4 Contract Practice for Quantity Surveyors D. BASED ON A SCHEDULE OF RATES (sometimes known as measured contracts or measurement contracts) This method operates in a similar way to that described in B. above, tenders being based upon a schedule of rates as explained Ci) A particular advantage arising from its use is llows for a contract to be signed and work to start on si only in outline form, and in consequence t! reduced considerabl; (i Standard schedule A standard schedule lists under appropriate trade headings all the items likely to arise in any construction project, with a unit rate against each item. The best-known of such schedules is the Schedule of Rates for Building Works prepared by the Property Services Agency of the Department of the Environment. ‘Tenderers are asked to tender percentage additions (or deduc. tions) to the listed rates, usually hy sections or sub-sections, thus allowing for v. preparation of the schedule used. Advantage 1 Tenderers using schedule often soon become familiar both with the item descriptions and the rates and are to assess percentage adjustments relatively easily, Disadvantages Building procurement — traditional methods 15 be pre-priced by the PQS (in which case the form of the tender will be the same as when using a standard schedule) or the rate column may be left blank by the PQS for the tenderer to insert individual rates against each item. The latter method, because of the absence of quantities, makes the comparison and assessment of tenders much more difficult, Advantages 1 Tenderers are only required to concern themselves with a restricted range of items, thus enabling them to assess rates or percentages more accurately. 2 Tenderers are able to obtain a clearer picture of the scope of the work from the items listed in the schedule. Disadvantages ‘These are sim ar to those applying to standard schedules, (ii) Bills of quantities from previous contract ‘The bill of quantities used will normally be for a comparable type of building of similar constructional form to the proposed project. Itis, in effect, a pre-priced ‘ad hoc’ schedule and will be used in the same way. This is the method of tendering normally used in serial tender- ing, described on p. 46. Advantages he time required to prepare tender documents is reduced to the minimum, enderers have to consider only a restricted range of items. Disadvantages 1 The parties are unable to have a precise indication of their respective commitments. 2 There may be a considerable discrepancy between the suc cessful tender and the real cost of the work, owing to the the quantities