You are on page 1of 41

QS, MEASUREMENT,

DOCUMENTATION, SMM
Prepared by:
Ms. Noorhidayah Sunarti
School of Quantity Surveying & Construction
Management
Contents:
 General QS services
 Measurement process
 Attributes of QS
 Traditional preparation of BQ
 Modern preparation of BQ
 Standard Methods of Measurement
QS Services
In general;
QS offers its clients (developer/owner, consultant, contractor or sub
contractor) a wide range of professional services in the areas of project/
construction management, quantity surveying, cost/ contract /claim/
planning solutions according to their requirements in a most cost effective
and efficient manner.

QS  is managed by a group of highly qualified and experienced


professionals providing Project management, Construction Cost
Consultancy, Estimation,  Quantity Take-off, Construction Cost Databases,
Specification and Construction Material  Databases etc.
The Measurement Process /
Quantity Take-off
 The main purpose measurement process is to
produce quantity for the measured works to
prepare for Bills of Quantities.
 A Bill of Quantities is prepared for tendering
purposes.
 Using BQ, contractor is able to price the work
with a minimum effort.
 The quantification of the work is done either
by the main contractor, subcontractor, or
package contractor.
Attributes of a Quantity Surveyor
Ability to describe clearly, fully and precisely the
requirements of the designers and arrange the
Bills of Quantities.

??????

The contractor’s estimator can


quickly, easily and accurately arrive
at the estimated cost of the work.
Attributes of a Quantity Surveyor
How to achieve
this ?fully and precisely the
Ability to describe clearly,
requirements of the designers and arrange the Bills of
Quantities.

The surveyor must be:


• careful and accurate in making calculations

•having systematic and orderly mind


•be able to visualize the drawings and details
Divisions of bill preparation
 Traditionally, the preparation of BQ divides into 2 distinct stages:

1. The measurement of the dimensions and the compilation of the


descriptions from the drawings and specification. This process
commonly known as taking-off .

2. The preparation of the bill.


o This involves the calculation of volumes, areas, etc (squaring
the dimensions).
o Then followed by entering the descriptions and the squared
dimensions on the an abstract sheet (abstracting) to collect
similar items together and present them in recognized bill order.
o From this abstract, the draft bill was written (billing).
Development of bill preparation

The utilization of computerized system is become more integrated for direct input of
quantities sand formulation of descriptions through the use of standard libraries of
descriptions, and the lengthy collating and the bill preparation processes is carried out
automatically.
 WinQs

 CatoPro

 MasterBill

 QS Elite

 Snape Vector, etc


TOPIC:
Measurement & Bills of
Quantity
Prepared by:
Ms Noorhidayah Sunarti
012-6254776
daia0310@yahoo.com
The Measurement Process /
Quantity Take-off
 The main purpose measurement process is to
produce quantity for the measured works to
prepare for Bills of Quantities.
 A Bill of Quantities is prepared for tendering
purposes (selection process to contract an eligible
contractor for the project).
 Using BQ, contractor is able to price the work
with a minimum effort.
 The quantification of the work / measurement
/ taking-off is done either by the QS
consultant (Client), QS of main contractor or
subcontractor or Estimator.
The Measurement of Quantities for
Building Works
 Main objective:
 To produce the document for the list of quantities (bills of
quantity). The quantities meaning the estimated amount of
building works / trade works for specific building elements.

 The quantities needed to ensure the exact amount of trade


works in completing the building / project.

 The measurement is based on the principles and rules of


measurement set up in manual of STANDARD METHODS OF
MEASUREMENT FOR BUILDING WORKS.
Standard Methods of Measurement (SMM)

Function:
To standardize the method of preparing the measurement for building
works and civil engineering works. Contains of rules and principles
of measurement.
 Malaysian Standard Methods of Measurement for Building
works. (SMM2) – Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM)
(adapted from SMM by RICS(UK)
 Malaysian Standard Method of Measurement for civil
engineering works (CESMM) – CIDB (adapted from CESMM
by ICE / FCEC(UK)
Standard Methods of Measurement for
Building Works (SMM)
 Set out rules for the measurement and
description of building works.
 SMM2 is a document that provides not
only a uniform basis for measuring
building work but also embodies the
essentials of good practice.
 Without using it, a set of rules the quality
of BQ can vary widely.
Malaysian Standard Method of
Measurement for Civil Engineering
Works (CESMM)
 To be used in conjunction with the Conditions Of
Contract for Civil Engineering Works.

 Does not deal with the preparation of BQ for


mechanical & electrical engineering work,
building work or work which is seldom
encountered in civil engineering contracts.

 If any such work to be included in the contract,


such work shall be measured in accordance with
their respective SMM and shall be stated in the
Preambles to the BQ.
The Bills of Quantities
 The Bills of quantity prepared by Quantity Surveyor based on
measurement from the construction drawings / building plans
and specification prepared by the designers/ engineers.

 This document were itemized all the quantities for each


categories of works applied in constructing the buildings. E.g.
building works, mechanical, electrical works, civil, structural
works, infrastructure works, etc.

 The contractor will priced /estimate all the works associated


in completing the buildings during pre-construction stage.
The Bills of Quantities
 BQ is part of legal tender / contract document which will be used to
bind the agreement between the client and the contractor in terms of:

 Detailed of construction works to be done on-site – building


works, infrastructure works, building services works, water &
sewerage systems, etc.

 The materials used – standard / quality

 The standard workmanship /construction methods,

 The needs / requirements of the builders on-site in


implementing the jobs on–site – e.g. temporary offices, storage,
shelter / hostel for workers
Advantages of using BQ
According to Seeley (1997),

 Avoids the need of for all of the tendering contractors to measure


the quantities of work themselves before preparing an estimate. (if
yes, wasteful duplication of efforts and an increase in Contractor’s
overhead).
 BQ prepared in accordance to SMM ensure that an adequate
description of work in a recognized format is given to all tendering
Contractors and all tender on the same basis.
 The detailed breakdown of the contract sum (in BQ format) permits
proper financial management of the contract.
Disadvantages of using BQ

 The absence of BQ leads to greater


variability, increase risk in estimating and
consequently more disputes.
The binding parties of a Contract

 Client:
Client has intention to build building- developer,
owner, funder, etc.

 Contractor:
Contractor a person / company who has expertise &
experience to build building / infrastructure works,
water and sewerage system and install the building
services- electrical, mechanical.
Basic contents of typical contract
documents
 Conditions of contract
 Contract drawings
 Specification
 Preambles
 Bills of quantities
 Schedule of rates
Purpose / Objectives / Roles
Project stages Explanation
PRE- Tendering stage To enable the contractor to tender to a project & price the
CONTRACT described works.
(before official
contract signed To control in ordering materials and assessing the labour
between client requirement for the contract.
– contractor)

POST- Construction Provides basis for valuation of variation work and


CONTRACT stage adjustments for the final account.
(contract
signed and the Provides basis for valuation of monthly progress payment
selected referring to the working progress on site.
contractor
started their
works till After being priced, it provides a good basis for cost analysis
completion Project which subsequently will be used in future contract especially
stage) completed for cost planning works. (cost data)
Types of Bill of Quantity
Types of Bill similarities differences

Fixed Both the quantities and unit rates form


price/ lump part of the contract
 A detail breakdown of all the quantities is
sum shown in the BQ
The empty bill is supplied to the contractors
The architects and engineers to tender / price the described works/ project.
prepare detail construction
Approximate drawings. The QS prepares BQ but subjected to later
QS measures the quantities adjustment.
in detail based on the Only unit rates form part of the contract.
construction drawing The signing of the contract and beginning of
The QS prepare BQ based the project may proceed before the whole
on the measurement. design is complete.
Virtual completion of the The empty bill is supplied to the contractors
design proceeds the signing to tender / price the described works/ project.
Drawings of the contract. The contractors are supplied with drawings
and with full specifications.
specification No empty bill is supplied to the contractors.
The contractors prepare their own BQ.
Suitable for small project (less than
RM500,000)
Basic contents of Bills of Quantities

 Preliminaries
 Specifications of materials and workmanship
 Preambles (only in Bill of Approx Qtty)
 Measured works bill
 Schedules of rates (only in Bill of Approx Qtty)
Preliminaries

It must:
 Contain a definition of the scope of works and details of the
proposed form of contract / project.
 Contain a detailed description of the administrative
mechanism / temporary facilities to implement the contract /
project.
 Contain list of drawings and any special instructions to the
contractor – highlighting the method of pricing and
presenting tenders and other site information.
Specification

 A concise description of materials and


workmanship, standard or quality of
workmanship.
 It must convey the architect and engineer’s
requirements.
Measured works
 Includes detailed descriptions of building, mechanical and electrical
works presented in accordance with SMM.
 This enables the contractors’ estimator / QS to price individual item
of work.
 This section also includes Prime cost sum (P.C) and Provisional
sum (Prov. sum)

P.C. sum – used for works to be carried out by nominated


sub-contractors, statutory authorities or for
goods to be supplied by nominated suppliers.

Prov. Sum - used for works which cannot be fully detailed or


for costs which are unknown at the time bills are
prepared.
Preambles

 Define the rules governing the method of measurement of the


works and contain instruction as to what is to be included
within unit rates and/or lump sum prices.

 The preambles do not define the scope of works.


Schedule of Rates

 Consists of unit of works that are grouped according to


trade and work content and are presented in tubular form.

 Each table is referred as ‘schedule’.

 The schedule of rates comprises a number of schedules


that when combined, cover all items of work likely to be
encountered in the contract.
Divisions of bill preparation
 Traditionally, the preparation of BQ divides into 2 distinct stages:

1. The measurement of the dimensions and the compilation of the


descriptions from the drawings and specification. This process
commonly known as taking-off .

2. The preparation of the bill.


o This involves the calculation of volumes, areas, etc (squaring
the dimensions).
o Then followed by entering the descriptions and the squared
dimensions on the an abstract sheet (abstracting) to collect
similar items together and present them in recognized bill order.
o From this abstract, the draft bill was written (billing).
Traditional Techniques of BQ preparation

Process Description of works


Measuring / taking-off QS will analyze the drawings / plan received from engineers’ /
architect.
Prepare query list (if necessary)
Measuring from drawings and entering the dimensions on to specially
ruled dimension paper

Working up / squaring Calculating and totaling the area, length, volume, numbers, item of
the dimensions to obtain the exact quantities for each measured item in
the dimension sheet.

Transfer to abstract Collecting the totals form dimension paper on to an abstract to produce
sheet a final total for each individual description.

Billing Reproducing the items from the abstract on to bill paper in draft form
ready for typing.
Preparation of billing
item description Qty unit rate amount

1.0 Supply to site 125mm x 125mm 320 NR RM100.00 RM32,000.00


pressure treated timber piles of 6m
lengths with provisions of
galvanized mild steel anti split rail
at both ends.
2.0 Drive 125mm x 125mm timber 1,920 M RM12.00 RM23,040.00
piles to required depth

3.0 100mm thick Grade 15 lean 115 M2 RM18.00 RM2,070.00


concrete.
4.0 Grade 35 concrete at brick 8 M3 RM180.00 RM1,440.00
retaining wall
5.0 Bringing to and removing from site ITEM RM1,800.00 RM180.00
all plant required for this section of
the work
Development of bill preparation

The utilization of computerized system is become more integrated for direct input of
quantities sand formulation of descriptions through the use of standard libraries of
descriptions, and the lengthy collating and the bill preparation processes is carried out
automatically.
 WinQs

 CatoPro

 MasterBill

 QS Elite

 Snape Vector, etc


SETTING DOWN
DIMENSION
Prepared by:
Ms Noorhidayah Sunarti
012-6254776
daia0310@yahoo.com
Dimension Paper
 Dimension are taken / measure from the
drawings by the taker-off.
 Column 1 = timesing / dotting on
column (where multiplication and
addition of the dimensions can be
recorded)
 Column 2 = dimension column (in
which the measurements are set down as
taken from drawings and normally
expressed in two decimal point.
 Column 3 = squaring column (in which
are set out the calculated volumes, areas,
etc)
1 2 3 4 5
 Column 4 = description column (in
which is written the description of the
work to which the dimensions apply.
 Column 5 = Waste (in which
preliminary calculations / sketches are
made/ shown)
Units of Measurement

 Cubic measurement = m3
 Square or superficial measurement = m2
 Linear measurement = m
 Enumerated items – Nr/ Nos.
 Items
Expressions of Measurement /
Rules in setting down the
dimension

 The dimension are normally expressed to two decimal points.


 It is important that the insertion of the horizontal lines which determines
whether the dimension is intended as linear, superficial, or cubic measurement.
Rules in setting down the dimension:
Timesing
Rules in setting down the dimension:
Dotting-on
Rules in setting down the dimension:
Alterations in dimensions
Reminder:

•Deletions with
correcting fluid are
not encourage.

•It is best to nil


entirely and write out
again the dimensions.
Rules in setting down the dimension:
Anding-on

Note:
Anding-on , deductions
shall be in similar form of
dimension.
Rules in setting down the dimension:
Deductions
 Where a deduction is to be made, the
description is preceded by Deduct which
is often abbreviated to Ddt.
 An example as follows:

You might also like