altitude settings

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/configuration/project-location-and-project-north/

5 The Mesh will be created based on the point data from the selected file.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

6 Use the Level Dimension tool to verify that the elevations match the
coordinates in the text file.

Find more information on the Level Dimension tool

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/documentation/annotation/dimensioning/level-dimensions/

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Creating Topography from Point Clouds

A quick way of inserting the representation of the terrain to our model is using the
point cloud import feature of ARCHICAD. Point clouds are more and more popular
since they can give the most detailed surveying results, however at the same time
need some touch up for architectural BIM use. They are only used as references to
model the terrain meshes which – compared to the point cloud – will:

• be native ARCHICAD elements with significantly smaller size

• no longer contain excessive number of points that might slow down

navigation

• have solid bodies for proper representation in all viewpoints

• be used for quantity takeoffs and visualization purposes

The workflow is quite simple despite the number of steps: we need to import the
point cloud file, mark several points to list the coordinates of these, then generate
the mesh based on the text file saved from the listing (similarly to the chapter
above).

Find more information on

how to work with Point Clouds in general in ARCHICAD
at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/interoperability/archicad_file_types_opened_by_archicad/trace_point
_cloud_to_create_model_elements/#1234964

1 Let’s start by importing the point cloud into an empty ARCHICAD file that
has 0.00 as project altitude (AMSL) – the default setting of the out-of-the
box template that comes with ARCHICAD. There are many point cloud
formats available, ARCHICAD supports two of the most common ones: XYZ
and E57. Use File/Interoperability/Import Point Clouds… to select the file
you want to import.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

2 In the Create Point Cloud dialog you can create or place the point cloud
immediately after creation. Creating means that the point cloud will be
converted into an object and a library (~.lcf) and will be linked to the
current project file. Create and Place the point cloud.

3 Define the insertion method and the Home Story of the point cloud in the
next dialog.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

4 Depending on the object itself and its settings, it might happen that it is not
visible on any of the floor plans right away. Open the 3D view, select it
and open its settings dialog (CTRL/CMD+T).

5 It can be checked where the bottom value is: the depth of the pit is 579.859
metres, the bottommost point of the pit is at AMSL +2649.270 m (therefore
the topmost point at 3229.129 metres), so it is floating above the Project
Zero. When creating the final terrain, we need to make sure that the Level
Dimensions show the right values.

Note: The working units of ARCHICAD are in millimetres by default.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

6 Let’s position the point cloud vertically according to Project Zero (which is
assumed to be the main reference level of the building). The easiest to do
this is to create a Section/Elevation and do the adjustments on those
viewpoints.
For example, if our Project Zero should be around the top of the pit, e.g.:
AMSL +3100, then we can simply drag it downwards in 3D or section by
3100 metres.

7 This will make the terrain and the Project Zero relation correct, but will
affect the altitude values which we need to fix in the Project Location
settings by adding the same amount as a plus (if you elevate the terrain
upwards, the Altitude must be offset with a minus sign).

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

This way our Project Zero will be elevated to the desired altitude without the
positioning being affected.

8 Populate the terrain with the 3D instances of the Coordinate Dimensions

object.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Only these can adapt to the 3D faces of any element, the regular Level
Dimensioning tool will not work as it can only be gravitated to specific elements.

9 Place it to the areas which will be modelled. The Marquee selection or 3D

Cutaways can be used to reduce the area in 3D. Place as many coordinates
as needed, the more added the more detailed the model will be later.
Depending on the size of the area this might take a while easily ending up
in 100+ coordinate objects.

Note: When working with large models it is recommended to change the working
units to meter with 2 decimals, so the schedules will be listed in those units. Go to
Options/Project Preferences/Working Units….

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

10 Create a new Element schedule, choose Objects as criteria and add

Library Part Parameters in the Fields panel. Look for the used objects and
add the three Custom Coordinate… parameters.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

The final settings of the schedules should look like this:

Find more information on Interactive Schedules

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/views-of-the-virtual-building/archicad-model-views/interactive-
schedule/

The actual schedule should look similar to this:

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

11 Go to File/Save as… and save the schedule as an Excel workbook and

open the XLS file in Excel.

12 Delete the first two header rows and combine the content of the columns
into one common column using the Concatenate formula in column D for
example.
The formula in D1 should be =CONCATENATE(A1,” “,B1,” “,C1).

Find more information on the Concatenate formula here:

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/CONCATENATE-function-8f8ae884-
2ca8-4f7a-b093-75d702bea31d?CorrelationId=53ddaa8b-6ad3-4fde-a907-
4af0613df7ad&ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

13 We only need one column in Excel, but deleting the first columns will result
in an error in the formula, so we need to make the results static. Select and
use Copy on the result column.

14 Select the column next to it (column E) and use Paste Special… with the
Values option.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

15 The first three columns can be deleted now and you can save the file as TXT
(Tab delimited Text).

16 Excel will include quotes around the column values if they contain commas
when files are saved, which again will need some fixing in a text editor like
Notepad. If the units were set to meters then only the dots will be included.
(Commas come from the system settings of your computer on both
Windows and Mac for digit grouping.)

The final text file should look similar to this:

17 Back in ARCHICAD use the Design/Place Mesh from Surveyors Data…

command and browse for the text file as in the previous chapter.
Set the units and define the altitude of Project Zero as per the Project
Location settings set in the file for the point cloud import and what we
wanted in the first place.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

18 After that you can try placing Coordinate Objects again to validate the
altitudes to AMSL in 3D or just compare with the point cloud visually.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Creating Topography by Extracting Data from AutoCAD

The purpose of this process will be again the creation of a text file that can be
imported directly into ARCHICAD in order to create the topography. The following
steps demonstrate the workflow in AutoCAD.

1 Open Surveyor’s DWG file and check whether it is done as per the local
practice/standards, for example:

• Units are set as meter

• Block or Point is used to represent each survey point and placed at a

correct global coordinate (X,Y,Z). Use the LIST command and pick the
elements to check/verify.

Note, that the Block name is SFIG and they will be identified by this name
during the data extraction.

2 To extract data from AutoCAD go to the Insert tab and choose Extract
Data.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

3 Choose Create a new data extraction. For subsequent data extraction

the Use previous extraction as a template (.dxe or .blk) can be used.

4 Name the DXE file and click Save.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

5 In the next dialog, choose Select objects in the current drawing option.
Click the button next to it to select the Objects or Blocks.

6 Select everything using the window selection and press Enter.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

7 Click Next > to proceed.

8 Select the block that represents the survey points. In this example it is
SFIG, which we know from our first step when we listed the object
information. Click Next > to proceed.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

9 Choose Geometry in the Category filter then choose Position X, Y and Z

properties and click Next >.

10 If the following error message prompts check and correct the affected
blocks accordingly.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

11 In the next dialog uncheck the Show count column and Show name
column checkboxes, then click Next >.

12 Finally, choose the Output data to external file (.xls .csv .mdb .txt)
option. Click the … button to specify the location of the file.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

13 Choose TXT as file type and name it, then click Save.

14 This will return you to the previous dialog, click Next >.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

15 Click Finish.

This final file should look similar to this:

16 Import the text file into ARCHICAD as Surveyor Data as in the chapters
previously.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Creating Topography by Referencing AutoCAD Drawings

This method is to be used when there is no coordinate data available from

AutoCAD. The drawings can be still inserted and the Mesh can be manually created
survey point by survey point.

To import a topography map provided by a surveyor in DWG format:

1 Go to File/External Content/Attach Xref….

Note: Set the scale to 1:1000 for both X and Y in the Attach Xref dialog if your
ARCHICAD working unit (mm) is different from the units used for the CAD
topography map (meters).

2 Browse for the file and make sure the Drawing's own origin is selected as
an Anchor Point and click Attach.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

3 Choose the layers you want to import into ARCHICAD and click OK.

4 If prompted for the location of SHX font and shape files click Skip All unless
you have the specified font substitution in you translator. Click a spot to
define the origin point of the topography map.

Note: For easier referencing external drawings are best placed onto independent
Worksheets. Create new worksheets for the different items by right-clicking the
Worksheets entry in the Project Map and choose New Independent Worksheet….
Use the Trace and Reference function from the viewpoints where you want to
create the model based on the referenced drawings (use Show as Trace
Reference on the Worksheet entries).

Find more information on creating Worksheets for the referenced drawings

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/views-of-the-virtual-building/archicad-model-
views/worksheets/create-an-independent-worksheet-viewpoint/

Find more information on placing External Drawings for referencing

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/documentation/the_layout_book/drawings_in_the_layout_book/placi
ng_drawings_onto_the_layout/#1139929

Find more information on working with XREFs for referencing

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/interoperability/working-with-xrefs/

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5 Select the elevation and section markers and adjust them to the
topography map. Similarly, you will need to move the boundary lines and
the setback lines. These lines will be automatically updated on the elevation
and section viewpoints.

6 To create a model of the terrain, use the Mesh tool in the Toolbox. Draw the
boundaries of the terrain.

7 Recreate continuous mesh ridges by first selecting the mesh in the model
space, then activating the Mesh tool in the Toolbox.

8 Press and hold the SPACEBAR and click on the ridges of the DWG
reference.

9 Keep Fit to User Ridges selected in the upcoming dialog and click OK.
Create the remaining ridges similarly.

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10 When done creating the ridges make sure that the mesh is selected and the
Mesh tool is still activated. Click on a node of a ridge and choose the
Elevate Mesh Point… command of the Pet palette. Check the Apply to All
checkbox to raise all nodes of the ridge and choose the appropriate
reference plane, for example the False Datum. This way you can enter the
same values as on the surveyor's plan. Elevate the remaining ridges
similarly.

11 As a last step adjust the corner nodes of the mesh (uncheck Apply to All)
manually in 3D or 2D.

In case the imported drawing contains only surveying point locations, but no
ridges, you can still add and elevate the points as follows.

1 Select the mesh and activate the Mesh tool. Choose the Polygonal
geometry method in the Info Box.

2 Double-click the referenced surveyor points to create them. Click OK with

the Fit to User Ridges option selected in the upcoming dialog. Create the
remaining points similarly.

3 Elevate the points one-by-one using the Elevate Mesh Point… command
(similarly to the ridges).

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Find more information on creating new points (survey points) in Meshes

in the BIM Submission Template User Guides at the CORENET website here:
https://www.corenet.gov.sg/general/building-information-modeling-
(bim)-e-submission.aspx

Find more information on creating new points (ridges) in Meshes

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/elements_of_the_virtual_building/construction_elements/meshes/add
_new_points_to_the_mesh/

Find more information on editing the Mesh point elevations

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/elements_of_the_virtual_building/construction_elements/meshes/edit
_elevation_of_a_mesh_point/

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Architectural Use of Topography

Architects will import the Topography to ARCHICAD via *.txt format or directly
using the Mesh created in ARCHICAD. The goal of the import is to place the
architectural BIM model into context and update the Topography with any
changes the design may implicate.

Start by opening a sample project of a residential tower in ARCHICAD.

Besides importing the terrain directly (as seen earlier), during the architectural use
the project can already be set up or if not, the architectural office will still have their
template into which the terrain needs to be inserted. Let’s see how this can be
done using Hotlinked Modules.

Find more information on Hotlinked Modules

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/collaboration/hotlinked_modules/about_hotlinked_modules/

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

1 Go to the plan view and launch File/External Content/Place Hotlink….

2 Go through the hotlinking process by browsing and linking the terrain file.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

3 The Hotlinked Modules cannot be edited in the host file as they are locked,
but only the linking process ensured that we can insert it into an existing
setup. Nevertheless, it is possible to break the links and embed the terrain
into the working file. Select the terrain, right click and choose Hotlinked
Module/Hotlinked Module Manager….

4 Select the module and click Break Link, then OK. Now the terrain will be
editable (suspending the groups might still be required).

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Now the necessary amendments can be done to create cuts and fills.

5 Create the outlines of the desired ridges using 2D tools, like Spline or
Polyline: the edge of the plateau, where the cut or fill starts and a second
ridge where the sloping ends. Do this on the plan view.

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6 Use the Magic Wand to create the ridges on the existing Mesh.

7 Deselect all and click any point of the newly created ridges to select them.

8 Click the point again and use the Elevate Mesh Point… command of the
pet palette to elevate the points into the same elevation: the top of the
plateau should be elevated only. Check the Apply to All checkbox.

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9 Check the 3D view for the final result.

When isolating the terrain it is seen that the foundations are not subtracted from
the volume. Let’s use the Solid Element Operations to clean these connections.

10 In any view, select the Mesh first. Right-click and choose Connect/Solid
Element Operations… from the context menu.

11 Select the foundations and the bottommost slab. Click Get Operator
Elements on the SEO palette.

12 Choose Subtraction from the list of operations and click Execute.

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 Land Surveyors’ Workflow Guide for GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD

Note: We can undo this operation anytime by clicking on the blue icon that
appears when selecting the topography element. All active operations are visible
and either one or all of them can be undone by clicking the X buttons.

13 View the terrain only in 3D to verify the successful subtraction.

Find more information on Solid Element Operations

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/elements_of_the_virtual_building/about_solid_element_operations/#
1209774

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Creating Contour Lines of Meshes without Ridges

1 Create a simple rectangular Morph with the following settings and place
it to the bottommost point of the Mesh.

2 Multiply it with the Spread option where you can set the distance
between the level contours easily.

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3 Select all the Morphs (targets) and intersect them with the Mesh
(operators).

4 The Morph contours will appear along the Mesh and will also follow the
changes of the Mesh later.

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5 To make the editing more straightforward, select all the Morphs on the
plan view and send their display to the back, so you will always pick the
Mesh when clicking (by default the Morphs get to the front).

6 Edit the Mesh freely from now on, the Morphs will follow it (scroll to refresh
the 2D).

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Creating Zones for Strata Plan and Room Area

You can see a sample of an architectural plan prepared for submission below.

Architects and surveyors can measure the Strata area by adding areas using the
Zone tool and calculating the total area using built-in schedules of ARCHICAD.

Find more information on the Zone tool

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/elements-of-the-virtual-building/construction-elements/zones/

1 Activate the Zone Tool and set the following in the Info Box.

2 Set the appropriate Layer designated by BCA’s BIM guidelines

3 Set the Construction method:

• Manual for Strata

• Inner Edge for Room Area

In general use one of the Manual methods when the Zone boundary is not
clearly surrounded by elements (e.g. when doing space planning).
Both automatic recognition methods, Inner Edge and Reference Line are
based on the fact that most Zones are surrounded by Walls and the only
openings in them are Doors and Windows.

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Choosing the Inner Edge method, ARCHICAD will always define the Zone
area by the inner edges of walls.

If you choose the Reference Line method, ARCHICAD considers the

reference lines of the walls as the boundaries of the zone.

Note: The Zone areas can also be affected by certain rules, which can be set under
Options/Project Preferences/Zones….

Find more information on Zone preferences

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/user-interface-reference/dialog-boxes/project-preferences-dialog-
boxes/calculation-units-and-rules-preferences/zones-preferences/

4 Set the Zone Name and Zone Number

5 Set the Zone Category

Find more information on Zone Categories

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/elements-of-the-virtual-building/construction-elements/zones/zone-
categories/

6 Create the Zones for each unit manually by clicking on the external
corners of the surrounding Walls.

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7 For Walls shared by two adjacent units Center Reference Line should be
used in the first place for automatic recognition. Manual adjustment of
the Zones shall also be using the centerline of the Walls if the Reference
Line location differs.

8 Choose the Inner Edge construction method for creating room areas.
Make sure that the walls are tightly connected and form a closed polygon.

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When editing the edges/cornerpoints of existing Zones, use the Snap References
functions of ARCHICAD to easily project halving points between snapped
elements. This helps finding the Wall centerlines more easily.

Find more information on Snap References

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/interaction/on-screen-input-aids/snap-guides/

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Scheduling Zone Areas

You can easily list the total area of Strata or room areas by using one of the pre-
defined schedules in the BCA BIM Submission Template (or create brand new
ones).

To set up the Schedules from scratch, make sure that you are following these steps:

• Create an Element schedule – the Zones do not have components and their
areas are not considered as surface areas either

• Define unique Criteria for Zones – this will define which particular Zones
will be included in the scheduling (filtering)

• Define the Fields of the schedule – the specific information of the Zones we
would like to display

Set up the Settings according to the following diagram:

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1 Set Element Type as Zone

2 If more than one rows are used as Criteria, use the logical functions and or
or

3 Make sure to put multiple criteria in between brackets, especially if

multiple levels of conditions are to be applied

4 Use logical functions further down the settings if needed

5 Close the brackets, otherwise the Criteria will be prompted as invalid

6 Add the desired Parameters or Properties to be listed under the Fields

panel, e.g.: Home Story, Measured Area, Zone Category, etc.

7 Use the flag to create subgroups for subtotals

8 Use the sum to calculate a total value for certain parameters (e.g.: total
area), or use count as an alternative to quantity when counting the number
of Zones for example

You can export the resulting Schedule into Excel format in two ways:

• via the File/Interoperability/Classifications and Properties/Export

Property Values from Schedule… menu command, which will not keep
the formatting settings, but can be used as a data transfer method. The
exported schedule can be filled by consultants in spreadsheet applications
and the data can be imported back to the ARCHICAD elements, updating
the model (bi-directional)

• via File/Save as… - this will retain the formatting settings but cannot be
imported back to ARCHICAD after editing, only onto the Layouts for
documentation (one-directional data transfer)

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CONSTRUCTION STAGE WORKFLOW

Interoperability – Sharing an Editable Terrain Element

If all parties in the project are using ARCHICAD, the easiest way to transfer the
topography data is by sharing native PLN files of ARCHICAD. In some cases, parties
are using different BIM software, such as ARCHICAD and Revit which is more typical
during the construction stages when the contractor is more likely to request
editable terrain elements (toposurfaces)

When the topography is transferred to Revit via IFC it becomes a Model In-Place
element which cannot be edited easily.

The most accurate ways to import topography to ARCHICAD and Revit is using the
TXT and CSV formats respectively which can easily be converted using the TextEdit
(MAC)/Notepad (WIN) and Microsoft Excel applications.

The key steps of transferring the topography data accurately:

• Save/convert the ARCHICAD topography into a GDL object

• Open the object and identify the topography points in the 3D script

• Create a TXT file, copy and paste the points and save it as a CSV file

• Edit the CSV file with Excel to remove the unnecessary data

• Save the CSV file and import it into REVIT to create the toposurface.

Note: In addition, DWG shall be used to exchange the toposurface boundary.

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Saving the topography into a GDL Object

1 Select the Mesh (topography) in 2D/3D, right-click and choose Show

Selection/Marquee in 3D to isolate it in a 3D view

2 Select the Mesh and choose File/ Libraries and Objects/Save Selection
as…/Object…

3 Click OK to choose the top view of the selected elements to be the floor
plan view

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4 Give it a meaningful name

5 Click Save

6 Click OK in the Change Object’s Basic Settings dialog box. Now the Mesh is
saved as a GDL object.

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Creating CSV file with the Topography Points

1 Choose File/ Libraries and Objects/Open Object…

2 Select the GDL object created in the previous step

3 Click Open

4 Click on 3D to open the 3D Script

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5 Look for the line starting with mass{2} which comes with lots of points (X, Y,
Z and code)

6 Select all the points and copy to clipboard (CTRL/CMD+C)

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7 Open Notepad/Text Edit and paste the text into it

8 Save it as a CSV file by adding .csv to the end of the filename. (There is no
native option to save as CSV)

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9 Open the CSV file in Excel

10 Remove column D as it is the code used in GDL and not required for the
topography

11 Remove the empty rows or those that have the value 0 in column C
(Z axis) as they are the points in the base of the mesh (topography) and are
not required for the topography

12 Save it as CSV file again

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Importing the CSV to Revit

1 Launch Revit, create a new file based on the Architecture Template and
open Level 1 – Plan View

2 Choose Massing & Site/Toposurface

3 Choose Tools/Create from Import/Specify Points File and choose the

CSV file saved in the previous step

4 Choose Meters for the units and click OK

5 Click Finish. Now you have the topography in Revit.

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Switch to the 3D window in Revit to see the toposurface just created. When
placed side-by-side the ARCHICAD and Revit topographies do not look the same. It
is due to the boundary of toposurface. Revit connects the outer points when
creating the boundary.
We need to go through one more exchange via DWG to correct the boundary.

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Saving the Top View as DWG for Boundary Exchange

1 View the topography from top view in a parallel projection

Find more information on ARCHICAD Parallel Projections

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-19/archicad-19-int-
reference-guide/user-interface-reference-2/dialog-boxes/3d-projection-
settings/parallel-projection-settings/

2 Right-click and create New 3D Document from 3D…, this is to get a

flattened 2D DWG

3 Save the 3D document to DWG

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4 Import the DWG using Insert/Import/Import CAD

5 Choose the DWG file exported from ARCHICAD in the previous step, leave
the default settings

6 Click Open to place the DWG

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7 Choose Wireframe visual style

8 Choose top view using the view cube, now can see the DWG placed
exactly below the toposurface

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Editing the Toposurface Boundary in Revit

1 Choose Massing & Site/Modify Site/Split Surface and select the

toposurface

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2 In the editing option, use Pick Lines option in Draw to trace the area that
need to be deleted

3 Trace the bottom curve

4 Connect the edges with a line

5 Click Finish to close the edit mode (if there is error then need to fix it first
before closing)

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6 Select the portion of the toposurface that is not necessary and delete it

7 Switch to 3D and switch back to shaded mode. Now we got the exact
editable toposurface in Revit based on the data from ARCHICAD.

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Cut and Fill Calculations

The required quantities of cuts and fills can be easily derived from modeled
Meshes.

1 Start with the building model placed at the right position relative to the
terrain.

2 It is recommended to draw the desired ridges of the backfill (blue) and

the cut (red) using the 2D tools. These can be easily reused with the Magic
Wand feature.

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3 Create the Mesh for the backfill. Add all points marked by the 2D lines.

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4 Use the Elevate Mesh Point command to drag the points of the Mesh as
close to the terrain Mesh as possible. New points might also be added on
the backfill Mesh for more accuracy.

5 Once the elevations are set, use the Solid Element Operation/Subtraction
with downward extrusion: set the backfill Mesh as Target and the
terrain Mesh as Operator

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6 Create the cut Mesh and its points in a similar manner as earlier.

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7 In 3D, make sure that the Mesh reference plane is elevated above the
building and it sticks out of the initial terrain as well.

8 Drag all points of the Mesh downwards. This way an inverted Mesh will
be created. During the editing the Mesh will lose its volume, but once all
points are below the reference plane, the volume will show again.

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Note: You may want to use the wireframe display for easier editing of the cut
Mesh.

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9 Once done, use the Solid Element Operation/Intersection, using the cut
Mesh as Target and the terrain Mesh as Operator. With this action the cut
Mesh has the exact volume that needs to be removed.

10 Do another Solid Element Operation/Subtraction with upward

extrusion to remove the cut from the terrain, set the terrain as Target and
the cut Mesh as Operator this time.

Note: Setting the New Target Surfaces option to Inherit from Operator will turn
the top surface of the terrain into the same that the cut Mesh has (red) which can
help the visualization.

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11 Once the subtraction is done, the cut Mesh shall be placed onto a hidden
Layer.

12 Create an Element schedule to show the volumes. Use Mesh as Element

Type for Criteria and add the General/Element ID and Net Volume
parameters to the Fields.

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The final schedule should look similar to this:

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Site Works and Excavation Calculation

The footprints of the buildings shall be modelled with the Slab tTool and the
excavation profile shall be modelled with the Wall tool. The Walls can be created
with a set angle.
The site works will use the Solid Element Operations in a similar manner as in the
earlier phases.

Excavated Site Model

1 Duplicate the initial terrain Mesh

2 Model the base Slab

3 Create the slanted Walls along the Slab edge. The top of the Wall should
be higher than the terrain Mesh.

4 Perform a Solid Element Operation/Subtraction with upward extrusion,

set the Mesh as Target and set the Slabs and Walls as Operators.

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Final Site Model

The final site model will include the backfilled portion of the earthworks. In order to
get this result, duplicate the Excavated Site Model (mesh) with all the slabs and
slanted walls. Removing the slanted walls will give the required result (only
portions above the slabs will be removed) as shown below.

Cut and Fill Volumes

Cut and fill volumes can be calculated by creating a schedule for the Meshes and
comparing them based on their phases. The modeller shall add additional
columns to the schedule by adding Custom Text fields to include a description
and/or stage numbers to complete the schedule.
The difference between the volume of Initial Site and volume of Excavated Site will
give the cut volume.
The difference between volume of Excavated Site and volume of Final Site will give
the fill volume.

Note: Complex sites shall be modeled with more than one Mesh in order to
achieve the desired result.

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AS-BUILT MODELS AND VERIFICATION WORKFLOW

Verification of Property Data

As-built properties of BIM elements can be verified and amended using Microsoft
Excel or similar spreadsheet applications.

1 Once a Schedule is set with Element Properties go to File/Interoperablity/

Classifications and Properties/Export Property Values from
Schedules…

Note: This method only works with Element Schedules and with element
Properties, defined under Options/Property Manager…. Element parameters,
such as dimensions, representation settings, etc. cannot be imported back to
ARCHICAD.

2 Edit the values in the spreadsheet application

3 In ARCHICAD go to File/Interoperablity/ Classifications and

Properties/Import Property Values into Elements… to import back the
values. Upon import, the to-be-imported columns can be filtered/selected.

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Find more information on the Properties

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/elements-of-the-virtual-building/element-properties-and-
classification-systems/property-manager/

Find more information on Property Export/Import

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-20/archicad-20-reference-
guide/interoperability/archicad_file_types_opened_by_archicad/import-
export_property_data_via_spreadsheet/

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As-Built Models and Verification against Point Cloud Data

Point cloud scan data can be imported to verify the actual building with the BIM
model or can be used as a reference to create the as-built model.

Mismatches can be communicated via the Markup Tool and can be shared through
the BCF format.

Find more information on tracing and using the Point Clouds as references
at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/interoperability/working-with-point-clouds/trace-point-cloud-to-
create-model-elements/

Find more information on the Markup Tool

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/collaboration/project-markup/

Find more information on the BIM Collaboration Format (BCF)

at the GRAPHISOFT Help Center here:
https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-22/archicad-22-reference-
guide/collaboration/project-markup/export-import-markup-using-bim-
collaboration-format-bcf/

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