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| Bill of Quantities: how to merge multiple entities into a single row morisdidonato 2026-05-08 16:15:20
I want to share a support request
Request
I have measured a series of identical entities (building envelopes, beams, columns, etc.), but in the Bill of Quantities development I find the information repeated across multiple measurement rows.
Is there a way to display a single row with the total quantity?
Answer
When defining a measurement formula, in addition to using individual variables such as length, area, etc., it is also possible to use the FUNCTION variables that allow quantities to be summed or entities to be counted automatically.
The use of these variables makes it possible to display the total quantity within a single row.
This functionality improves the readability of the Bill of Quantities, simplifies quantity aggregation, and provides a cleaner and more efficient quantity surveying workflow within the BIM process.
Specifically, these variables allow you to:
- @Count: count the number of entities associated with the current measurement.
- @SumC(): calculate the sum of the content inside the brackets (numeric value, variable, or formula) for all entities linked to the current measurement, returning only the final calculated value.
- @SumE(): calculate the sum of the content inside the brackets (numeric value, variable, or formula) for all entities linked to the current measurement and display, in the Bill of Quantities, a formula containing all the resulting measured values from the model.
These advanced calculation functions allow BIM users to manage grouped measurements more efficiently, reducing duplicated rows while maintaining full traceability of the quantities extracted from the model.
EXAMPLE
The following example better explains the concept.
Suppose you have selected four Building Envelopes with lengths of 2 m, 3 m, 4 m, and 5 m respectively, and associated them with a measurement containing the formula @SumE($Length$) in the “Length” field.
In the Bill of Quantities, Edificius will display the result of the summation (14 m) as a single expression; by moving the mouse cursor over the appendix represented by the small purple triangle, the individual quantities (2+3+4+5) will be displayed.
In the printed report, the individual quantities will also be shown.
A similar procedure applies to the @SumC variable, but in the printed report only the value 14 will be displayed, resulting from the evaluation of the expression (2+3+4+5).
This approach is particularly useful when managing repetitive BIM entities such as walls, beams, columns, slabs, or façade elements, enabling more compact and professional quantity reports.
IMPORTANT
When using the functions @Count @SumE and @SumC, the computation mode should be considered equivalent to a Single Row setup.
In this case, no additional variables should be combined with them; otherwise, the rows will still be repeated multiple times. |
