INTRODUCTION TO

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
PROF.DR. ZEYNEP SÖZEN
THE JOB OFFER (YOUR PROJECT)
• Imagine the following:
• You have a client who commissions you to furnish a small room.
• The dimensions of the room are 2 x 3 meters:It is basically a
rectangle.
THE JOB OFFER (YOUR PROJECT)
• The client has already completed the design for the room (another
architect/interior architect has already designed the room).
• You are asked to do the carpeting work for the room.
• The client has quality requirements for the work.
• The client asks for a price offer for your services.
THE DIMENSIONS OF THE ROOM

3
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS: WHAT THE CLIENT
WANTS (SPECIFICATIONS)
• Material:100% SisalPile (natural material)
• Weight:ca. 2.0 kg / m2 +/- 7,5%
• Backing:Latex
• Widths:400 cm +/- 1%
• Pattern:Herringbone
COST&TIME&SCOPE CONSTRAINTS
• Cost: the client requires your cost offer
• Time: 1 workday
• Scope: Carpeting work for 1 room
• To be able to present a price offer (a quote) , you have to list all items of
work in your work scope.
• The items of work may include the materials, labor, equipment, machinery,
transportation for your work scope.
• Then, you have to measure the items of work in your scope in appropriate
measurement units.
• You have to measure and record dimensions from the drawings provided to
you by the Client.
• In order to standardize measurement rules and conventions, there are a
number of standard codes and methods of measurement that are
available.
• Quantities are measured in appropriate units:
• - Each (numbers): Piles, doors, Windows, Precast concrete, etc.
• - Length (meter): Windows sills, Pipes, Skirts, stair steps, etc.
• - Area (Square meter): Flooring, painting, plastering, brick walls (12 cm or
less),
• - Volume (Cubic meter): Brick walls (>12 cm thick), excavation, backfilling,
reinforced concrete, etc.
• - Weight (Ton): Metallic works, reinforcement steel, etc.
• - Lump Sum: Some electrical and plumbing works, manholes, etc.
• - Effort (Man-day): Renting of equipment or labor, etc.
Measurement and re-measurement
• As we take off from drawings, we must be aware that actual
quantities may change during construction work.
• (The term ‘taking off’ refers to the process of identifying elements of
construction works that can be measured and priced from drawings).
TAKING OFF: MEASURING QUANTITIES FORM
DRAWINGS
• The quantities are subject to re-measurement on completion.
• The actual quantity of work for an item may differ from the estimate
at tender for a number of reasons. E.g..
• Sand quantity measured from design is 30 cu. meters ; actual quantity
is 31 cu.meters.
• Gravel quantity measured from design is 20 cu. meters ; actual
quantity is 22 cu.meters.
• Therefore, the amounts are re-measured during the construction
works and when the work is completed. (These are called Final
Quantities)
Measurement and re-measurement
• The re-measurement process continues during the course of
construction also because of another reason:
• Some items of work, like foundations , drainage, water pipes, are
covered up (buried).We may not be able to measure them once they
are covered up.
• These are inspected and recorded.
WHAT IS A QUANTITY TAKE OFF?
• Quantity take-offs (QTO) are precise calculations of the quantity of
materials and labor required to finish a building project. In the pre-
construction stage, an estimator creates them. The project is divided
into more manageable, smaller parts that are also simpler to measure
and estimate as part of this procedure.
• The construction bid is formatted using these measurements.
The quantity take off looks something like
this:
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY
What is the work to be How shall I measure it? How much is the quantity of
measured? work?
The quantity take off for your carpet project
will look something like this:
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY
SISAL CARPET SQ.METERS 6.0
LABOR SQ. METERS 6.0
TRANSPORTATION ?
BILL OF QUNATITIES
• A bill of quantities (commonly known as BOQ or BQ) is a document
prepared to define the quality and quantity of works required to be
carried out by the main contractor to complete a project.
• Bill of Quantities or BOQ or BQ is a key piece of document that is used
in tendering in the construction industry to list all components
needed in a construction project such as materials, laborers, parts,
etc.
BoQ
• After all the quantities are measured, the quantities may be priced.
• Preparing Bill of Quantities and Tender Document:
• We prepare a bill of quantities from information (design/drawings
and specifications) provided by a client who wants a construction
project or development done.
• This unpriced bill of quantities is issued to different tenderers to state
a price on each item and return it as a priced bill of quantities or
tender document.
BoQ
• This priced bill of quantities constitutes the tenderer's complete offer.
It is the unpriced bill of quantities, but with the tenderer’s rates, costs
and totals added.
• The final contract sum, however, is determined after the
remeasurement of final quantities.
BoQ
• A Bill of quantities is a document by which it is possible to estimate
the cost of a construction project (or part of it) or for its maintenance.

• In addition, its use is widespread in private works as a contractual tool

for regulating the relationship between Client and Contractor.
What is a Quantity Surveyor ?
• «A Quantity Surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with
expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified
professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors
(Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK. In some countries such as
Canada, South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius, qualified quantity
surveyors are known as Professional Quantity Surveyors, a title
protected by law.» https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantity_surveyor
UNPRICED BILL OF QUANTITIES
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY
SISAL CARPET SQ.M. 6.0
LABOR SQ.M 6.0
TRANSPORTATION
PRICED BILL OF QUANTITIES
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY RATE (TL) AMOUNT (TL)
SISAL CARPET SQ.M. 6.0 300.00 1800.00
LABOR SQ.M 6.0 10.00 60.00
TRANSPORTATION 100.00 100.00
SUBTOTAL 1960.00
• However, the price offer is not complete. You will have to add a percentage to cover your
overheads and profit.
Overhead is the cost of running the company while the project is going on and covers:
• staff salaries
• office rental
• stationary
• interest on loans
• phone bills, etc
• heating, electricity,….
• A contractor has a certain amount of company costs per year (overhead). This must be
covered by the money earned from the contracts during that year. Each contract should
carry its proportion of the overhead.
• On every job you want to cover the costs of labor, equipment and
materials, but that’s not all. You also want to ensure you’re covering
your overhead and also making a profit.

• Overhead: the costs of operating your business. Includes costs such as

insurance, bonds, office supplies, payroll, vehicle expenses, utilities,
accounting expenses, etc.
• Profit: the amount left over after paying for the job costs and
overhead.
PRICED BoQ
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY RATE (TL) AMOUNT (TL)
SISAL CARPET SQ.M. 6.0 300.00 1800.00
LABOR SQ.M 6.0 10.00 60.00
TRANSPORTATION 100.00 100.00
SUBTOTAL 1960.00
CONTRACTOR’S 490.00
PROFIT AND
OVERHEADS 25%
TOTAL 2450.00
• Now suppose that the client wants a less expensive polypropylene
carpeting for the same room.
• THE SPECIFICATIONS
• TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
• composition: 100% pp
• total weight: 1260 g/m²
• total height: 5 mm
• pile weight: 360 g/m
• color: herringbone
• PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS
• resistance against fire: cfl-s1
The quantity take off for your carpet project
will look the same:
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY
PROPYLENE CARPET SQ.METERS 6.0
LABOR SQ. METERS 6.0
TRANSPORTATION ?
PRICED BoQ
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY RATE (TL) AMOUNT (TL)
P. CARPET SQ.M. 6.0 50.00 300.00
LABOR SQ.M 6.0 10.00 60.00
TRANSPORTATION 100.00 100.00
SUBTOTAL 460.00
CONTRACTOR’S 115.00
PROFIT AND
OVERHEADS 25%
TOTAL 565.00
• Suppose that the client would like a laminate flooring with the following
specifications.
• TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
• Product type: Laminate floor coverings (EN 13329)
• Total thickness: 8 mm
• Total weight: 7168 g/m²
• Installation method: Click
• PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS
• Highly resistant to scratches and wear
• Easy maintenance
• Warm and comfortable
COST&TIME&SCOPE CONSTRAINTS
• Cost: the client requires your cost offer
• Time: 1 workday
• Scope: carpeting (with underlay)and skirting for 1 room
• For laminate flooring, you shall need some sort of underlayment.
• Laminate underlayment is a soft pad that is installed under laminate
flooring. The underlayment helps the laminate planks lay smoother,
connect better, and for the flooring to feel slightly softer underfoot.
Underlayment is either pre-attached to the bottom of the laminate
flooring by the manufacturer or it is installed separately by the user.
• There are different types of underlayment materials.
• Suppose you want to use foam(Polyethylene foam )
•+
• You will need a skirting board with the matching color.
The original room 2 x 3 meters
How will you measure the skirting board?
How will you measure the skirting board?
You want to subtract the width of the door
(opening).
You want to subtract the width of the door
(opening).
• Measure the perimeter of the
rectangle:
• 2+2+3+3=10
• 10-1=9
• I need 9 meters of skirting.
 3

2 2

3
PRICED BoQ
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY RATE (TL) AMOUNT (TL)
LAMINATE FLOOR SQ.M. 6.0 200.00 1200.00
FOAM UNDERLAY ROLL 1.0 100.00 100.00
SKIRTING METER 9 (10-1) 10.00 90.00
LABOR SQ.M 6.0 50.00 300.00
(underlay+skirting
included)
TRANSPORTATION 100.00
SUBTOTAL 1790.00
CONTRACTOR’S 447.50
PROFIT AND
OVERHEADS 25%
TOTAL 2237.50
ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT WEEK
• Please provide a price quote for the same room .
• Oak flooring(hardwood) and acoustic underlay.
• PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS
• Strength (MOR): 15,200 psi
• Stiffness (MOE): 1,780 1000 psi
• Density (KG/m3): 900
• Photosensitivity: Low
ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT WEEK
• The client also requires:
• Skirting
• And you will need foam underlay and insulation for your hardwood
flooring.
PRICED BoQ
DESCRIPTION UNIT QUANTITY RATE (TL) AMOUNT (TL)
HARDWOOD FLOOR SQ.M. 6.0 400.00
FOAM UNDERLAY ROLL 1.0 100.00 100.00
MINERAL WOOL ROLL 1.0 70.00
FLOOR INSULATION
SKIRTING METER 9 (10-1) 20.00
LABOR SQ.M 6.0 50.00 300.00
TRANSPORTATION 100.00 100.00
SUBTOTAL
CONTRACTOR’S
PROFIT AND
OVERHEADS 25%
TOTAL