Work package bill of quantities
A bill of quantities (sometimes referred to as a 'BoQ' or 'BQ') is a document, typically prepared by a cost consultant (often a quantity surveyor), that provides measured quantities of the items of work identified by the drawings and specifications in the tender documentation for a project. It is issued to tenderers to allow them to prepare a price for carrying out the works.
According to NRM2, RICS new rules of measurement, Detailed measurement for building work, there are three main breakdown structures for bill of quantities:
- Elemental bill of quantities.
- Work package bill of quantities.
- Work section bill of quantities.
The work package breakdown structure undertakes measurement and description divided into employer, quantity surveyor or contractor defined work packages (based either on a specific-trade, or a single package comprising a number of different trades). This structure may be preferred by contractors for procuring from their supply chain.
NRM 2 suggests that a typical breakdown structure for a discrete work package might be:
- Bill No. 1: Main contractor’s preliminaries.
- Bill No. 2: Intrusive investigations.
- Bill No. 3: Demolition works.
- Bill No. 4: Groundworks.
- Bill No. 5: Piling.
- Bill No. 6: Concrete works.
- Bill No. 7: Roof coverings and roof drainage.
- Bill No. 8: External and internal structural walls.
- Bill No. 9: Cladding.
- Bill No. 10: Windows and external doors.
- Bill No. 11: Mastic.
- Bill No. 12: Non-structural walls and partitions.
- Bill No. 13: Joinery.
- Bill No. 14: Suspended ceilings.
- Bill No. 15: Architectural metalwork.
- Bill No. 16: Tiling.
- Bill No. 17: Painting and decorating.
- Bill No. 18: Floor coverings.
- Bill No. 19: Fittings, furnishings and equipment.
- Bill No. 20: Combined mechanical and electrical engineering services.
- Bill No. 21: Lifts and escalators.
- Bill No. 22: Facade access equipment.
- Bill No. 23: External works and drainage.
- Bill No. 24: Risks.
- Bill No. 25: Provisional sums.
- Bill No. 26: Credits.
- Bill No. 27: Daywork (Provisional).
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Advantages of a bill of quantities.
- Approximate bill of quantities.
- Bill of quantities.
- Bill of quantities breakdown structures.
- Bill of quantities software.
- Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS).
- Common mistakes in bill of quantities.
- Comparison of SMM7 with NRM2.
- Elemental bill of quantities.
- Facade access equipment.
- Firm bill of quantities.
- How to take off construction works.
- Measurement.
- NRM1.
- NRM2.
- NRM3.
- Schedule of rates.
- Standard Method of Measurement (SMM7).
- Taking off.
- Tender.
- Tender documentation.
- Tender pricing document.
- Types of bill of quantities.
- Uniclass.
- Work section bill of quantities.
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