Bill of Quantities

An itemized list of materials, parts, and labor (with their costs) required to
construct, maintain, or repair a specific structure.
A bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document used in tendering in the construction
industry in which materials, parts, and labor (and their costs) are itemized. It also
(ideally) details the terms and conditions of the construction or repair contract and
itemizes all work to enable a contractor to price the work for which he or she is
bidding.
Bills of quantities are prepared by quantity surveyors and building estimators, and
Indeed the bill of quantities was the raison detre for the development of quantity
surveying as a separate profession..[1]

Bills of quantities are prepared by a taking off in which the cost of a building or
other structure is estimated from measurements in the Architects, Structural
Engineers, and other building consultants drawings. These are used to create a
cost estimate such as in regard to the square area in meters of walls and roofs,
the numbers of doors and windows, and systems as heating, plumbing and
electrics. Similar types of work are then brought together under one item, a process
known as "abstracting".

Estimating books provide the relevant costs of the materials and labour costs of the
operations or trades used in construction. As the rates for materials and labour
change due to inflation, these books are frequently republished.

The practice historically of estimating building costs in this way arose from noncontractual measurements, taken off drawings to assist tenderers in quoting lump
sum prices.

There are different styles of bills of quantities, mainly the Elemental BOQ and
Trade Bills.
A Contingency sum is an item found within a Bill of quantities (BoQ).

The item refers to unforeseeable cost likely to be incurred during the contract.

There are two types of contingency sum. The first refers to a specific item i.e.
'additional alterations to services when installing said shower unit'; where an item
for alterations to existing services is not contained within the BoQ but some work is
envisaged.

The second type of sum is where money can be allocated to any item, within the
BoQ, in the same way as the above example or used as 'additional work to be
undertaken by the contractor, at the request of the contract administrator'.

The first is usually approximated by the clients PQS and the second by the
contractors QS (or commercial manager).

Additional requirements is referred as Bill of materials (BOM).

Bills of quantities compounds labour and material costs by combining them into a
single rate that is then adjusted in regards to material quantities. They also do not
consider all the main costs incurred by contractors such as construction plant,
temporary works, and payments made on an interim basis in regard to work
completed. Thus they do not actually model real costs. An alternative form of cost
document that accounts for these costs was developed at Building Research
Establishment and called an operational bill.[2][3][4]

Bills of quantities may prevent contractors from developing effective cost control
systems.[5]
They impair transparency in regard to changes and costs It has suggested that the
reason why bills of quantity still find favour with contractors is the opportunity it
provides for creating a smoke screen around the contractor's original intentions.
Thus, front end loading may go undetected, and new rates may be negotiated
almost from scratch
Preparing BILLS OF QUANTITIES
It is very important that bills of quantities are prepared according to a standard,
widely recognised methodology. This helps avoid any ambiguities or
misunderstandings and so helps avoid disputes arising through different
interpretations of what has been priced. In the UK, bills of quantities for general
construction works were until most commonly prepared in accordance with the
Standard Method of Measurement, currently in its 7th Edition (SMM7). However, a
new standard, the New Rules of Measurement became operative on 1 January
2013 and replaced SMM7 on 1st July 2013.
NB Other methods of measurement are used for civil engineering works (Civil
Engingineering Method of Measurement) currently in its 3rd Edition (CESMM).
SMM7 adopted the Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS), a standard
method for categorising the works (see the Construction Project Information
Committee (CPIC)). This is also the categorisation of work that is used for the
National Building Specification (nbs):
A - Preliminaries and general conditions.
B - Complete buildings, structures and units.
C - Existing site, buildings and services.
D - Groundwork.

E - In situ concrete and large precast concrete.

F - Masonry.
G - Structural carcassing, metal and timber.
H - Cladding and covering.
J - Waterproofing.
K - Linings, sheathing and dry partitioning.
L - Windows, doors and stairs.
M - Surface finishes.
N - Furniture and equipment.
P - Building fabric sundries.
Q - Paving, planting, fencing and site furniture.
R - Disposal systems.
S - Piped supply systems.
T - Mechanical heating, cooling and refrigeration systems.
U - Ventilation and air conditioning systems.
V - Electrical systems.
W - Communications, security, safety and protection systems.
X - Transport systems.
Y - General engineering services.
Z - Building fabric reference specification.
However, this system is currently undergoing considerable change, with CAWS
being incorporated into Uniclass, and Uniclass being replaced with Uniclass2 (see
Uniclass for more information). In addition, NRM has moved away from the

Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS) to adopt its own system of

indexing (see NRM2 for more information).
Bills of quantities can be prepared elementally or in works packages, by a process
of 'taking off' which involves identifying elements of construction works that can be
measured and priced. See Taking off for more information.
Bills of quantities are most useful to the contractor when they are prepared in work
sections that reflect likely sub-contract packages. This makes it easier for the
contractor to obtain prices from sub-contractors and is more likely to result in an
accurate and competitive price.
The bill of quantities should identify the different kinds of work required, but should
not specify them as this can lead to confusion between information in the bill of
quantities and information in the specification itself.
Disputes can occur where there is discrepancy between the bill of quantities and
the rest of the tender documents (for example where an item is included in the
drawings and specification but not in the bill of quantities), or where there has
been an arithmetical error. Generally the priced bill of quantities will take precedent,
and the client will be responsible for their own errors or omissions, which may be
classified as relevant events (or compensation events) giving rise to claims for an
extension of time and loss and expense. However if an ambiguity or error is
noticed by the contractor during the tender process, it is best practice for them to
tell the client, even if there may be some commercial advantage to them not doing
so.
Increasingly, software packages are available to assist in the preparation of
preparation of bills of quantities, and building information modelling systems can be
used to produce bills of quantities from information already contained within the
model.
Bills of quantities are normally only prepared on larger projects. On smaller
projects, or for alteration work the contractor can be expected to measure their own
quantities from drawings and schedules of work. Schedules of work are 'without
quantities' instructional lists that allow the contractor to identify significant work and

materials that will be needed to complete the works and to calculate the quantities
that will be required.

An approximate bill of quantities (or notional bill of quantities) can be used on

projects where it is not possible to prepare a firm bill of quantities at the time of
tendering, for example if the design is relatively complete, but exact quantities are
not yet known. However this will tend to result in more variations during
construction and so less price certainty when the investment decision is made.
Some contracts allows for re-measurement of approximate quantities (for example,
this is common on cut and fill on roadworks). Here, quantities are simply revised
and payments made accordingly without the need to instruct a variation.
If an approximate quantity turns out not to have been a realistic estimate of the
quantity actually required, this may constitute a relevant event giving rise to claims
for an extension of time and loss and expense.
Approximate bills of quantities can also be used during the design process as a
tool for controlling design. They are then sometimes included in the tender
documents as a guide with a caveat stating that responsibility for measuring
quantities lies with the contractor, and drawings and specifications take priority over
any description in the approximate bills (see Approximate quantities cost plan).
A bill of materials or Product structure (sometimes bill of material' or BOM) is a list
of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components,
parts and the quantities of each needed to manufacture an end product. A BOM
may be used for communication between manufacturing partners, or confined to a
single manufacturing plant.

A BOM can define products as they are designed (engineering bill of

materials), as they are ordered (sales bill of materials), as they are built
(manufacturing bill of materials), or as they are maintained (service bill of materials
or pseudo bill of material). The different types of BOMs depend on the business
need and use for which they are intended. In process industries, the BOM is also

known as the formula, recipe, or ingredients list. In electronics, the BOM represents
the list of components used on the printed wiring board or printed circuit board.
Once the design of the circuit is completed, the BOM list is passed on to the PCB
layout engineer as well as component engineer who will procure the components
required for the design.