Free Egress Macro + Production Macro Systems (Area, Openings, Framing, Labels)

[HetrickDesign]

 

Hey fellow Chief users,

 

Over the past year I’ve been developing and refining a set of macros that I use daily in my production work. The goal has been to reduce manual checking, improve consistency, and automate repetitive tasks directly inside Chief. I wanted to share one that might be useful here.

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Free Macro – Egress Check

This macro helps quickly identify whether window openings meet egress requirements and flags potential issues directly in your schedules. It’s something I use regularly to avoid manual verification and catch problems early.

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Production Macro Systems (For Sale)

I’ve also built out a larger set of macros that expand on this idea and handle real-world edge cases in plan sets.

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Area & Estimating System

• CAD-based area polylines tied to macros
• Automatic area classification (living, garage, exterior, etc.)
• Area values feed directly into schedules
• Square-foot rate calculations for estimating
• Clean, formatted area summary and cost output

 

This allows fast, repeatable area takeoffs and is especially useful for designers/drafters pricing work by square footage.

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Openings Compliance Pack

• Egress + net clear checks
• Tempered glass flags
• Glazing & venting area calculations
• Mulled unit awareness

  

 

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Framing Intelligence Pack

• Header sizing display
• Ply count and build-up logic
• Engineered vs dimensional handling
• Window/door header labeling

    

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Labeling & Annotation Pack

• Clean room labels with finished ceiling height (ft/in)
• Opening size formatting
• Panel and slider logic
• Niche sizing tools

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These are all tools I’ve developed and refined through real production use and a lot of trial and error.

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Availability

Comment or message me directly if you want the free egress macro. If there’s further interest, I’ve packaged these into sets and can share details on pricing and setup.

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Feedback

If you try the free macro, I’d definitely appreciate any feedback — always looking to improve these.

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Thanks

 

Edited 3 hours ago by HetrickDesign
Spelling error/image update