Bill of quantities example for UK QS: download & guide

A clear, NRM2-aligned bill of quantities example is ready below, with a worked domestic extension BoQ you can adapt immediately. The essential columns every line must carry are: reference code, description, unit, quantity, unit rate, and line total. Download the worked Excel template and PDF sample from the links in this article to get a ready-formatted, editable starting point.

TL;DR — what every BoQ line needs:

• Reference code — ties the line to the work breakdown structure
• Description — unambiguous, preamble-linked item text
• Unit — the standard measurement unit (m, m², m³, nr, kg, t, h, LS)
• Quantity — the measured amount, taken off from drawings
• Unit rate — the priced rate per unit (£)
• Line total — quantity × unit rate (£)

Quick example line:

Download the full worked Excel template and PDF sample BoQ from the Designing Buildings construction wiki and the resources section at the end of this article.

Table of Contents

• What is a bill of quantities and how does it differ from related documents?
• What types of BoQ suit different project stages?
• How is a professional BoQ structured, and what does each line contain?
• How do you prepare an NRM2-aligned BoQ step by step?
• Worked example: a domestic rear extension BoQ
• What are the most common BoQ errors and how do you spot them?
• Where can you find reliable UK BoQ templates and standards?
• How do you validate a BoQ before it goes out?
• Key takeaways
• Why professional judgement still matters in an automated BoQ workflow
• Quantiflow speeds up NRM2-aligned BoQ production without replacing your judgement
• Useful sources and downloadable resources

What is a bill of quantities and how does it differ from related documents?

A bill of quantities (BoQ) is a structured, itemised document that lists every element of construction work by description, unit, quantity, and price, prepared in accordance with NRM2 so that all tendering contractors price from an identical scope. That single fact is the reason BoQs exist: they make tender comparison accurate and give the contract a measurable baseline for valuing variations and controlling cost throughout the project.

In UK procurement, the BoQ sits at the heart of the tendering process. Contractors receive it, insert their rates, and return a priced document. The client's quantity surveyor then compares submissions line by line. During the contract, the same document becomes the reference for interim valuations, change orders, and final account settlement, all governed by RICS and NRM2 guidance.

How a BoQ differs from related documents:

A bill of materials lists materials only, with no labour, plant, or preliminaries. A schedule of rates lists unit prices without fixed quantities, so the total cost is unknown until work is measured on site. A BoQ combines fixed quantities, descriptions, and rates to produce a firm, auditable cost plan.

Standard measurement units used in UK BoQs:

What types of BoQ suit different project stages?

Choosing the right BoQ type before you start measuring saves significant rework. The four principal types used in UK practice each serve a distinct stage of the project lifecycle.

Preliminary (approximate) BoQ — produced at RIBA Stage 2 or 3, before full design information is available. Quantities are estimated from outline drawings, often using elemental cost models. Useful for feasibility checks and early client budget approvals, not for tendering.

Elemental BoQ — organises work by building element (substructure, frame, roof, finishes) rather than by trade. Favoured for cost planning and benchmarking against cost-per-m² data. NRM1 governs elemental cost plans; NRM2 takes over once the project moves to measured works.

Trade (detailed) BoQ — the standard format for competitive tendering. Work is measured and described trade by trade (groundworks, concrete, masonry, carpentry, and so on) in full NRM2 compliance. This is the document contractors price and the contract bill is drawn from.

Provisional and PC sum BoQ — not a standalone type, but a section within any BoQ where scope is undefined or specialist-supplied. Provisional sums cover undefined work; Prime Cost (PC) sums cover specialist or nominated subcontractor supply. Both must be clearly labelled and separated from measured items.

Pro Tip: Use the types of bills of quantities guide to confirm which BoQ type your contract requires before you set up your template. Choosing the wrong type at Stage 3 and having to reformat at Stage 4 costs more time than the initial decision.

NRM2 stage and project complexity drive the choice. A simple domestic extension needs a trade BoQ with a short preliminaries section. A multi-phase commercial fit-out may require elemental cost plans at Stage 2 and a full trade BoQ at Stage 4, with provisional sums for specialist packages.

How is a professional BoQ structured, and what does each line contain?

A professional NRM2-aligned BoQ follows a strict hierarchy. Understanding that hierarchy is what separates a document that survives tender scrutiny from one that generates queries.

The five principal sections, in order, are:

1. Preliminaries — site-specific costs not attributable to a single measured item: site management, welfare, temporary works, insurance, plant, and programme-related items.
2. Measured works — the bulk of the document; all quantified, described, and priced items of permanent work, organised by trade or element.
3. Provisional sums — defined or undefined allowances for work that cannot yet be fully measured.
4. Prime Cost (PC) sums — allowances for goods or work to be supplied by a nominated supplier or subcontractor.
5. Dayworks — a schedule of labour, plant, and material rates for instructed work that cannot be valued by measurement.

Anatomy of a BoQ line item

Every line in the measured works section must carry six fields. The table below shows the standard columns, their purpose, and a worked example:

The description column carries the most risk. Vague descriptions ("brickwork to walls") generate tender queries, post-contract disputes, and variation claims. A well-written description specifies the material, the standard, the mortar mix, the bond pattern, and the location.

Pro Tip: Link every description to a numbered preamble clause. Write "215mm facing brickwork as clause B1.3" rather than repeating the full specification in every line. This keeps the BoQ compact and the specification authoritative, and it reduces the risk of contradictions between documents.

How do you prepare an NRM2-aligned BoQ step by step?

Producing a compliant BoQ is a sequential process. Skipping steps, particularly the QA stage, is where most errors enter the document.

1. Confirm the measurement standard. Agree with the client and design team that NRM2 governs measurement. Record this in the project brief. If the contract is JCT, NRM2 is the default; confirm it is not overridden by a bespoke amendment.
2. Gather and check drawings and specifications. Collect the latest issued drawings (mark the revision number), the project specification, and any employer's requirements. Flag any drawing conflicts before takeoff begins.
3. Set up the BoQ template. Use an NRM2-structured template with pre-built sections for Preliminaries, Measured Works, Provisional Sums, PC Sums, and Dayworks. Pre-structured templates can eliminate significant manual setup time on mid-sized projects, as template providers note.
4. Perform the quantity takeoff. Work through the drawings systematically, section by section. Measure each item in the NRM2 unit, record the dimension string (length × width × height or area), and note the drawing reference against each measurement.
5. Check units and dimensions. Before pricing, run a unit sanity check: confirm that linear items are in metres, areas in m², volumes in m³, and enumerated items in nr. A single unit error can misstate a line total by an order of magnitude.
6. Apply verified rates. Use a current UK rate library or BCIS data. For specialist items, obtain subcontractor quotations and insert them as PC sums rather than guessing a rate.
7. Add provisional and PC sums. Insert these in their dedicated sections with a brief explanatory note for each. Never embed a provisional sum inside a measured works section without labelling it clearly.
8. Compile the preliminaries. Price site-specific items: project manager time, site establishment, welfare, temporary fencing, scaffolding (if not measured separately), and insurance. Preliminaries often represent a significant portion of the measured works total on domestic projects, reflecting site-specific costs.
9. Produce subtotals and the summary page. Each trade section carries a subtotal. The summary page collects all section totals, adds provisional and PC sums, adds preliminaries, and produces the tender total.
10. Record assumptions and exclusions. Add a commercial notes page listing what is excluded (e.g., "external drainage excluded — by others"), what rates are based on (e.g., "rates based on BCIS Q1 2025 regional indices"), and any access constraints assumed.

QA checklist before issue:

• Cross-total every section and confirm the summary page matches
• Check that no line carries a zero rate or a zero quantity without a note
• Confirm all provisional and PC sums are in their dedicated sections
• Verify that drawing revision numbers on the takeoff sheets match the issued set
• Sense-check rates against BCIS benchmarks or recent tender returns

For residential projects, the setting out quantities guide covers domestic-specific measurement conventions in detail.

Worked example: a domestic rear extension BoQ

The following is a compact but complete sample bill of quantities for a single-storey domestic rear extension (approximately 20m²). Rates are illustrative and based on typical UK regional averages; they are not a substitute for current BCIS data or live subcontractor quotes.

Preliminaries

Measured works — substructure

Measured works — superstructure

Measured works — internal finishes

Provisional and PC sums

BoQ summary

Assumptions recorded in commercial notes: rates based on South-East England regional averages; external drainage excluded (by others); structural engineer's specification for foundations assumed; no allowance for party wall works.

The sample BoQ PDF from Bypass Associates shows a comparable stage-3 groundworks and frame example with the same column structure, useful for cross-referencing line formatting. A worked Excel version of this extension BoQ, with unlocked rate cells and auto-calculated totals, is available to download from the resources section below.

Common adjustments to show in the worked sums: a site with restricted access (e.g., rear-only entry through a gate) typically adds a noticeable premium to labour rates for substructure and superstructure trades. Scaffolding on a terraced property with no side access is priced as a lump sum in Preliminaries rather than per m², as shown in line 1.3 above.

What are the most common BoQ errors and how do you spot them?

The most frequent BoQ mistake is either too much rigidity or too little detail. Both extremes generate disputes. A BoQ that over-specifies every minor fixing creates a document so dense that contractors price defensively; one that under-describes leaves scope for interpretation and variation claims.

Common errors to watch for:

• Missing items — particularly builder's work in connection with services, external works, and making good after trades. These omissions inflate the final account.
• Incorrect quantities — transposition errors from dimension sheets, or failure to deduct openings from wall areas.
• Wrong units — pricing brickwork in m³ instead of m², or pricing drainage in nr instead of m, produces wildly incorrect totals.
• Duplicate lines — the same item appearing in two trade sections, often when a template is copied without review.
• Vague descriptions — "blockwork to walls" without specifying block density, mortar mix, or location.
• Omitted preliminaries — a BoQ with no preliminaries section forces contractors to bury site costs in rates, making tender comparison meaningless.
• Provisional sums embedded in measured works — separating provisional and PC sums into their own section is not optional; mixing them with measured items obscures the contract baseline and creates legal ambiguity over what is fixed-price and what is subject to remeasurement.

Red-flag checklist before issue:

• Any line where unit rate × quantity does not equal the stated line total
• Rates that are unusually low (below BCIS lower quartile) or unusually high without a note
• A preliminaries section that is less than 8% of measured works total on a site-based project
• Provisional sums without an explanatory note on scope or trigger condition
• No dayworks schedule attached

Corrective actions: rewrite ambiguous descriptions by adding material standard, location, and fixing method. Move any provisional or PC sum found in a measured section to its dedicated section and add a cross-reference note. Raise a clarification query to the design team rather than assuming scope when drawings conflict.

Where can you find reliable UK BoQ templates and standards?

The quality of your starting template determines how much rework you do before the document is fit for issue. A pre-structured NRM2 template with built-in sections for Preliminaries, Measured Works, Provisional Sums, PC Sums, and Dayworks can eliminate significant manual setup time on mid-sized projects.

Reliable sources for UK-aligned templates:

• NRM2 via RICS — the authoritative measurement standard itself. The RICS publication defines measurement rules, units, and BoQ structure. Any template you use must align with it.
• Designing Buildings wiki — free, annotated NRM2 guidance with worked examples and downloadable references. Useful for checking measurement conventions on specific item types.
• Bypass Associates sample BoQ PDF — a real stage-3 example showing groundworks and frame items with the correct column structure.
• Arcley's worked BoQ walkthrough — a practical blog example showing exact columns and subtotals, useful for less experienced practitioners checking their layout.
• Excel templates from specialist providers — pre-built with NRM2 section headings, formula-linked totals, and rate library columns. Template providers note that a well-structured starting file can remove 40+ hours of manual setup on a mid-sized project.

Template selection checklist:

• Format: editable Excel preferred over locked PDF for live pricing
• NRM2 section structure present (Preliminaries through Dayworks)
• Rate column with formula linking to line total
• Separate tabs or sections for Provisional Sums and PC Sums
• Version control field (issue date, revision number, preparer initials)

Customising for project type: for residential projects, simplify the Preliminaries section and remove trade sections that do not apply (e.g., structural steelwork). For commercial fit-outs, add M&E sections and expand the Dayworks schedule. Never delete NRM2 section headings entirely; mark unused sections "not applicable" so the document structure remains consistent across your project portfolio.

Pro Tip: Keep a master template under version control, separate from any live project file. Copy the master for each new project and immediately rename it with the project code and issue date. This prevents accidental overwrites and gives you a clean audit trail. For teams managing multiple live BoQs, construction document control guidance covers version control protocols in detail.

How do you validate a BoQ before it goes out?

A BoQ that leaves your desk with an arithmetic error or a missing section damages your credibility and can affect the contract baseline. A structured QA routine takes under an hour on a typical domestic BoQ and catches the errors that a final read-through misses.

Essential QA checks:

• Cross-total check — sum every trade section independently and confirm it matches the section subtotal. Then confirm all section subtotals sum to the tender total on the summary page.
• Unit sanity check — scan every line for unit mismatches. Flag any item where the unit does not match the NRM2 convention for that work type.
• Rate reasonableness — compare key rates against BCIS benchmarks or recent tender returns. A rate more than 20% below or above the benchmark without a note warrants investigation.
• Scope coverage — cross-reference the BoQ against the specification and drawing schedule. Every specified item should appear somewhere in the document; every BoQ item should trace back to a drawing or specification clause.
• Provisional and PC sum segregation — confirm that all provisional and PC sums sit in their dedicated sections with explanatory notes.

Sign-off structure: the preparer signs the dimension sheets; the checker (a second QS) signs the priced BoQ; the lead QS signs the issue cover sheet. A brief sign-off clause on the cover sheet might read: "This Bill of Quantities has been prepared in accordance with NRM2 (October 2021) and is issued for tender purposes. Quantities are based on drawings listed in Appendix A, revision [X]. Exclusions are noted in the commercial notes."

Pro Tip: Log every issued BoQ in a project register with the issue date, revision number, drawing set referenced, and the name of the checker. When a variation arises six months later, that register is the fastest way to establish what was and was not in the original measured scope. The construction measurement quality control guide sets out a full QC framework for measured work.

Document your known exclusions explicitly. "External drainage by others" and "party wall works excluded" are not obvious to a contractor pricing blind. State them in the commercial notes and cross-reference them in the relevant trade section.

Key takeaways

A well-prepared, NRM2-aligned BoQ with clear line descriptions, segregated provisional sums, and a signed-off QA check is the single most effective tool for accurate tender comparison and clean contract administration.

Why professional judgement still matters in an automated BoQ workflow

Automation has changed the speed at which a BoQ can be produced, but it has not changed what makes one accurate. The decisions that determine whether a BoQ survives tender scrutiny and contract administration are still judgement calls, and they are worth naming.

Provisional sums are the clearest example. No automated takeoff can determine whether a ground investigation is adequate or whether the structural engineer's foundation specification accounts for the actual site conditions. A QS who has walked the site and spoken to the structural engineer will price that provisional sum differently from one who has not. The number in the BoQ reflects that judgement, and no algorithm substitutes for it.

Access and interface items are similarly opaque to automation. A rear extension on a terraced street with a 900mm side gate requires a different preliminaries build-up than the same extension on a detached property with full vehicle access. The drawings do not always show this. The QS who asks the question before pricing avoids a variation claim later.

That said, the argument against automation is not a strong one. The tedious, error-prone work of transferring dimensions from drawings to spreadsheets is exactly where human error concentrates. Automated takeoffs, when reviewed by a competent QS, produce more consistent results than manual takeoffs produced under time pressure. The key phrase is "reviewed by a competent QS." Automation should include a professional judgement override layer so quantity surveyors can adjust automated takeoffs for site-specific constraints, material lead times, and access risks. A platform that locks the output and prevents override is not a professional tool.

The BoQs that generate the fewest disputes are not the most detailed ones. They are the ones where the QS made clear decisions about what was measured, what was provisional, and what was excluded, and then documented those decisions in the commercial notes. That discipline is a habit, not a feature.

Quantiflow speeds up NRM2-aligned BoQ production without replacing your judgement

Producing a compliant BoQ from PDF drawings manually takes hours of dimension extraction, unit checking, and rate research. Quantiflow cuts that process significantly by reading your architectural drawings, extracting measured quantities automatically, and structuring the output into an NRM2-aligned BoQ ready for your review and pricing.

The platform integrates a live UK rate library so your rates reflect current market conditions, not a spreadsheet you last updated six months ago. Every takeoff is traceable: Quantiflow logs the drawing reference, revision number, and measurement against each line, giving you a clean audit trail from drawing to priced BoQ. You can override any automated quantity at any stage, add provisional and PC sums in their correct sections, and export the finished document to Excel or PDF for issue.

Quantiflow is built for SME quantity surveyors, builders, and architects who need professional-grade output without the overhead of enterprise software. Plans start at £39/month for Solo users, with Business at £149/month for teams. Measured twice. Priced once.

Start your free trial at Quantiflow and produce your first NRM2-aligned BoQ from a PDF drawing today.

Useful sources and downloadable resources

The following sources provide authoritative guidance, worked examples, and downloadable templates for UK BoQ preparation.

• NRM2 — RICS (October 2021 PDF) — the definitive measurement standard for UK BoQs. Covers measurement rules, units, section structure, and preamble conventions. Required reading for any QS preparing a compliant document. Available via the RICS website; RICS membership may be required for some formats.
• NRM2 — Designing Buildings construction wiki — free, annotated summary of NRM2 with worked examples and cross-references to related standards. Useful for quick reference on specific measurement conventions without navigating the full RICS publication.
• RICS BCIS construction data — the Building Cost Information Service provides UK cost benchmarks, regional indices, and tender price data. Subscription required; widely used for rate verification and tender analysis.
• Quantity surveying software benefits — Quantiflow blog — covers the productivity and quality benefits of moving from manual spreadsheets to an integrated takeoff platform, with specific reference to NRM2 alignment and audit trail requirements.
• Revit worksharing guide — S15 Studio — for teams working from Revit models, this guide explains collaborative worksharing workflows and how model exports feed into automated quantity takeoffs.

Recommended

• AI Quantity Takeoffs for UK QS Firms | QuantiFlow
• Types of bills of quantities: a UK professional's guide
• Setting out quantities for residential projects: a UK guide
• Construction measurement quality control: the UK SME guide