Archicad Does Not Recognise a Wall on the Dimension Line

If Archicad's dimensioning tool does not recognise a wall and does not add it to the dimension line, the most common cause is that the wall is not perfectly straight.

Symptoms

• The wall is visible in plan, but is not included when dimensioning automatically.
• Other walls are recognised, but one specific wall is left out.
• The dimension line does not pick up the expected reference from that wall.

Cause

In most cases, this happens because the wall is slightly tilted or not perfectly straight. Even a minimal deviation can prevent Archicad from recognising it correctly when using automatic dimensioning.

Solution

Option 1: Fix the Wall's Geometry

Note: This option applies when the wall has a slight, unwanted deviation in its geometry.

• Select the wall in plan.
• Check whether the wall is perfectly straight.
• Adjust or redraw the wall so its geometry is clean and aligned.
• Place the dimension line again.

Once the wall is properly straight, Archicad should recognise it as normal.

Option 2: Manually Add the Missing Dimension

If you don't want to modify the wall's geometry, you can manually add the missing reference to an existing dimension line.

There are two ways to do this, depending on how tilted the wall is (or whether it is not parallel to the others) and where you want to place the dimension reference.

2.1 Using the Start of the Wall or the Point Where It Intersects Another Element

• Select the existing dimension line.

• Holding down Ctrl or ⌘ Cmd (or using the Pet Palette), click a corner at the start of the wall or the point where it intersects another element.

  

• Repeat the operation at the other corner or the other intersection.

  

2.2 Creating a Temporary Reference Line

• Draw a line at the location where you want to place the dimension reference.

  

• Holding down Ctrl or ⌘ Cmd (or using the Pet Palette), click the intersection of the wall with the reference line you just created.

  

• Repeat the operation for the other intersection and delete the reference line.

  

Note: Adding dimensions manually is useful when you don't want to modify the model's geometry, but it's advisable to work with well-defined elements whenever possible to maintain the project's consistency.