What a BOQ is for
Without a bill, five contractors pricing the same drawings measure five slightly different jobs and the tenders can't be compared fairly. With a bill, the quantities are fixed and each tenderer only puts in rates. That makes the tenders easy to compare line by line, gives a priced document for valuing variations later, and forms the basis of interim valuations during the job.
Bills are used on most traditional lump-sum contracts (JCT Standard Building Contract With Quantities, for example). On smaller jobs a contractor often makes their own bill from the drawings to price the work, even when the client hasn't supplied one.
How NRM2 structures a bill
NRM2, the RICS rules for detailed measurement of building works, sets out what goes in a bill and how each item is measured. A typical bill has these parts:
- Preliminaries. The contractor's site costs that aren't tied to one item: site set-up, management and staff, welfare, scaffolding, temporary works, insurances.
- Measured work. The bulk of the bill, grouped into work sections (substructure, masonry, roof coverings, windows and doors, finishes and so on). Each item has a description, a quantity measured net from the drawings, and a unit: m, m², m³, nr, t or item.
- Provisional sums. Money for work that can't be fully described yet. A defined provisional sum is for work whose nature and extent are known enough for the contractor to allow for programme and preliminaries; an undefined one isn't.
- Risks and contingencies. Allowances for known risks the client keeps, and a general contingency.
- Dayworks. Percentage additions on labour, materials and plant for work valued at cost, usually based on the RICS definition of prime cost.
- Overheads and profit. Often added as a percentage at the end, or included in the rates.
Quantities are measured net, as fixed in place. The contractor allows for waste, laps and working space in their rates, not in the quantities.
A worked example
Five items from the substructure and masonry sections of a small single-storey extension, priced by a contractor:
| Item | Description | Qty | Unit | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Excavate foundation trench, max depth 1.0 m, disposal off site | 11.2 | m³ | £48.00 | £537.60 |
| 1.2 | Mass concrete foundation, C25/30, poured against earth | 8.4 | m³ | £165.00 | £1,386.00 |
| 2.1 | Blockwork, 100 mm dense blocks, cement mortar 1:6, below DPC | 14 | m² | £42.50 | £595.00 |
| 2.2 | Facing brickwork, half brick outer leaf, stretcher bond | 32.5 | m² | £96.00 | £3,120.00 |
| 2.3 | Cavity wall ties, stainless steel, 2.5 per m² | 82 | nr | £0.85 | £69.70 |
| Section total | £5,708.30 |
Every amount is simply quantity × rate. The client's quantity surveyor can compare each tenderer's rate for, say, facing brickwork, and the same rates price any variation: if the outer leaf grows by 4 m², that's 4 × £96.00 = £384.00 extra.
Free BOQ template
The template follows the structure above, with sections for preliminaries, measured work, provisional sums, dayworks and a summary. Amount columns are formulas (quantity × rate) and the section totals and summary add themselves up.
- Download the BOQ template for Excel (.xlsx)
- Download it as a CSV file (no formulas, opens in anything)
For measuring quantities from PDF drawings, Takeoff Studio measures lengths, areas and counts straight from the plan. Metre2 BOQ builds and prices the bill itself, and Quote Comparison puts subcontractor quotes side by side against your bill.
Who writes a bill of quantities?
On larger projects the client's quantity surveyor (a cost consultant) prepares it during the tender stage, from the architect's and engineer's drawings and specification. On design and build or smaller jobs the contractor's estimator often measures their own quantities. Either way it takes someone who knows the measurement rules: a mistake in a quantity is priced by every tenderer and usually becomes a variation later.