Bills of quantities
Build a BOQ section by section, price its lines from rate analyses or by hand, add overhead and profit, and approve it so its rates are fixed.
The BOQ is the priced list of work. Before the award it is your bid; after the award, the same document is the contract BOQ that every RA bill measures against.
📷 Screenshot spot — the BOQ builder: Status panel with Approve, the Subtotal / Overhead / Profit / Contingency / Total strip, and the Lines grid grouped under two sections
Save as static/img/screenshots/precon-boq.png and replace this box with 
Three BOQs in a job's life
| BOQ | What it is | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bid BOQ | Your priced offer, with no project yet — the list shows it as pre-award | You build it, import it or have the BOQ Generator draft it |
| Contract BOQ | The bid BOQ the contract was awarded on, now linked to the project | The award links it — see Contracts |
| Budget BOQ | The same work at your cost, with no profit | Derived from the contract BOQ on the project's Budget tab |
When you create a BOQ, its Kind is client, budget, subcontract or tender. Bids are normally client or tender.
Create a BOQ
- Open Estimation from the sidebar and click New BOQ.
- Enter a Name and pick the Kind.
- Leave Project as — pre-award — for a bid. The award links it to the project later.
- Set Overhead %, Profit % and Contingency % for the whole bill, and any Notes.
- Click Create and open builder. The BOQ is numbered like
BOQ/26-27/0001and starts as a Draft.
To bring in the client's workbook instead, see Import a BOQ from Excel.
Add sections
In the Sections panel, enter a Code (such as 2), a Name (such as Substructure), a Sequence and, for a sub-section, a Parent. Click Add section. A section's subtotal includes everything filed under its sub-sections. Lines can also sit at the top level with no section.
Add lines
- In the Lines panel, click Add line.
- Enter the Item code (such as
2.1.3) and pick the Type and Section. - To price from your library, pick a Rate analysis. Its description, unit and rate fill in; the rate is copied onto the line.
- Enter or check the Description, Unit and Quantity. Change the Rate if you need to.
- Add GST % if the line carries a specific rate, and tick Variation item for extra work.
- Click Add line. The form keeps the section and type for the next line.
| Type | Use it for | In the total? |
|---|---|---|
| Work | An ordinary measured item | Yes |
| Provisional sum | An allowance for work not yet defined | Yes |
| Prime cost | A PC sum for a supply the client will select | Yes |
| Day work | Work paid by time and materials | Yes |
| Rate only | A rate quoted without a quantity | No — it carries no quantity until measured |
| Heading | A title row inside a section | No — no unit, quantity or rate |
To change a line, click Edit on its row. You can change Description, Unit, Quantity, Rate, GST %, Section and Sequence, then click Save line.
How the total is built
| Figure | Calculation |
|---|---|
| Subtotal | Sum of line amounts (quantity × rate) |
| Overhead | Subtotal × overhead % |
| Profit | (Subtotal + overhead) × profit % |
| Contingency | (Subtotal + overhead + profit) × contingency % |
| Total | Subtotal + overhead + profit + contingency |
Change the percentages and the name in the Header panel and click Save header.
Review and approve
| Button | From | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Submit for review | Draft | Project Manager, Company Admin |
| Return to draft | Under review | Project Manager, Company Admin |
| Approve | Draft or Under review | Project Manager, Company Admin |
| Mark superseded | Approved, with a reason | Project Manager, Company Admin |
The QS / Estimator builds and prices the BOQ but does not see these buttons — tell your Project Manager when it is ready.
Approving freezes a snapshot of the whole bill. Each one is listed in the Revisions panel with its date, reason, number of lines, subtotal and total.
Once approved, Add line disappears and there is no way back to Draft. You can still edit a line's rate or quantity, but only with a written reason. Approve when the bill is complete; after the award, new work comes in through a change order.
Quote from the BOQ
Click New quotation from this BOQ at the top of the builder. The quotation form opens with this BOQ selected. See Quotations.
Who sees rates
| Role | Sees in a BOQ |
|---|---|
| Company Admin, Project Manager, QS / Estimator, Accountant | Quantities, rates, amounts and totals |
| Site Engineer, QA/QC Engineer, Procurement Manager | Quantities only — the rate and amount columns are not there |
On a project's BOQ tab, quantity-only roles also see a note that the rates were withheld. The tab adds an Executed column — what RA bills have measured against each line — with Progress in percent, and counts Over-measured lines, where executed quantity has gone past the BOQ quantity.
Tips
- Lines and sections cannot be deleted, and a line's type cannot be changed after it is added. Check the type before you click Add line.
- A BOQ that is superseded cannot be quoted from or edited.
The BOQ Generator drafts a BOQ from a typed scope or a messy file, and Resource Catalog Match links lines to your resource catalogue.
Related
- Rate analysis — where line rates come from.
- Quotations — turn the BOQ into an offer.
- RA bills — billing against the contract BOQ.