3.

Quantity Surveying

By

Tadesse Ayalew

Nov, 2009

Mekelle universityy

1
 Introduction
™ In a civil engineering activity, the owner
promises to pay the contractor an amount
commensurate with the work that he has done.
™ This would then require that the actual works
done be somehow estimated or measured for
payment purposes.

2
 Introduction (cont..)
™ On the other hand to estimate how much a civil
engineering project may cost, the actual quantities
of materials, labor & equipment etc that is needed
for the construction work must be calculated at the
beginning of the work.
™ Such work of calculating the amount of materials
and other incidentals necessary for the realization of
the work is called quantity surveying.

3
 Introduction (cont..)
™ The term "surveying' means to inspect, study,
review, investigate, assess, and hence "to measure"
therefore the term "quantity surveying" means "quantity
measuring" as applied to civil engineering projects.
™ This measurement practice has been standardized over
the years to meet the specific demands of civil
engineering projects.

4
 Introduction (cont..)
™ Quantity surveying is the application of standard
methods of measurement to quantify the amounts of
various items in a construction project, for the
undertaking of valuation, and certifying payments.
™ Such measurements are assumed to give to a
reasonable degree of accuracy of the total quantities in
a building and hence the total estimated cost of a
building.

5
 Take off
™ The quantities that are needed in a work, or the
materials that are going to be incorporated in a
construction activity are first of all read off or "taken
off" from the drawings, in conjunction with the
specifications and other relevant documents.
™ This process of reading drawings and calculating the
amount of materials/work needed is called taking off.

6
 Take off (cont…)
™ These quantities are calculated in a specially prepared
tabular format, as to aid accurate preparation and
enable checking /rechecking or adjusting of amounts
and correcting errors if any.
™ These special formats are called “Take off Sheets'
™ The following
g format shows one sample
p take off sheet.
™ This style of preparing or calculating quantities aids the
clear and concise estimation and revision of calculated
quantities.
7
 Sample Take off Sheets

Item Description No. L B/W D/H Content/ Remark

No
No. quantity

8
Sample Take off Sheets

12 3 4 1 2 3 4 „ Column 1
) Timesing column
„ Column 2
) Dimension column
„ Column 3
) Squaring column
„ Column 4
) Description column

9
 REINFORCMENT BAR SCHEDULE

Length No. of bars No. of Total No.

Dr.No Locations Shape Dia(mm) 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 14mm 16mm 20mm 24mm
(m) Mem
Mem. Mem
Mem. of Bars

Total length

Weight(kg/m) 0.222 0.395 0.617 0.888 1.208 1.578 2.468 3.551

Total weight (kg)

10
 Processes of taking off

™ The process of taking off may be divided into the

following four steps,
)Taking off. the process of measuring or scaling
dimensions from drawings and recording all
dimensions in an easily understood format.
)This is coupled
p with the descriptions
p in the
drawings and specifications.

11
Cont…
) Squaring dimensions, the process of
multiplying , adding , subtracting or dividing the
recorded dimensions for the purpose of obtaining
linear measures, areas, volumes etc
) Billing- the process of collecting and entry into
an accepted format all the measured quantities,
by trade and work type, and filling in the total
amount by multiplying with the unit rates.

12
 Bills of Quantity

Item Description
i i Unit
i Qty Unit
i rate Amount
No.
1) Excavation & earth
work
1.1 Clearing of the top soil
to a depth of 20cm M2 20 5.00 100.00
1.2 Excavation for isolated
Footing M2 10 35.00 350.00
1.3 Bulk excavation M2 12 30.00 360.00

2) Concrete work

21
2.1 5cm thick lean concrete M2 25 10 00
10.00 250.00
2.2 C-25 reinforced concrete M2 15 2000.00 30000.00
13
 Purpose of quantity surveying

The purpose of quantity surveying and hence the

preparation
p epa at o oof b
billss o
of qua
quantities
t t es is;
s;
) Assists the client to have an accurate estimate of the
volume of work as well as the required budgets
) To assist in the accurate preparation of tenders, by
providing a uniform measurement of quantities.
) T give
To i an accurate
t check
h k list
li t off workk accomplished
li h d
) To assist in the certification of payments
) To give insight into the required variation works amounts

14
 Measurement procedures: basic principles

™ The quantity surveying or measuring process has

some basic p
principles
p that act as a g
guide line. Adhering
g
to these principles gives consistent results and is
recommended to be applied in the exercise of such an
activity.
™ The following are a list of the basic Principles of
quantity surveying, applicable to all items of work.

15
Basic principles (cont…)
) Each work section of a bill shall contain a brief
description of the nature and location of work
) Work shall be measured net as fixed in position
) Measure the full work area and adjust
deductions later
) Items which are to be measured by area shall

state the thickness or such other information as

may be appropriate (E.g. Lean concrete,
concrete for ground floor)

16
Rule & methods of measurements of
works

„ Based on technical specifications

and methods of measurement
for construction of buildings
(BaTCoDA, 1991)

17
 General Rules

1. Measurement shall be item wise for the

finished item of work and the description of
eachh item
it shall
h ll be
b h ld on include
held i l d
materials, transport, labor, fabrication,
hoisting tools and plants,
hoisting, plants overheads and
other incidental charges for finishing the
work to the required
q shape,
p , size,, design
g
and specifications.

18
General Rules (cont…)
2. In booking dimensions the order shall be in
the sequences of length, breadth, and
height or depth
3. Same type of work under different
conditions and nature shall be measured
separately under separate item
4. The bill of quantities shall fully describe the
materials,
t i l proportions,
ti andd workmanships
k hi
and accurately represent the work to be
executed.
19
 Principles of units

™ The unit of measurement to be followed in

general is metric.
metric
™ The following units of measurement or
denominations are to be used in as far as
possible
¾ Weight: Kilogram (KG), TON
¾ Length: Meter (m), Centimeter (Cm), Millimeter
(mm)
¾ Capacity: liter (LT)
¾ Number: Number (No)
20
 Guidelines

™ Voluminous, and thick works shall be

taken in cubic unit or volume;
™ Shallow, thin and surface work shall be
t k in
taken i area units;
it
™ Long and thin works shall be taken in
linear or running unit;
™ Pieces work or jjob etc. shall be
enumerated i.e. taken in number.
21
Examples
™ Earthwork
™ Concrete work

™ Concrete ancillaries

™ Masonry work

™ Roof and wall cladding

22 22
 Earthwork
™ Work include: Provide all necessary tools,
equipment and manpower necessary to
satisfactory execute excavation and earthwork.
earthwork
™ Dressing or trimming and leveling or grading,
ramming and consolidation thickness of each
layer etc. shall be described and included in the
item of earthwork.
™ Earthwork of different nature as in excavation in
foundation, in trenches etc and in filling in
plinth in banking etc.
plinth, etc shall be measured under
separate items.
23 23
 Earthwork (Cont…)
„ Measurementt off excavation
M ti or trenches
t h or borrow
b
pits shall be taken for average dimensions. (when
the ground is fairly even)
„ When the ground is very uneven, levels shall be
taken before the start and after the completion of
the earthwork by leveling instrument and the
average depth of excavation or filling shall be
determined from these levels.
levels
„ Earthwork in different kinds of soil as ordinary soil,
hard
a d so
soil,, o
ordinary
d a y rock,
oc , hard
a d rock
oc etc
etc. sshall
a be
classified separately and measured under separate
item. 24
Site Clearance

™Work involved: removal and disposal of

bushes,, vegetation
g and undergrowth
g
™Site clearance shall be measured by area and
shall be understood as includingg trees up
p to
80mm in diameter.

25
 Feeling of trees

™Trees shall be uprooted, racked and disposed

off or deposited
p as directed byy the Engineer.
g
Holes left by stumps and roots shall be filled
with suitable material and compacted to
approvall by
b the
h engineer.
i
™Trees shall be enumerated and identified by
di
diameter.
t

26 26
Removal of Structure

„ Removal of structure shall be measured in

lump sum.
„ If a sufficient description of area or volume
of work is given, unit rate quotations can
b made.
be d

27 27
 Excavation and get out
1.Removal of top soil:
„Top soil shall mean the top 200-300mm depth
layer of soil containing more than 5% organic
material by weight.
„The removal of top p soil shall be measured byy
the area occupied by the work to be placed
on the cleared area.
„Removal of top soil shall be understood as
including the disposal of surplus material or
stock pilling and wheel spreading of top soil at
later stage as directed by the engineer.
engineer
28
 Excavation and get out (Cont…)

2. Excavation in ordinary soil

„ Ordinary soil shall mean material yielding to ordinary

exaction machinery or pick axes.

„ Shall be classified as bulk excavation, pit excavation

and continuous trench excavation.

excavation
„ Excavation shall mean the excavation and get out of

the soil.
„ Excavation in ordinary soil shall be measured by net

volume as the net volume created by the excavation

with deduction made for existing voids.
voids
„ Excavation shall be measured in successive stages of
29
1500mm from starting level.
 Limits of bulk, pit and trench excavation

„ The limits of bulk excavation for the measurement

shall be as shown on the drawings.
„ If not shown,
sho n the limits shall be the surface
s face area
a ea
covered by the permanent structure resting on the
area of bulk excavation plus the working space
allowed
ll d for
f t
trenchh or pit it excavations
ti f
for th
the
foundations of the permanent structure.
„ Working space shall not exceed 500mm on either side
of the limits of the area to be excavated.
„ Pit and trench excavation shall be measured by
adding 250mm to each side of the dimension giving
the surface area of the volume to be excavated.
30 30
 Limits of pit and trench excavation
„ Pit and trench excavation shall be measured by
adding 250mm to each side of the dimension giving
the surface area of the volume to be excavated.

„ The volume of excavation for masonry works buried

i ground
in d and
d requiring
ii no foundation
f d ti bedding
b ddi shall
h ll
be measured by the net volume of buried masonry
and without allowing for any working space.

31 31
 Rock excavation

„ Soft rock shall mean weathered material

which can be excavated using excavators, etc
„ Hard rock shall mean material required the
use of wedges, prismatic tools, blasting to
enable the excavation work to be carried out.
„ Boulders shall mean isolated volume of hard
rock in ordinary soil and soft rock or above
ground less than 0.5m
0 5m3 in volume.
volume

32 32
Rock excavation (Cont…)
„ Rock excavation shall be classified into soft
and hard rock and boulders.
„ The excavation for rock shall be measured in
successive stages of 1500mm.
„ Excavation shall be classified in to bulk, pit,
trench excavation.
„ Th method
The th d off measurementt and d working
ki
space allowance for ordinary soil shall be
equally applicable.
applicable
33
Fill

„ Fill shall be measured as equal to the net

volume of void to be filled and shall be
understood as including the stockpiling and
haulage of material from location of fill.
„ (Spreading, watering, ramming and leveling)

34
 Disposal
™Disposal shall be understood to include stock
pilling, loading, transporting, dumping and
wheel spreading at tip.
™Disposal shall be measured as the net volume
off arising from
f the
h void d created
d by
b theh
excavation less excavated material backfill,
filled and spread within the site or left
stockpiled.

35 35
 Hardcore and stone filler

™Hardcore shall be measured by the area of

the surface on which it is laid if the finished
thickness doesn’t exceed 300mm. Hardcore
and stone filling exceeding 300mm thickness
shall be measured by the volume of void filled
by the hardcore or stone chipping.

36 36
Cast in place concrete
„ Work include: Provide cement, aggregate,
water, admixtures, labor, equipment and tools
for cast in place concrete as required for the
satisfactory installation of the works.
„ Insitu concrete workk shall
h ll be
b understood
d d as
including gauging, mixing, casting in place,
providing construction joint,
joint compaction and
curing.

37 37
 Cast in place concrete (Cont…)
Differentiation shall be made for:
„ Plain and reinforced concrete (framework
measured separately)
„ Below and above grade work

„ Classes of concrete

„ Foundation
F d ti
„ Columns

„ Ground and suspended

p beams and lintels
„ Ground and suspended solid and ribbed slabs

„ Walls

„ Steps,
Steps staircases and landings
„ Grouting and fillings to holes

38
Measurement

™ Cast in place concrete shall be measured by

volume except
p the following:-
g
™ Ribbed slabs measured by area starting
thickness
™ Grouting and filling to holes shall be
enumerated stating sizes
™ Deduction
¾ No deduction shall be made for voids up to

0.25m2 in area.
39 39
Methods of measurement

„ Precast units shall be measured by length or

enumerated stating sizes.
„ Reinforcement if any shall be described and
include in the item or measured separately if
specified.
f d

40 40
 Concrete Ancillaries
„ Concrete ancillaries shall be include expansion
joints in fiber board, plastic material, metal
and other water stops permanently or
temporarily embedded in concrete.

41 41
Methods of measurement

„ Expansion materials, water stops, block outs

etc shall be measured in length or
enumerated stating size and understood as
including removal if material is placed as
temporarily measure only.
only

42 42
 Masonry works

„ Definitions: below grade wall shall mean masonry

to the level of ground floor whether the slab is
resting on the ground or suspended
„ Methods of measurement
„ Masonry work shall be understood to include
shaping, cutting, placing, bonding, tying, wedge
placement, building to ends of other material and
preparation
ti off surface
f f further
for f th finish.
fi i h
„ Reinforcement to masonry wall and concrete in fill
shall be measured separately in accordance with
the methods of measurement in concrete works.
43 43
 Masonry works (Cont…)
¾ Masonry workk shall
M h ll be
b differentiated
diff ti t d for
f material
t i l (class
( l off material)
t i l)
and
ƒ Above and below grade work
ƒ Straight and tapering surfaces
ƒ Face finish (rough dressed stone wall facing, dressed stone wall
facing)
ƒ Mortar type (compo-mortar, cement mortar)
¾ The units of measurements are
ƒ Stone wall by volume
ƒ Stone paving by area specifying the thickness
ƒ Brick and block wall by area specifying thickness
¾ D d i
Deductions
ƒ No deductions shall be made in masonry work for opening up to
44
0.25m2 in area.
 Roof and Wall cladding
¾ Work measured by area shall be measured flat over the
projected area without addition for slopes, laps and beams
¾ Work measured by length shall be measured net without
addition for laps, passing, angles and the like.
¾ The following shall be understood as include:
ƒ Perforating
g and sealing
g roof around p
pipes,
p , stands and the like
ƒ Nailing, bolting, screwing and the like to fix roofing and
accessories
¾ Battens, joints, runners, wedges, and splices in wood
¾ C
Coverings
i li t back
lists, b k supports,
t brackets
b k t and d other
th supports t to
t
roof and accessories
¾ Cutting, waste, bracing, trimming, boring, sinking, jointing the
like
¾ Returns to gutters, down pipes flashing and aprons
45 45
 Measurement

„ Roof cover, side cladding, water proofing and the like shall be
measured by area
„ Rigdes flashing,
Rigdes, flashing aprons,
aprons down pipes,
pipes gutters and the like be
measured by length stating girth
„ Roof lights, ventilators, special roofing sheets shall be
measured byy area, length g or enumerate extra over roofing g
without deduction for roofing
„ Gutter and down pipes shall be measured by length taken
along the center line and shall be deemed to include supports,
brackets and fittings.
fittings The development size shall be given
„ Insulation shall be measured by area where not described as
a composite item
„ Rain water spout shall be enumerated stating the size and
length
46 46
Thank you!

47