QUNTITY SURVEYING

Quantity surveying is the most important part of the construction field. Because that
is directly effect to the future of the construction firm. The role of a construction firm or a
contractor can be expressed as,
Getting work from right price
Doing work within that price.
The role of the quantity surveyor is very important. When considering above two facts.
Because the future targets of the contractor can be achieved with help of good quantity
Surveyors accurate & wise thinking. When getting works & doing works. Quantity
Surveyor should have more practical experience about all the works & techniques good
knowledge about the market which is spread around the wide range. And also Quantity
Surveyor should talent enough to create the accurate imaginations about the works even
those are not done early by him.
In a construction firm there are,
Site Quantity Surveyors
Head office Quantity Surveyors
Role of Site Quantity Surveyor

Preparing sub contractors bills

Preparing valuation of the site.
Keep well attention about the construction works.
Maintain records about extra works & variations
Include them to the valuation.

Role of Head Office Quantity Surveyor

Tendering estimating & costing
Preparing labour rates for sub contractors according to the BOQ rates.
Keep attention about the price fluctuations of materials

PREPARING RATES FOR A BOQ

Before prepare the rate for a new BOQ there are special things to be considered .
Contract period
Present market prices of materials & services
Rate of increasing the prices
Feasibility studie.That is,
The selected place for the proposed construction
Access to the site
What are the extra machinery & equipment have to be used when
preparing site
Nature of the ground(whether ground have to be cut or fill)
Tendency to supply materials to the site etc.

RATE BREAKDOWN FOR

GRADE 25 CONCRETE
Per 1 cube of concrete
Materials
Cement
-23cwt
Sand
-0.42cube
Metal (3/4) -0.82cube
1/3 day hire of mixer
1/3 day hire of vibrator

23.00x 790.00
0.42x6500.00
0.82x4800.00
1/3 x2500.00
1/3 x1500.00

-18170.00
- 2730.00
- 3936.00
- 833.33
- 500.00

1.0 x 900.00
6.0 x 700.00

- 900.00
- 4200.00

Labour
Mason
-1 day
u/sk labourer -6 days

Rate per 1cube

-31269.33

BILLING
The ultimate aim of the contractor is to earn a profit. In this process he should ensure that
his expenses are as low as possible and his income is as high as possible while carrying
out his work to the expected standard. Hence the accurate billing is one of the most
important areas.
The contract is a measure and pay basis contract and allows negotiation of rates
mentioned in BOQ in certain circumstances.
Generally in a construction contract the contractor is paid in stages. Thus the billing of
the contractor is an on-going process. With the aid of bills so prepared the contractor
prepares the final at the end of the contract to quantify his financial performance in the
project. The billing is done both at the site and in PIO II. Generally there are two types of
bills prepared by the contractor.

Bills Payable

Bills to be paid by the contractor for the services he had obtained and the purchases
made.

Bills Receivable

Bills submitted to the client for the work done by the contractor generally termed as the
main bill.

Bills Payable
These bills are related the subcontractors work and payment for material purchases.
Generally material bills are prepared in the PIO II and the subcontractors bills are
prepared in the site according to the standard quantity surveying methods.
Sub contractors payments
The subcontractors are generally paid in two stages with the

Advance payment

Final payment

4 Advance payment
An advance payment is paid to the subcontractor to cover up his expenses. For this he has
to make a claim for the work he had done up to that date. The bill is then checked and
payment is made for 70% of the work approved. A subcontractor is entitled for an
advance payment for every month.

Final payment
Up on the completion of the work the subcontractor should submit a bill for his work.
The site quantity surveyors then check this bill and approved amount is sent to the head
office for payment. The bill submitted by the subcontractor might be a bill prepared
according to the SMM or a mere multiplication of the unit rate and related dimensions.

Thus as a precautionary practice the details regarding subcontractors work are prepared
by the supervisors involved which are used in billing. Also in certain instances the
subcontractor and a Sierra official would take joint measurements and prepares a site
measurement sheet that is used to prepare the bill.
Retention of 5% is retained for a period of six months. If direct labour has been used in
relation to the work of a subcontractor such costs are deducted from the bill.

Main Bill
The contractor upon the completion of a particular stage of a work item prepares the bill
for it. Using the details of such bills an invoice is prepared on a monthly basis and
through the contractor would claim his payments. This is a collective effort of the site
quantity surveyors and the PIO staff.The bill has to be authorized by the consultants
before payments. The rates included in the BOQ would be negotiated in the site meetings
had there been any unusual fluctuations in the rates applicable.
Contents of the Main Bill
Summary of value of work done broken down according to the BOQ details
Details of the current claim along with the previous claims for the items done during
the period
Material at site
Price variation details
Site measurement sheets and related log book entries for any adjustment
The amount claimed in the main bill may differ from the relevant BOQ amount due to
following reasons

Variations of work

Extra Work

Price Escalations

Variations in work refers to the differences occurred as a result of any adjustments made
to the original work by the client or the consultant.
Extra work refers to the additional work which are not mentioned in the BOQ and newly
introduced to the contractor.

Price exhalations are significant changes in the price levels and calculated considering the
CCPI and other relevant indices. Contractor seeks for new rates in this issue.
The monthly bill is prepared by the contractor in four copies and three copies are sent to
the quantity surveyor of the consultant. He then checks the bill and make adjustments if
there are any mistakes in those. The three copies so adjusted are kept with the three
parties consultant, contractor and the client. On the receipt of this invoice the client will
issue the cheque for the amount due.

Problems Encountered In Billing

The application of the centerline method is theoretically the best method. But its
applicability in the site is not possible in certain instances.
Ex. Brick work in a wall with a 45 o has to be done in the centerline method but the
centerline cannot be measured physically and the calculation the length is a tedious
process and time consuming and not economical.
Approximate values should be taken in such instances.
In the billing for plumbing work often the lengths are taken incorrectly. Several bills
checked by me lacked from this mistake. Theoretically the lengths should be taken in the

centerline method and approximations should be done where necessary. Care should be
taken to exclude temporary lines, end caps, cleaning eyes etc.
It is important to consider the position of the stop boards as the unit rate for formwork is
in terms concrete touching area and the stop boards also count.