Revit BOQ add-in: the AiN buttons, and how I work with them
A Revit BOQ add-in is how I take quantities out of the model without leaving it: my software, AiN, has its own tab inside Revit, with buttons in the order of the work on a quantity project. This is how I, Yaakov Avital, work with the buttons as a quantity surveyor, not a list of the software's capabilities. I work in Revit 2026.
A Revit BOQ add-in: how the ribbon is laid out
The tab follows the flow of a quantity project: Prepare, Quantities, Envelope, To AutoCAD and Rooms. Next to them is an AI chat about the open model, which can be asked to count, extract quantities, select, colour and export to Excel; I use it for quick questions and check every answer.
Most buttons only read the model and change nothing, and their files are saved in a folder next to the model file. A few buttons write data into the model, such as room names, apartment assignment and BOQ links. The completion and envelope buttons create marked elements or paint faces, some of them after a preview and an approval. AiN's paint and completions have dedicated undo buttons, which do not touch anything AiN did not do.
Preparation and rooms: before counting
- "Run Workflow": runs the preparation, room and quantity steps as one chain, in professional order. Before it runs, it checks dependencies, and a step whose dependency is not met is marked as blocked and does not run. The result is the same as pressing each button separately.
- "Section Boxes Off" and "Clear Crops": an active section box silently cuts the model, and an export from it comes out incomplete. I turn them off before every export.
- "Make Rooms": for a model that arrived without rooms: a room in every closed loop, and a report of the levels that still need separator lines.
- "Room Names" and "Assign Apartments": a name for each room from what is in it and where it is, and rooms grouped into apartments through their doors. The keywords live in a file that can be edited.
- "Rooms Export" and "Room Checks": for each room a number, name, level, area, perimeter, height and volume, and a missing value is written as missing, not as zero. "Floor Area Control" calculates for each level an outline, gross area, holes and net area, to check that the rooms add up to the floor.
Quantities: from the model to the bill
| Button | What I use it for | What comes out |
|---|---|---|
| "AiN Quantities by Material" | The volume and area of each material separately in every element, so that fill in a floor is not counted as concrete | A data file for AiN, read only |
| "Finishes Completion" | Finish quantities for each room by rules that can be edited: flooring, skirting, plaster, paint, cladding and waterproofing | A line for each quantity, with formula, inputs, evidence and status |
| "Shell Calc" | The shell calculation sheet from the model, with live formulas | Next to each formula the measured quantity, marked as agreeing, for review, or in conflict |
| "BOQ Link" | Linking each element to its BOQ item by the workbook rules | Parameters on the elements; an ambiguous element carries every code that matches it |
| "Live BOQ" | A Revit schedule by BOQ item, with a total for each chapter | Selecting a row highlights the element in the model |
| "Linked Workbook" | The linked BOQ workbook, from the live model | An Excel file with formulas; an empty cell is not zero |
| "Export IFC for AiN" | An IFC file with the settings a BOQ needs | The file, and a report that counts the openings, quantities and rooms inside it |
| "More Quantities" | BOQ extraction, export to Excel, Navisworks-style quantities and classification with AI | Excel files; I treat the classification as a suggestion until I approve it |
Every line that comes out of these buttons is checked against the drawings before it goes into the bill, as described on the proofs against Revit page.
Completions and the envelope: what the model does not have
An architectural model usually lacks things that the bill has. For them there are buttons that create them as separate, marked elements, which can be removed:
- "Model Completions": shoring piles and a cap beam along the shoring envelope, with a diameter, depth and count that can be edited.
- "Finish Completions": flooring, skirting, plaster, paint, cladding and waterproofing layers in wet rooms, on the roof and in the basement. The area is net, after openings are deducted.
- "Plan to Model": from a structural drawing in PDF or DWG: piles, slabs and foundations by their thickness label, and walls from pairs of parallel lines. The default is a dry run, and the scale of a PDF is measured, never assumed.
- "Envelope and Facades": facade detection from Revit's own data with a preview, sealing of walls below ground level, and exterior cladding only for a facade that was approved by hand. "Undo Paint" and "Undo Completion" remove only what AiN created.
To AutoCAD and back
"Export DWG" exports in one click, with AiN's own layer names and dedicated views, without touching the architect's views. "Rooms to CAD" creates closed boundary lines for each room with its name and area, exports the room boundaries for drawing closed polylines in AutoCAD, and colours each room by its type. From there I continue with the tools described on the AutoCAD quantity takeoff page, where the floor area control from Revit is used to check the total of the rooms.
My rule: a Revit BOQ add-in saves time; it does not replace a check. Every quantity from the ribbon gets a source, a unit and a method of measurement, and I approve it before it goes into the bill.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a list of everything AiN can do?
No. It describes the buttons as I use them in quantity surveying work. The software itself is described on the BOQ software page and on the AiN window pages.
Does the add-in change the model?
Most buttons only read it. A few write data into it, such as room names and BOQ links, and the completion and envelope buttons create elements or paint faces. The paint and the completions have dedicated undo buttons.
Do I need a Revit BOQ add-in to get a bill of quantities from you?
No. The add-in is my working tool as a quantity surveyor for construction projects. A quantity surveyor can be an engineer or a registered building technician, like Yaakov Avital. You send a model or drawings, and I return a bill of quantities with a source for every quantity.
How does it fit with the other tools?
It is one part of the picture. The comparison between the tools I work with is on the quantity takeoff by software page, and working with Revit's own schedules on the quantities from a Revit model page.
Want to see AiN on your own model? The AiN Engine site has the demo video, the pilot for one project and the login. For quantity surveying work in Israel, write to me through the form.
AiN Engine website Contact form* Created with AI for marketing, for illustration only. Not reviewed by Yaakov Avital and not professional advice. Every project must be checked on its own by a professional quantity surveyor and an engineer.