Arch Building

Site

Floor

BIM

Description

The Arch Building is a special type of FreeCAD group object particularly suited for representing a whole building unit. They are mostly used to organize your model, by containing floor objects.

Usage

1. Optionally, select one or more objects to be included in your new building.
2. Press the Building button, or press the B then U keys.

Options

• Starting from FreeCAD version 0.18, the Building object is actually a BuildingPart with its DataIFC Type property set to "Building". You can convert any BuildingPart to a Building simply by changing its IFC Type.
• After creating a building, you can add more objects to it by drag and dropping them in the Tree View or by using the Arch Add tool.
• You can remove objects from a building by drag and dropping them out of it the Tree View or by using the Arch Remove tool.

Properties

• DataBuilding Type: The type of this building, to choose from a list

Scripting

See also: Arch API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The Building tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function:

Building = makeBuilding(objectslist=None, baseobj=None, name="Building")

• Creates a Building object from objectslist, which is a list of objects, or baseobj, which is a Shape.

Example:

import FreeCAD, Draft, Arch

p1 = FreeCAD.Vector(0, 0, 0)
p2 = FreeCAD.Vector(2000, 0, 0)
baseline = Draft.makeLine(p1, p2)
baseline2 = Draft.makeLine(p1, -1*p2)

Wall1 = Arch.makeWall(baseline, length=None, width=150, height=2000)
Wall2 = Arch.makeWall(baseline2, length=None, width=150, height=1800)
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()

Building = Arch.makeBuilding([Wall1, Wall2])

Site = Arch.makeSite(Building)
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()

Site

Floor

BIM

BIM

• 2D drafting: Sketch, Line, Polyline, Circle, Arc, Arc by 3 points, Fillet, Ellipse, Polygon, Rectangle, B-spline, Bézier curve, Cubic Bézier curve, Point

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• 3D/BIM: Project, Site, Building, Level, Space, Wall, Curtain Wall, Column, Beam, Slab, Door, Window, Pipe, Pipe Connector, Stairs, Roof, Panel, Frame, Fence, Truss, Equipment
  • Reinforcement tools: Custom Rebar, Straight Rebar, U-Shape Rebar, L-Shape Rebar, Stirrup, Bent-Shape Rebar, Helical Rebar, Column Reinforcement, Beam Reinforcement, Slab Reinforcement, Footing Reinforcement
  • Generic 3D tools: Profile, Box, Shape builder..., Facebinder, Objects library, Component, External reference

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• Annotation: Text, Shape from text, Aligned dimension, Horizontal dimension, Vertical dimension, Leader, Label, Axis, Axes System, Grid, Section Plane, Hatch, Page, View, Shape-based view

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• Snapping: Snap lock, Snap endpoint, Snap midpoint, Snap center, Snap angle, Snap intersection, Snap perpendicular, Snap extension, Snap parallel, Snap special, Snap near, Snap ortho, Snap grid, Snap working plane, Snap dimensions, Toggle grid, Working Plane Top, Working Plane Front, Working Plane Side

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• Modify: Move, Copy, Rotate, Clone, Create simple copy, Make compound, Offset, 2D Offset..., Trimex, Join, Split, Scale, Stretch, Draft to sketch, Upgrade, Downgrade, Add component, Remove component, Array, Path array, Polar array, Point array, Cut with plane, Mirror, Extrude..., Difference, Union, Intersection

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• Manage: BIM Setup..., Views manager, Manage project..., Manage doors and windows..., Manage IFC elements..., Manage IFC quantities..., Manage IFC properties..., Manage classification..., Manage layers..., Material, Schedule, Preflight checks..., Annotation styles...

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• Utils: Toggle bottom panels, Move to Trash, Working Plane View, Select group, Set slope, Create working plane proxy, Add to construction group, Split Mesh, Mesh to Shape, Select non-manifold meshes, Remove Shape from Arch, Close Holes, Merge Walls, Check, Toggle IFC Brep flag, Toggle subcomponents, Survey, IFC Diff, IFC explorer, Create IFC spreadsheet..., Image plane, Unclone, Rewire, Glue, Reextrude
  • Panel tools: Panel, Panel Cut, Panel Sheet, Nest
  • Structure tools: Structure, Structural System, Multiple Structures
  • IFC tools: IFC Diff..., IFC Expand, Make IFC project, IfcOpenShell update
  • Nudge: Nudge Switch, Nudge Up, Nudge Down, Nudge Left, Nudge Right, Nudge Rotate Left, Nudge Rotate Right, Nudge Extend, Nudge Shrink

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• Additional: Preferences, Fine tuning, Import Export Preferences, IFC, DAE, OBJ, JSON, 3DS, SHP

User documentation

• Getting started
• Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
• Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate

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• Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
• Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Material, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework

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• Addons: Addon Manager, External workbenches, Scripting and macros

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• Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub