Bill of quantities preparation in Nigeria
A measured, trade-by-trade bill of quantities prepared from your drawings, priced at current market rates or issued blank for competitive tender.
What a bill of quantities is, and what it is not
A bill of quantities is a measured and described schedule of the work required to build what your drawings show. Every item carries a quantity, a unit and a description precise enough that two different contractors would deliver the same thing for it.
It is not a budget, though it is priced to make one. It is not a quotation from a contractor. And it is not a list of building materials, which is a separate document we also produce: a material schedule.
The point of a BOQ is comparability. It converts "how much will my house cost" from an opinion into a measurement, and it gives you a baseline against which every later variation, claim and payment can be tested.
What our BOQ covers
Substructure and frame
Excavation, hardcore, blinding, foundations, columns, beams, suspended slabs, reinforcement, formwork and concrete grades, measured from structural drawings where supplied.
Walling and roofing
Blockwork by thickness, lintels, roofing sheets or tiles, trusses, fascia, rainwater goods, with waste allowances stated openly.
Finishes and joinery
Screed, tiling, plastering, painting, doors, windows, ironmongery, ceilings, wardrobes and kitchen fittings, each with the area or number measured.
Services and external works
Electrical points, conduit, sanitary fittings, pipework, drainage, septic and soakaway, external paving, boundary walls, gates and landscaping, as far as drawings allow.
How it is prepared
Measured by hand from your drawings, checked, then priced or left blank for tender.
Drawing review
Every sheet is read and cross-checked. Missing elevations, unclear details and contradictions between architectural and structural drawings are reported to you before measuring starts.
Measurement
Quantities are taken off by hand and recorded, then checked. Waste and laps are applied openly as a stated allowance, not hidden inside a rate.
Description and drafting
Each item is described to a standard that removes ambiguity: material, thickness, grade, finish, height, fixing method.
Pricing or tendering
Priced at current market rates for your location if required, or issued blank for competitive tender with a tender comparison sheet.
Query stage
You and your contractor may challenge any line. Errors found are corrected and a revised bill is issued with a change note.
Why this matters in Nigeria specifically
Nigeria has a particular problem that a BOQ directly solves.
Most private construction in Nigeria is procured without a bill of quantities. A contractor gives a lump sum, work starts, and the conversation from then on is about money rather than measurement. When the price rises, nobody can show whether the increase came from a genuine change, from underestimated quantities, or from a rate that was never agreed.
A BOQ settles these disputes before they occur, because the quantity was measured by a third party and the rate was agreed against it. For diaspora clients in particular, a BOQ converts a relationship of trust into a relationship of arithmetic.
- Comparable tendersEvery contractor prices identical quantities.
- Defensible variationsA change is a measured quantity at an agreed rate.
- Payment controlValuations are made against a baseline instead of a percentage.
- Budget realityYou learn the cost of the design before you have built it, while changes are still cheap.
Bill of quantities questions
What do you need to prepare a BOQ?
Architectural drawings are essential. Structural, mechanical and electrical drawings improve accuracy considerably, because they let us measure reinforcement, conduit, pipework and fittings rather than allowance for them. A specification, finishes schedule or a clear instruction on standard of finish also helps. Where drawings are incomplete we will tell you what is missing rather than quietly guessing.
Can one BOQ be used to tender to several contractors?
That is precisely what a BOQ is for. When every tenderer prices the same measured quantities, the returned prices are comparable line by line. Without a BOQ, three contractors quoting on the same house can be describing three different houses.
Do you price the BOQ or leave it blank?
Both forms are available. A blank BOQ with quantities only is what you issue for competitive tender. A priced BOQ, priced at current Nigerian market rates, is what you use for budget approval, cost control or checking a contractor's submitted price.
Will a BOQ stop variations?
It will not eliminate them, because a BOQ is only as good as the drawings behind it and no drawing set is perfect. What it does is make variations visible and measurable. A change becomes a defined quantity with a known rate, instead of a lump sum invented on site.
How is a BOQ structured?
By trade or work section, following the sequence of construction: preliminaries, substructure, frame, walling, roofing, doors and windows, finishes, services, external works. Measured and described items sit under each section, with quantities, units and a rate column.
Send us your drawings
A written fee and delivery date, normally within 24 hours. If your drawings are not ready, tell us where the project is up to and we will say what is needed.
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