Admeasurement
Civil Engineering Procedure 7th Edition, published by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2016, suggests that admeasurement is the ‘…apportioning of quantities or costs’.
The term ‘admeasurement’ is thought to have originated in the ICE Conditions of Contract measurement clauses, where it referred to establishing the difference between the final quantity of work carried out and the quantity originally anticipated.
There is a subtle difference between admeasurement and remeasurement, in that remeasurement refers to the entire process of measuring again the quantities of work undertaken, whereas admeasurement refers only to the difference between the estimated quantity and the actual quantity.
Admeasurement contracts are commonly used on civil engineering projects.
Rates are provided in the contractor’s tender, either as part of the priced bill of quantities, or within a schedule of rates. Then the actual quantities of work carried out are measured and the rates applied to those quantities. The contractor is paid for the actual work they have done. As a result, the quantities paid for may vary from the original estimates.
This is common in situations where the type of works required can be described in reasonable detail, but the amount cannot. For example, excavation works where the quantity of excavation required is difficult to assess until after the works have begun.
Where there is just a schedule of rates, rather than a bill of quantities, approximate quantities may be provided to allow the contractor to estimate the amount of work required, but there is no guarantee that that quantity will be required, and so appropriate rates are sometimes difficult to determine.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
Featured articles and news
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.