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[bavspaceprogram]

Whenever I try to build something (anything), I get the message "needs building material non-economic item." At first I thought that for some reason I was ill-prepared, but then I realized I had plenty of materials. I have no idea what is going on, and it's completely blocking me from progressing. Any help would be appreciated.

[Urist McRas]

Is there a path from where your material is to where you want to build something?

If your material is ore or flux, check if you have allowed to use it ([z]-Stone)

If you build something like magma forge, check if you have magma-safe material.

[Garath]

Above post has most of what I thought of, so pay attention to it 

[Finn]

New players often don't know that some of the spaces in a workshop are not passable.  If you build your workshops in tiny rooms you will find that your dwarves cannot path into or out of them.

[bavspaceprogram]

It's not that they can't get to a location to build it, it's that it doesn't even let me try. It just tells me I need a building material. I don't have a placement option at all.

[Ianflow]

It's not that they can't get to a location to build it, it's that it doesn't even let me try. It just tells me I need a building material. I don't have a placement option at all.

Are you by chance, trying to make a 2nd floor to something? Building up perhaps?

[bavspaceprogram]

No. I'm only trying to place a wood furnace.

[Ianflow]

No. I'm only trying to place a wood furnace.

Weird.
I had a big problem every time I tried to build upwards.
I soon learned I needed stairs of the up or up/down nature, that were built right.

[bavspaceprogram]

I just completely redownloaded the game and I still can't build anything. I'm fairly new, so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

[Sutremaine]

What materials do you have? Furnaces require fire-safe materials, and magma buildings require magma-safe materials.

[FrankMcFuzz]

I just completely redownloaded the game and I still can't build anything. I'm fairly new, so I'm guessing I'm doing something wrong.

If you want to start fresh, you can just delete the region folder in the save folder.

[vanatteveldt]

No. I'm only trying to place a wood furnace.

It has been stated in this thread, but let me try to rephrase: a furnace requires a fire-safe material, usually stone. So, you can't build a furnace until you've dug into the stone layer. The solution is probably to dig down until you find a stone layer (anything not called sand, clay, silt, loam or peat). Dig out some room in there and you will see boulders appearing of the stone material. Once you see a boulder, you should be able to build your furnace.

To dig down, you need a 'down stair' on the surface, and up/down stairs on all other levels.

(The error message "need non-economic item" refers to the fact that some stones such as gems, ores, and coal, are designated "economic" stones and will not be used for building by default. http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Stone has a list of the non-economic stones.)

[Garath]

in the first post you mention not being able to build anything at all. Does that include a wall? Which materials do you have available as building materials? Did you try different places, different z-levels?

the more info, the better we can help

So far it still seems like no access