Call us today - 01234 353900

News * Bills of Quantities - Who needs them?

News

Bills of Quantities - Who needs them?

24 June 2009

GF Partnership survey identifies views & opinions on New Rules of Measurement (NRM), bill share and outsourcing BoQ production.

The survey was sent to over 630 individuals at Chief and Managing Estimator level. Our aim was to find out views on the New Rules of Measurement (NRM), management of the BoQ preparation process and what Government should do to stimulate the construction industry. A summary of their responses appears below.

New Rules of Measurement (NRM)
Nearly 30% of respondents said that the NRM would provide a good set of guidelines, if used consistently. Several commented that publishing the three constituent parts together may have been more beneficial. 54% of people had not heard of the NRM or had not yet seen or read the documents. The remainder considered that the new rules ultimately provide nothing better than a traditional bill of quantities. 60% believed that their companies would adopt the NRM, with 65% considering that training on the new method would also be necessary prior to full implementation. One respondent commented that the launch could be seen as inappropriate in the current climate.

Bill Share
68% of respondents were in favour of this practice, provided it was carried out openly and with the client's consent. 6% said that they would bill share, but only in certain circumstances and 26% said that they have no use for it. Many in favour commented that bill share makes economic sense and is little different to the days when clients used to produce bills. Those not favouring the practice considered it can lead to a loss of commercial advantage, with potential difficulties arising if contractors are incompatible and the project complex.

Outsourcing Bills of Quantities
98% of respondents confirmed that they use bills of quantities in obtaining quotations during the tender period. Most will outsource their BoQ preparation to external companies if necessary, the average being 11 times a year. Lack of time and/or in-house resource was the most stated reason for this along with inability to source sufficiently competent staff for direct employment or client's requirement to produce BoQs in an unfamiliar method of measurement.

How can the government stimulate the construction industry?
Responses to this question (in order of popularity) included:

• VAT reduction/omission on works to existing buildings
• Increase public spending
• Insist on training and apprenticeship schemes
• Financing delayed college works
• Get financial institutions lending again
• Taxing on landfill, etc.
• More money to stimulate the housing market
• Set up procurement systems that would benefit SMEs rather than major contractors
• Cut down on useless information requested in pre-qualifications
• Ensure that clients adhere to a code of practice that states that contractors that are lower at tender stage but have missed/ignored information relating to the tender are now allowed to re-submit their tender. This is unfair as contractors can “get a foot in the door” and then increase tender at a later date. “Stand by your price or withdraw” should be enforced.
• Make the choice to buy a new home more attractive than buying from existing stock. Given the drive to 2016 zero targets the only way to achieve this is through a) changes to Part L of the building regulations which must enforce massive requirements to upgrade existing homes in order to get EPCs that are allowable for sale; and b) use former government land to provide low carbon infrastructure schemes for developers.
• Restricting tender lists to a maximum of four contractors for D&B and six for traditional

***************

Derek Mynott, Manager Director of GF Partnership, was very pleased with the response to the survey. He said that "The survey has provided us with an excellent insight into industry trends regarding BoQ preparation and how different companies operate. We are very grateful to the people who completed the survey and shared with us their individual and employer situations".

-
Awards
seo company
Web Designers
-