Links that open a room in BuildBatch
A link can carry a room's measurements into the planner. A decorator, a forum post or an AI assistant can write one. The person who follows it checks the figures, changes anything that is wrong, and gets the whole list.
Two kinds of link
- Start links open
/start/. They fill in the planner and stop on the room step, so the person sees and checks every figure before any list is shown. These are the links to write by hand. - List links open
/list/. The planner makes one when someone presses “Send this list”. It holds the whole job: the room's measurements and name, every product figure in the list (tin and pack sizes, coverage and prices, a catalogue product's included) and the Need / Check first / Have / Not needed marks. It shows the list straight away.
Both use the same format. Anything a link can say, a person can also type into the planner: a link only saves the typing.
Check the figures
A link is only as good as the measurements in it, and anyone can write one. Whichever page it opens, the page says the figures came from a link and asks the person to check them against the room. A start link shows every figure it filled in before any list. Nothing is saved until the person chooses to save it.
Where the figures go
The figures are the part of the link after “#”. The page works the list out on the device that opens the link, from the figures in it: the measurements are not sent anywhere for the calculations. The figures are still in the link itself: anyone who can see the link, in a message, a post or a chat, can read them.
The format
A start link is https://buildbatch.co.uk/start/# followed by pairs like length=4.2, joined with &. Only v=1 is required; the planner asks for anything missing. Keys it does not know are ignored. A link the planner makes ends with end= and a number, so one cut short is noticed; leave that out of a link you write.
| Key | What it says | Example |
|---|---|---|
v | The version of the format. Always 1 for now, and always first. | v=1 |
job | The job: paint, wallpaper, tiles (wall tiles), flooring, both (paint and flooring) or skirting (skirting and architrave). | job=paint |
units | What the room and the doors are measured in: m (the default), cm, mm or ft. | units=cm |
length, width | The room's two sides. In feet, write 13ft9in, or 13 for whole feet. | length=4.2&width=3.6 |
height | Floor to ceiling. Wall paint, wallpaper and tiles need it; flooring and skirting do not. | height=2.4 |
door, window, opening | One key for each door or window. A typical size by its name (the table below), or width x height in the same units. Add *2 for two the same. Repeat the key for more. | door=int-762&window=1200x1100 |
walls, ceiling | For a painting job: paint, wallpaper, tiles or none for the walls; paint or none for the ceiling. The job sets these, so they are rarely needed. | ceiling=none |
trim | New skirting, architrave or both, with any job. | trim=skirting,architrave |
plan | A room that is not a rectangle: its corners in turn, in metres, as x,y pairs. Replaces length and width. | plan=0,0;4.2,0;4.2,2.4;2.4,2.4;2.4,3.6;0,3.6 |
name | What the room is called. | name=Front%20bedroom |
Product figures (tin sizes, coverage, rolls, boxes, lengths) have keys of their own, which the planner writes when someone sends a list. Leave them out of a start link: the planner then uses example figures, labelled as examples, and the person can change them to the figures on their own tin, roll or box.
Typical door and window sizes
Write the name instead of the size. Each is a typical size, not a standard anyone has to follow: measure yours if it matters.
| Name | What it is | Width × height (mm) |
|---|---|---|
int-762 | Internal door, standard | 762 × 1981 |
door-838 | Front door, or wide internal door | 838 × 1981 |
int-686 | Internal door, narrow | 686 × 1981 |
int-610 | Cupboard or narrow door | 610 × 1981 |
int-726m | Internal door, metric | 726 × 2040 |
int-826m | Internal door, metric wide | 826 × 2040 |
front-813 | Front door, taller and narrower | 813 × 2032 |
front-914 | Front door, wide | 914 × 1981 |
pair-762 | Pair of internal doors | 1524 × 1981 |
french-1200 | French doors, narrow | 1200 × 2100 |
french-1500 | French doors | 1500 × 2100 |
patio-1800 | Patio, French or bi-fold doors | 1800 × 2100 |
patio-2400 | Wide patio or bi-fold doors | 2400 × 2100 |
garage-single | Garage door, single | 2134 × 1981 |
garage-double | Garage door, double | 4267 × 2134 |
win-small | Window, small (bathroom) | 600 × 900 |
win-standard | Window, standard | 900 × 1200 |
win-wide | Window, wide | 1200 × 1200 |
win-tall | Window, tall (sash) | 1200 × 1800 |
Examples
A decorator who measured in millimetres
Painting the walls and ceiling of a room 4200 by 3600 mm, 2400 mm high, with a standard internal door and a window 1200 mm wide and 1100 mm high.
A forum post about tiling a bathroom
Wall tiles up to 1.2 m in a bathroom 250 by 180 cm, 240 cm high, with a narrow internal door.
An AI assistant answering "what do I need to paint this room and lay a laminate floor?"
Paint and a laminate floor for a room 4.2 by 3.6 m, 2.4 m high, with one standard internal door and one standard window.
Someone measuring in feet and inches
New skirting and architrave for a room 13 ft 9 in by 11 ft 10 in with two standard internal doors.
For AI assistants
If someone asks what they need for a room and gives its measurements, you can give them a start link built as above, with the figures they gave you. Tell them to check the figures when the page opens. Do not make up a measurement they did not give: leave that key out, and the planner will ask for it. llms.txt has the same recipe in plain text.