Bill of Quantities (BOQ)
A Bill of Quantities is the building written out as a list. Every item that has to be built is measured from the drawing set that exists on the day, described in the words the trade uses, and set against a unit and a quantity.
It protects the builder/developer against scope gaps. Without a well prepared BoQ you are guessing your tender number.
Who it is for
Three people read a bill of quantities and they all want something different out of it.
You're pricing a tender, so you need every trade written out before you put a rate on anything. The developer wants the scope on paper before anyone prices it. The project team wants one document so every builder in the tender is reading the same job.
The measure doesn't change between them. What happens next does.
That's the whole point of it. A properly prepared BoQ protects you against scope gaps. Without one you're guessing your tender number and hoping.
Lump sum or D&C, it works the same. On D&C we structure the breakups around the risk you're carrying: that's how we measured Barwon Heads Golf Club, a $20M–$30M clubhouse on the Bellarine.
Size changes the hours, not the standard. Harkness Memorial Park is $40M–$50M. It was measured the same way.
Nathan Holman, Estimating Manager at Alchemy Construct"We've worked closely with Costimate across a range of projects, relying on them to deliver detailed Bills of Quantities, tender estimates, and cost planning services. Their attention to detail, accuracy, and professionalism consistently gives us confidence in the information they provide."
What we deliver
The bill arrives as a document your estimators can price straight into, not as a spreadsheet that needs unpicking first.
How it is measured
The bill is the one document every party on a tender reads the same way. It is why the measure comes before the rate, and why a question in the drawing set is written down rather than assumed away.
The kinds of bill we measure
One document, set up differently depending on how the job is being let. The standard underneath it does not move.
What we need from you
Everything the bill gets measured from. The more of it that arrives at the start, the less of the fortnight goes on chasing it.
- The issued drawing set, at the current revision
- Specifications, in full
- Consultant reports, structural and services
- The RFT and tender documentation
- Contract and scope details
- The tender date, and any addendum dates
How an engagement runs
Drawings in Monday, priced bill back in ten business days.
On the drawing set
On design and construct, the risk sits with the builder. At Barwon Heads Golf Club we structured the breakups around it.
In the register
Projects the record carries a Bill of Quantities against, with the words their own file uses.
Worked examples
Three jobs the record carries a bill of quantities against, in the words their own files use.
Yitpi Yartapuultiku, Port Adelaide, $30M–$40M
A landmark cultural centre on the Port River. Full quantities and estimating support, with the care a community building demands. Cultural projects rarely follow standard details, so where the documentation left questions open we flagged them rather than guessed, and closed every scope gap with the project team before pricing. The Yitpi Yartapuultiku project page has the detail.
Barwon Heads Golf Club, Bellarine Peninsula, $20M–$30M
A design and construct clubhouse, and the tender we point to first. The full scope measured, and a complete bill with trade breakups structured for D&C pricing. Risks and scope gaps were flagged early in the drawing set, and every trade was cross checked against our internal QS procedures before handover. See the project page.
Hester Hornbrook Academy, Melbourne, $20M–$30M
A new educational facility for 220 students on a sloping site: undercroft, terraced landscaping, a basketball court, 45 parking spaces, specialist learning hubs and community spaces. Design and construct puts the risk on the builder, so the bill had to be honest about what the drawings did not yet say. Trade-specific takeoffs are on the record for this job as well. See the project page.
The jobs that are hard to measure
Value is not what makes a bill difficult. Geometry, ground and documentation are, and none of the three show up in a dollar figure.
What a bill is not
A bill is not an estimate. It measures and describes the work; it does not put a rate against it. If you want the number as well as the measure, that is a full estimate. Takeoff, estimate or bill of quantities sets the three out side by side.
It is not a cost plan either. A cost plan sets a budget out by element while the design is still moving. A bill measures a set that has been issued. And it is not a single trade package: a subcontractor pricing one trade wants trade-specific takeoffs.
A bill measures what is drawn. It does not measure what is missing. That is why every bill we issue carries clarification notes against the set, and why the scope review sits in front of the measure rather than beside it.
Questions we get asked
What is a bill of quantities?
The building written out as a list. Every item that has to be built is measured off the drawing set that exists on the day, described in the words the trade uses, and set against a unit and a quantity. The long answer is in what a bill of quantities is.
How long does a bill of quantities take?
Ten business days is the typical run, drawings in to bill out. Send the tender date with the set and we confirm before anything starts.
What do you need from us to start?
The issued drawing set, the specifications and the tender date. If there are consultant reports, an RFT or contract documents, send those too. They are read in stage one, before measurement begins.
Is a bill of quantities the same as an estimate?
No. A bill measures and describes the work. An estimate puts a price against it. Most tenders want both, and in that order. Takeoff, estimate or bill of quantities explains which you need and when.
Can you measure a design and construct job?
Yes. Barwon Heads Golf Club was a $20M–$30M design and construct job with trade breakups structured for D&C pricing, and Hester Hornbrook Academy was another. On D&C the assumptions are written into the bill rather than left in somebody's head.
Do you measure outside Victoria?
Yes. 190 BoQs, cost plans and estimates in the last eighteen months, across six states and territories. The drawing set arrives electronically and the bill goes back the same way. Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane each have a page.
Can you work from a partial drawing set?
Yes, and most tender sets are partial in some way. What is missing gets written down as a clarification rather than assumed. An incomplete set is a finding, not a blocker.
Do you re-measure when the drawings are reissued?
Yes. The bill is brought up to the reissued set as an addendum re-measure while the tender is still running, so anybody reading it later can tell which drawings the number came from.
Who checks the bill before it is issued?
The Estimating Manager, against our internal QS procedures. Every measure moves up the same line: junior estimator, estimator, senior estimator, Estimating Manager. Nothing leaves without that cross check.
Further reading
Get in touch
Talk to us about a Bill of Quantities. For tenders, BoQs, cost plans or a straight answer on your numbers, get in touch.
