Contract, Specification and

Quantity Surveying
Chapter 2:
Quantity Surveying
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Instructor: Welday T.
 Introduction
Once a construction project is completed or depending on the form of contract
upon completion of certain parts of the work, the contractor must be paid for
appropriately completed works. This would then require that the actual works
done be somehow estimated or measured for payment purposes.
On the other hand to estimate how much a civil engineering project may cost, the
actual quantities of materials, labour, 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.
Quantity surveying is the application of standard methods of measurement
to quantify the amount of various items in a construction project, for the
undertaking of valuation, and certifying payments.

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 The information needed for construction of any project is usually

conveyed by two basic communication lines. They are:-
0 The drawings (pictorial)
0 The specifications (written)
 Specification is a statement of particular instructions of how to execute
tasks in the contract.

 The specifications should clearly specify: -

• Design and drawing

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The following tasks are covered in quantity surveying.
Preparation of Specification
Taking measurements of civil works (Taking off quantities and
preparing BoQ)
Preparation of approximate (preliminary) cost estimate at the very early
stage of the project
Preparation of detail cost estimate at different stages (taking as built
measurements and preparing payment certificates or approval of
payment certificates prepared by taking measurements)
Valuation of property

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 Purpose of Quantity Surveying

The purpose of quantity surveying hence the preparation of Bill of

quantities is:
Assist the client to have an accurate estimate of the volume of
work as well as the required budget.
To assist in the accurate preparation of tenders, by providing
uniform measurement of quantities.
To give an accurate checklist of work accomplished
To assist in the certification of payments
To give insight into the required variation work amounts.

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0 There are four methods of specifying. There is no defined rule for using one
method over another or about combining methods, but care should be taken to
avoid redundancy or contradictions. The four methods are:
0 Descriptive
0 Performance
0 Reference Standard
0 Proprietary
When writing specifications the following worksheet [format] is most commonly used:
Item Descriptions Unit Quantity Rate Amount

19mm 107mm 18mm 18mm 18mm 36mm

A. Substructure
1.Excavations for earth
1.1 work

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 Measurement of Civil Works
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.
In order to avoid ambiguity in measuring quantities, there is now a
recommended principle of measurement in construction activities.
Many professional organizations publish recommendations on units of
measurement, degree of accuracy etc. this assists in setting a common
parameters so that dispute is avoided.
The standard book, which is used in Ethiopia, is Standard Technical
Specification & Method of Measurement for Construction of
Buildings by BaTCoDA, March 1991.
Ethiopian Road Authority Standard Specification, 2002 is used for
Road Construction. .
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Principles of Measurement
The following are list of the basic principles of quantity surveying, applicable
to all items of work.
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.
Items which are to be measured by length or depth shall state the
cross-sectional size and shape, girth or ranges of girths or such other
information as may be appropriate.
Items which are to be measured by weight shall state the material
thickness and unit weight if appropriate.
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For items of pipe work it shall be stated whether the diameter is
internal or external.
Mass voluminous and thick works shall be measured in volume
(cubic meter)
Thin, shallow and surface work shall be measured in area (meter
square) specifying the thickness.
Long and thin work shall be measured in length (linear measure,
running meter)
Bills are deemed to include labour, materials, goods and plant and all
associated costs for fixing, assembling, etc.

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 Units of Measurement
Here in Ethiopia, the most common unit of measurement is the
International System of Units, or the metric system of units in which the
various items are measured as follows:
 For the measurement of length Meter (m)
 For the measurement of mass Kilogram (Kg)
 For the measurement of time Second (s)
 For the measurement of current Ampere (A)
 For the measurement of temperature Degree Kelvin (K)
 For the measurement of luminous intensity Candles (Cd)

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 Degrees of accuracy in Measurement
All dimensions measure to the nearest 0.01m
Thickness of slab measure to the nearest 0.005m
Wood work measure to the nearest 0.002m
Steel work measure to the nearest 0.001m
Reinforcement measure to the nearest 0.005m
Road work measure to the nearest 0.005m
Areas measure to the nearest 0.01 meter square
Steel work areas measure to the nearest 0.001 meter square
Volume measure to the nearest 0.01 meter cube
Wood work volume measure to the nearest 0.001 meter cubes
Weights measure to the nearest 1 kg

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 The Process of Quantity Surveying
There are four clearly defined steps in preparation of Bill of
Quantities:
I. Taking off
II. Squaring
III. Abstracting
IV. Writing the final Bill of Quantity (BoQ)
I. Taking Off
This is a process of measuring or scaling dimensions from drawings and
recording all dimensions in an easily understood format. This is coupled with
the descriptions in the drawings and specification.
In this task the quantity surveyor “take off” the quantities from the
drawings and determines the volume of work to be done for the various
components.
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These quantities are calculated in a specially prepared 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” or “Dimension Paper”.

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 Column 1 is used for stating the number of times an item occurs and
is called the Timesing column
Column 2 is called Dimension column as it is used to enter the
dimensions of the items of works.
- The dimensions are entered in the order indicated below:
Length, Width, Height or Thickness.
Column 3 is called Squaring column. The stated dimensions in
column 2 are multiplied to determine the quantity of the work either in
ml, m 2 , m 3 or in Pcs. or No.
Column 4 is called Description column and description of the work
item is briefly stated.

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Types of Taking-off
0 Mensuration
the calculation of geometric quantities such as length, area, and volume, from
dimensions and angles that are already known.
0 Girth (perimeter) computation
linear measurement.
0 Centre line method
suitable only when the cross sections of all walls are symmetrical.

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A separate sheet (Bar Schedule) is used to prepare reinforcement
quantities as shown below.

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II. Squaring
The dimensions entered in Column 2 are squared or cubed as the
case may be, multiplied by the timing 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.
III. 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.

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IV. 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.

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Thank
YOu!
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