Measurement of Works

QUANTITY SURVEYING
UNIT-3: ESTIMATION & COSTING–

MEASUREMENT OF WORKS
1 CHICAGO INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING, UAE

Estimating & Costing
Measurement
 . of civil works includes the billing of each trade of work either from drawings
or the building itself for defining the extent of works under each trade.
Specification Worksheet (BOQ form)
It is the format which is used in a bill of quantity to list (include) a short description of
the specification along with its measuring unit, quantity and unit prices to determine
the total cost for each trade of item.

Estimating & Costing………
 Example A typical building project will have the following work items.

 The principal use of the bills of quantities is to obtain competitive tenders and for this
purpose bills of quantities should be prepared to a recognised Method of
Measurement to standardise the bills.
 Bills of quantities, prepared in accordance with a Standard Method of Measurement,
fully describe and accurately represent the works to be executed and this provides a
uniform basis for competitive tendering.
 During the construction of the project the client and the contractor use the bills as the
basis for financial management.
 The bills of quantities are in use to the construction team for different purposes at
different stages and it is used in different ways. They are as follows:
To or by the Client
(a). The priced bills of quantities provide statistical information on project.
(b). A reasonable contract sum can be obtained through competitive tendering.
(c). It provides the basis for the preparation of cash flow during the construction
 To or by the Client’s/Consultant’s Quantity Surveyor
(a). Cost Analysis is prepared from priced bills of quantities and used to estimate
the future projects.
(b). Priced bills of quantities used for Interim Valuation.
(c). Priced bills form the basis on which the final account is settled.
(d). Bill rates provide a good basis for valuing variations.
(e). Used for negotiating further contract. It may be a separate or a continuation
contract.
 To or by the Contractor or his Quantity Surveyor
(a). Provides a uniform basis for pricing of competitive tenders.
(b). Used to calculate the quantity of materials.
(c). Use for the preparation of the cash flow.
(d). Use to prepare the construction programme.
(e). Provides a good basis for the settlement of Domestic Sub-contractors’ claims.
To or by the Clerks of Works
(a). Use to control the quality of materials and standards of workmanship.
 Production of bills of quantities
There are several techniques of preparing Bills of Quantities. The most important
techniques in current use are as follows:
(a). Traditional Method. (This method is also known as the Group System or London
Method).
This system provides the “taker off” with a logical system of measurement designed
to promote accurate and efficient taking off. The work is measured in series of
groups, each representing a particular section of the building without regard to the
order in which items will finally appear in the bill. As the sequence of measurement is
not related to the order of the bill the “working up” process must involve the
preparation of an abstract to collect and arrange the items in the order necessary for
writing the draft bill.

 (b). Billing Direct. (This method is also known as Trade-by-Trade System or Northern
Method).
This method involves “taking off” by trades, in order of billing, without the necessity
for an abstract and transfers the measured items from the dimension sheets to the
bill direct. Each item is taken off as a separate entity in the order in which it will
eventually be billed including all relevant deductions thereby reducing time and
lowering costs of preparing bills of quantities. This system is suitable when the work
is relatively straightforward and the number of items limited.

 Bills of Quantities may consist some or all of the followings:
Bill Nr. 1. Preliminaries.
Bill Nr. 2. Preambles.
Bill Nr. 3. Measured Works
(a). Carcass - I. Foundations (Substructure)
ll. Frame (Columns & Beams)
lll. External & Internal Walls
lV. Partitions
V. Floors
Vl. Roofs
(b). Finishing –
I. External & Internal Finishing (Walls, Floors & Ceilings) II. Windows
III. Doors including openings without joinery
IV. Fixtures & Sundries
V. Stairs & Lifts
VI. Plumbing & Engineering Services
(c). External Works –
I. Drainage
II. Roads, Paths, Site Layouts, Outbuildings etc.
(d). Spot Items - These items are alteration and repair items of a building.
Bill Nr. 4. Provisional Quantities
Bill Nr. 5. Prime Cost & Provisional Sums
Bill Nr. 6. Contingency Sums
Bill Nr. 7. General Summary
 Principles of measurement practices

 For the measurement, quantity surveyor using by following stationeries this are
called as surveyor’s stationeries.
 Query sheet Size- A4
 To get the missing dimensions missing on plan from the Architect.
Query Answer
Architect`s Signature

There are four clearly defined steps in preparation of Bill of Quantities:

1. Taking off
2. Squaring
3. Abstracting
4. Writing the final Bill of Quantity
Taking off
This is the process of preparing /defining a detailed list of all labour
and materials necessary for the work and entering the items on
properly dimensioned paper.
The standard form used for entering the dimensions taken or scaled
from drawings to determine the accurate quantity in each trade of
work, except reinforcement steel, is called Take Off Sheet or
Dimension Paper.
The dimension paper used for taking off is usually double –ruled as
shown (A4 size).

Squaring:
The dimensions entered in Column 2 are squared or cubed as the case may
be, multiplied by the timising factor, and the result entered in Column 3. This
task is called squaring. All squared dimensions should be carefully checked by
another person before abstracting, and if correct the item should be ticked
with red. Use two decimal places.
Abstracting:
The squared dimensions are transferred to abstract sheets and all similar
dimensions are collected in the same category to obtain the total quantity of
each item.
Writing the Final Bill
After the abstract sheets have been completed and checked, the final bill of
quantity is written. The dimensions are copied from the abstracts, and as each
item is transferred it should be ticked by a vertical line from the abstract
sheets. The description of each item in the final BoQ should be short, precise
and descriptive as per the specification.

•The ruling of dimension paper should conform to the requirements of BS3327—
Stationery for Quantity Surveying, and the paper is vertically separated into two
parts by a double line each with four columns
Sample-
b. – Binding margin
T – Timesing column
D – Dimension column
S – Squaring column
Des – Description column
9mm 14mm 15mm 16mm 55mm 14mm 15mm 16mm 56mm

T D S Des T D S Des
b.

i. Drawings shall be fully understood and clearly detailed.

ii. Works, which cannot be measured accurately, shall be expressed as
provisional quantity (PQ) and will result in provisional sum (PS).
iii. There shall be the understanding that measurements are taken to the nearest
cm.
iv. Built items shall generally include all possible entrants like labor, materials
(including storing, loading, unloading and handling), fixing, use of plant and
equipment, wastage of materials, equipment; which will result in a better
process for establishing prices and profit.
v. Prior knowledge of the regulations is necessary
vi. Measurements of civil works shall be carried out in such a way that it can be
easily checked and audited.





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QUANTITY SURVEYING

UNIT-3: ESTIMATION & COSTING–

1 CHICAGO INSTITUTE FOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING, UAE

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 Principles of measurement practices

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There are four clearly defined steps in preparation of Bill of Quantities:

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9mm 14mm 15mm 16mm 55mm 14mm 15mm 16mm 56mm

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i. Drawings shall be fully understood and clearly detailed.

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