Bill of quantities: definition and items
By the ArchiMind teamUpdated on
The bill of quantities is the itemised list of the works to price: one row per article, with a quantity, a unit and a measurement type. It is part of the tender documents and must agree with the measurement clauses of the specification.
Definition
The bill of quantities is the itemised list of the works to price. Every row, called a line item, carries an article number, a short description, a quantity, a unit and a measurement type. In Belgium it is part of the tender documents: it is what tenderers put their unit prices on.
A line item always refers to an article of the specification. Several items can refer to the same article when the same work occurs in different forms or locations.
Agreement with the specification
The rule that matters: the quantities and the text must answer each other. The specification says how a work is measured; the bill of quantities applies that rule. An item whose unit contradicts the measurement clause, or an article prescribed without a matching item, is an inconsistency settled at the final account, often at the client’s expense.
The measurement types set the way of paying: lump-sum quantity, presumed quantity, global price, sum to justify, or an item listed for the record.
Where the quantities come from
Quantities are measured on the drawings, or read from the building model when the project has one. An IFC file carries the geometry and the properties of the elements: wall areas, concrete volumes, counts of joinery. Reading does not replace judgement — the measurement clause still decides what counts — but it removes the manual take-off.
In ArchiMind
ArchiMind builds the bill of quantities beside the text: every item hangs on its article, quantities imported from the model keep the trace of the element they came from, and the checks flag items without an article and units that do not follow the clause.
Related terms
- Specification — the text every item refers to
- Line item — one row of the bill of quantities
- Measurement types — QF, QP, PG, SAJ, PM
Sources and references
Frequently asked questions
What do QF, QP, PG, SAJ and PM mean in a bill of quantities?
They are the measurement types. QF, lump-sum quantity, is paid as stated. QP, presumed quantity, is settled on the quantity actually measured. PG is a global price without a quantity. SAJ is a sum to justify against invoices. PM marks an item paid under another one.
Can the bill of quantities be taken from the BIM model?
Largely, yes. An IFC file carries the elements with their geometry and properties, so areas, volumes and counts can be read instead of measured on drawings. The quantities read still have to be checked against the measurement clauses, which decide what counts.