The preparation of bill of civil engineering works can be done by the civil engineer or the quantity surveyor who is specifically trained on how to do it. The person preparing the bill should consider the following:
- The cost of the tangible construction to be done;
- The cost associated with the adverse conditions under which some of the work would be executed such as bodies of water, banks of rivers or sea coast, low-lying marshy land etc.
- The cost of temporary works or plant.
This is important because a truly useful bill of quantities (BOQ) should reflect the nature of the work proposed and the circumstances under which it will be executed.
It is usually the role of quantity surveyor to measure building works. However, they need to be trained on how to measure civil engineering works. Civil engineering works include: vast cuttings and embankments, mass and reinforced concrete structures, large structural steel construction, reservoirs, sewage schemes, piling for heavy foundations, harbor works, dry docks, roads, canals and railways etc. The use of new materials and techniques is continually changing the nature and methods of construction used in these works and these should reflect in the BOQ. For the preparation of BOQ, the following classes of civil engineering works are available in CESMM.
Differences between Civil Engineering and Building Works Method of Measurement
The following differences are applicable to civil engineering and building works measurement:
Areas of Common Shapes in Civil Engineering Works
In the preparation of bill for Civil Engineering works especially for items measured in m, m2 and m3, different shapes are encountered and the determination of the lengths, areas and volumes of these figures respectively are necessary to get the exact quantity of the materials involved in the work. The common shapes encountered include:
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