Measuring an existing drawing

Hi everyone I have been provided an existing cad drawing as part of a project. I need to be able to measure the walls and interior of the drawing and I have the drawing set to mm. I would like to know what settings I need to change so that the measurements appear in mm as at the moment they arent. I have attached a picture to show the sort of measurements I am getting... is this something to do with scaling? The number on drawing is 15.700. Any help appreciated.

To validate that size try to use the DIST command - this will give the exact length between those points. If the value shown by dimension is different, then check the dimension style to don't have a multiplication factor different than one (Primary Units --> Scale factor).

Many thanks for the response, I carried out the dist command that you have mentioned and it is giving the same figures.

You're welcome!

So, this means without doubt that that part is wrong drawn - if the size listed is different than the one that should be. Not sure what reside above items shown on your screen-shot, but please check if the STRETCH command can help you to fix the issue.

it is the same for the whole drawing, if I change the units to millimetres, meters etc it still shows the same value. For example I drew a line and it measured 160, I then changed from meters back to millimetres and when I measured again it was still the same value. Ill expand on the problem a little bit...

basically I have been given building plan that I need to work out heat loss calculations for, I need to get the dimensions of all walls etc.. I need to be able to convert the dimensions or distances so that they show in mm or cm, if possible I could provide the file for part of this drawing. Many thanks.

Did you establish which system of measurement and what insertion units the drawing was originally drawn in? Whatever it is/was is the measurement system and units value you need to use in your insertion units and your dimension styles.

If you change the units after the fact, you will have to scale the entire drawing by the conversion factor (ratio) between the two units. However, you need to know what the original units were.

You can also set your dimension style up so that it will display the primary units value, which should be the same as your insertion units, and a secondary units value at the same time. For instance, a dimension will be able to display imperial feet and inches, and milimeters on the same dimension line, or any other two measurement systems you might need.

You should post a copy of the drawing here with proprietry information like company, property owner and address, and the like erased.

Welcome to the forum.

If you enter UNITS at the commandline the DRAWING UNITS dialog box will be opened, and if your drawing was done correctly you will find the INSERTION SCALE, which would tell you what UNITS are being called out by the distance command.

The issue you are dealing with is the reason that ALTERNATE UNITS exist in the DIMENSION STYLE.

The attached image shows a METRIC dimension style displaying MMs with the ALTERNATE UNITS set to also display IMPERIAL decimal style measurements below the dimension line.

Hmm, I shall post part of the drawing. Perhaps I am missing something quite simple. Thanks for responses so far.

plan.dwg

Your drawing has been done on a METRIC template, as evidenced by the default scale list.

The standard dimension style is displaying in feet and inches, and there is an alternate unit set up in the dimension style which displays the measurement in feet, followed by the metric measurement in milliimeters.

If you explode the block, you can see details.

Make a copy before you explode it, in case you need the block.

I don't do architectural, but I would say that if the creator works in Imperial dimensions that the template chosen should have been an IMPERIAL biased one, instead of a METRIC one.

Nonetheless, it all works.

The insertion scale is set to MILLIMETERS, which seems strange, but I believe, correctly so, in light of the fact that the drawing has been done on a metric template.

Thanks Dadgad, Where you say the metric measurement follows in MM, where is that? For example on another drawing in the safe format there is a lift shaft and in the above format the dimensions would be 2'-0 1/2" [622.301] x 1'-4 11/16" [424.48], if that is mm in brackets it sounds way too small.

the measuments in mm are correct 2'-0 1/2" [622.301] x 1'-4 11/16" [424.48] if you are not sure google it and it comes up with 622.30100 millimetres = 2.04166995 feet (2 feet ½ inch)

I see, thanks. The lift door is showing as 274mm wide then, doesn't sound right. are those measurements real time? Apologies I am very new to the architectural side of things.

If the drawing shows that measurement then it could have drawn incorrectly, the only way to be sure is to have a known measurement to be able to check it, there are no dims on the drawing

I have just tried to open it in my MEP 2008 and it is doing something really weird in when i hoover over the drawing other objects (doors etc) show up thats really weird is it like that on your computer ?

I would hazard a guess that the drawing is in decimetre units. As this is an unusual scale, there are no units to set it to.

Internal walls are 1 unit wide. Usually internal walls are 100mm wide. Internal doors are 9.6 units wide which is good for wheel chairs and people.

the plot thickens lol , not really had any problem with things popping up daft vader but I am using cad 07. there is something I forgot to mention, the original format was dxf. would this change anything?

Is the drawing on your computer looking like the one in Dadcad's post, as it is on mine no doors etc showing up ? and the whole drawing a block on layer 0

Ah sorry, see what you mean now. Yeah doors toilets do show up.. there are 5 parts to the drawing set out on multiple floors. Maybe the creator has just drawn over the other stuff.

try upping it again as the dwg is not correctly saved if you are able to see the doors etc

I did a couple of explodes (it's not my drawing), and detail appeared

here is a different floor of the plan, perhaps it is easier to work out dimensions with this drawing. Thanks for all help so far, its proved a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. Ground floor.dxf