Measurements - Area

The Area Tool is used to calculate metres, square metres, volume, footprint or add Pitch to Measurements on Plans. These appear in the bill of materials on the Quantities Tab.

Related articles: Area Cut-Out Tool | Negative Areas | Measurement Parts and Labour

Add a New Area Measurement

1. Within a Stage click +Area

2. Complete the required details
   Part no, Unit Cost, Markup Percentage and Unit Price are optional. If using costing, please ensure the Unit Price is populated

3. Select the Measurement Unit or add a Pitch degree
   This will update the Part UoM box

4. Click Create
   If additional Parts and Labour are required, click Create & Add More Parts

Using the Area Tool to begin Measuring

1. On the Plan, click to begin an Area

2. Double click to complete the Area

Square Drawing Mode

After an Area has been created, choose Square Drawing Mode to draw rectangles and squares.

1. Click Freeform then click Square
2. Click once to begin
3. Move to the opposite side corner and click once to complete

Curve Drawing Mode

After an Area has been created, choose Curve Drawing Mode to draw curves.

1. Click Curve
2. Click once to begin
3. Click once along the Curve
   Close to the apex / highest point for best results
4. Click at the end of the Curve
5. Click the Curve button again to return to Freeform or click the last point to complete

To create Curves and straight lines in the same Area

1. In Freeform Mode, click at the beginning of the Curve
2. Press Q
3. Click once along the Curve
   Close to the apex / highest point for best results
4. Continue on or click the last point to complete

To transform the last straight segment into a Curve

1. In Freeform Mode, click the point at the beginning of the Curve
2. Click at the end of the Curve
3. Press W and moving the cursor back to the apex / highest point of the Curve and click once
4. Continue on or click the last point to complete

Area Cut-out Tool

The Area Cut-Out Tool is used to subtract an Area from a Measurement. On Plans, it removes an island bench from flooring or windows from external cladding.

Read more about it here.

How to Edit existing Areas

1. Press ESC, Zoom in and click the Area
2. Click Settings to:
   • Edit Fill Colour, Line Style, Line Colour and Line Width changing all Areas associated with this Measurement
   • Change the selected Area to a Negative
   • Add or edit Parts & Settings or Labour

3. Click Total to:
   • Enable / Disable Show Totals
   • Edit Text Colour, Text Size and Number Format
   • Change the selected Area to a Negative
   • Add Parts and Labour

4. Click +Add to:
   • Create another Area
   • Create an Area Cut Out

5. Click Actions to:
   • Select All
   • Duplicate
   • Transfer
   • Rotate
   • Flip
   • Delete

6. Click Measurement Actions to:

   • Hide this Measurement from the Plan
   • Select All of the Measurement
   • Rename
   • Adjust the Measurement Value
   • Add or edit Parts & Settings and Labour
   • Copy (more information provided below)
   • Erase All, removing all Lengths from the Plan
   • Delete the Measurement from the whole Project Permanently
   Click here for Copy Measurement instructions

   
   Copy Measurements will Copy all Parts, Pricing, Formula and Labour to another Measurement in the same or another Stage.

   Measurement Unit Options and all Parts and Labour are identical when copied.

   
   

   1. Click Measurement Actions
   2. Click Copy

   

   3. Type the New Measurement Name
   4. Select option of where to Copy to:
      • Current Stage: (name)
      • Another Stage (choose another existing in the Project)
   5. Click Copy Measurement

   

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   Click here if a different Depths or Pitch is required after Copying Measurements

   
   

   Depth / Pitch will need to be adjusted

   If an Area has been copied that has additional Measurement options like m² or m³, the Depth or Pitch will need to be adjusted.
   eg. This Measurement copied Concrete (150mm) to a Concrete (100mm) deep, the Depth MUST be changed.
   When copying a Measurement that has more than one Part, it will duplicate all Parts and Labour and create identical Parts including the Part name matching the original Description.
   
   

   Original Measurement	Copied Measurement
   Concrete (150mm) with Concrete (150mm) Part	Under the Concrete (100mm), Concrete (150mm) Part is present as is the Depth of 0.15m because it was Copied from the original Measurement

   1. On the Copied Measurement, click Measurement Actions then Parts and Settings
   2. Update Measurement Unit - Depth / Pitch
      Type the correct value in
   3. (Recommended) Update the Style
      Style is identical to the Measurement it was copied from
   4. Click Save
   5. Click X to Close

   Important to note

   The Part (Concrete (150mm) is still incorrect here. Please see the next section for instructions to update.

   

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   Click here when a Non-Grouped Part is required after Copying Measurements

   
   

   When copying a Measurement that has more than one Part, it will duplicate all Parts and Labour and create identical Parts including the Part name matching the original Description.
   
   

   Original Measurement	Copied Measurement
   Concrete (150mm) with Concrete (150mm) Part	Under the Concrete (100mm), Concrete (150mm) Part is present as is the Depth of 0.15m because it was Copied from the original Measurement

   
   

   1. On the Copied Measurement, click Measurement Actions then Parts and Settings
   2. Click Part Actions on the Part to be changed
   3. Click Edit

   

   4. Rename the Part from the old name, update Pricing or Formula
   5. Select:
      Replace to ensure it is not Grouped / Linked with the Measurement Part it was copied from
   6. Click Save
   7. Click X to Close

   

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Adjusting Area Totals

1. To Adjust Measurement Totals, click the individual Area Total ( * ), click the Plan Total ( * ) or Project Total (^)
2. Enter new Value in Number form (e.g. 3) or via a Formula (e.g. 2*10)
3. Click Save

4. To remove an Adjusted Total, click the Adjusted Total and clear the Value
   Please note: Entering 0 will give an Adjusted Total of 0

Unit of Measure and Supported References

There are different options for Unit of Measure when creating Areas.

Area Measurement Unit of Measure (UoM)		Part Supported References
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Groundplan uses simple Excel-type Formula to calculate Parts and Labour. The Formula follows the PMDAS Rule: Parentheses (brackets) first followed by multiplication, division, addition, then subtraction. Calculations are prioritised within the brackets. More detailed information about Formulas with examples are provided in our article Using Formulas in Groundplan.

Each Formula must contain a Supported Reference/s to be accepted and relate directly to elements on the Plan.

The below image displays how the main Supported References correspond to a Plan:

Frequently Asked Questions