BOQ format: how to prepare a bill of quantities, with an example

A bill of quantities (BOQ) is the list of every item of work in a project, each with its unit and measured quantity, and, once priced, its rate and amount. The client uses it to compare tenders on the same basis; the contractor uses it to price the job; and after award it becomes the measure against which every running bill is paid.

Because the BOQ outlives the tender by years, its format matters more than most estimators think. An item described loosely at tender becomes an argument at the third running bill. This guide sets out the usual format in Pakistan and shows a small worked example.

The columns of a BOQ

How a BOQ is organised

A BOQ is split into bills or sections that follow the order of the work, each with its own subtotal, and a summary page that adds them up. A typical building BOQ in Pakistan runs:

1. General items and preliminaries: site setup, temporary works, insurance, mobilisation.
2. Earthwork: excavation, backfill, disposal, anti-termite treatment.
3. Concrete: plain cement concrete, reinforced concrete by element, formwork if measured separately.
4. Reinforcement: steel by weight, usually in kg or tonnes, from the bar bending schedule.
5. Masonry: brick or block work by thickness and mortar ratio.
6. Finishes: plaster, flooring, tiles, paint, false ceiling.
7. Doors, windows and woodwork.
8. Services: plumbing, sanitary, electrical, often as separate bills or by specialist subcontractors.
9. External works, then provisional sums and daywork.

A worked example

Notice that each description says what the rate includes (formwork, curing) and what it does not (steel). That one phrase decides, months later, whether formwork can be billed separately. Quantities for concrete and steel can be checked with the concrete calculator and the bar bending schedule calculator.

Rules for writing BOQ items

• One item, one unit, one rate. Do not mix work measured in m³ and m² in one line.
• Say what the rate includes and excludes: materials, labour, formwork, wastage, carriage, curing.
• Measure net, as fixed, unless the method of measurement says otherwise; wastage belongs in the rate.
• Use the specification and mix ratios that are in the drawings, not general ones.
• Keep provisional sums and prime cost items clearly marked, so they are not mistaken for priced work.
• Number items so a running bill can refer to them without ambiguity.

BOQ in Excel: where it starts to hurt

Almost every BOQ in Pakistan starts in Excel, and for the tender that is fine. The trouble starts after award. The client BOQ, the subcontractor BOQs and the running bills become separate files; a quantity revised in one is not revised in the others; and by the third bill nobody is sure which version the contract was signed on. Withholding tax and net receivable become formulas someone has to remember to copy.

One BOQ from tender to final bill

In Smart Construction the BOQ is kept as items with their units, quantities and rates, priced from your own rate library or imported from Excel. After award the same items carry progress, so running bills are worked out from them, and subcontractor BOQs are linked item by item to show margin and exposure. See BOQ software or book a demo.