Bill of quantities for property renovations

The Bill of Quantities is a very important document in Italy too. doIt is necessary in renovation and construction business tendering, to detail and itemize the materials and labor needed for a specific building or restoring undertaking, costs implied. Precise, correct and meticulous drafting of this document is crucial to be able to choose one’s preference of contractor and calculate the construction costs of a building renovation accurately and exhaustively. 

Plus, once the contractor has been selected, the document serves as a tool via which the client, his/her consultant and/or contractor can easily and successfully communicate and understand each other. 

Commonly bills of quantities are drawn up by surveyors, architects, engineers and building estimators. Indeed putting a comprehensive bill of quantities together is definitely a professional job, best left to the skill and know-how of experts.

What does a bill of quantities in Italy concern?

There are diverse kinds of bills of quantities in Italy too, and the majority also allows for a contingency sum, i.e. an amount which applies to unforeseeable costs that could arise during the work.

Contingency sums may be specific, when the item is defined and possible work is anticipated, or generic, when a set amount of money is “set aside” to be allocated as needed during the construction.

As to the actual drafting of the Bill when there is an executive project prepared by professionals available the construction costs’ estimate is determined using an analytical procedure which is usually referred to as the Executive Metric Calculation.

There are two subjects who use the Quantity Survey – Construction Estimating (Computo Metrico Estimativo):

1) The Landlord, who may, on the basis of the Quantity Survey, verify and plan the investments he/she will be required to commit to, and consequently make a tender with different constructors to be able to compare offers  with the aim of obtaining the best price with the best quality;

2) The Constructor, who has the possibility to propose his offer for the construction of the works envisaged by the project (in the preventive phase), and then use the data calculations in the procurement and accounting phases (or in progress ).

There are two main kinds of existing Bills of Quantities, typified by the way the calculation is brought to be. In specie, when the quantity and unit amounts are specified, the calculation is defined as “build to order”, i.e. a customized project made out to meet the orderer’s and/or the building’s, specific requirements. When, instead, the job undertaking is agreed upon as to be carried out as a whole, hence not allowing for a subsequent phase as regards specific quantities, (whether these increase or decrease) the agreement is defined as a “turnkey project” or “turnkey operation”. 

As defined by Duncan Wallace (1984) this is, precisely “…. a contract where the essential design emanates from, or is supplied by, the Contractor and not the owner, so that the legal responsibility for the design, suitability and performance of the work after completion will be made to rest … with the contractor …. ‘Turnkey’ is treated as merely signifying the design responsibility as the contractor’s”.

The turnkey formula proves to be convenient in those instances in which detailed assessment of quantities is not an essential component in defining the item of calculation.

The “Build to Order” quote is undoubtedly the most accurate method to define the actual costs implied by a specific renovation, both in the estimation phase and in the accounting of the work. 

Distinctively an “In Progress” quote allows parties involved to establish the economic planning of the planned intervention. A “In Progress” quote is divided into two types:

1) the Construction Estimating, which defines the estimated cost forecast and, as such, is to be to be drawn up prior to commencement of the construction/renovation work.

2) the final Bill of Quantities with Work Sections and Measurements. Drawn up once work is completed, it calculates the actual quantities used for construction.

It is quite common for non professionals to confuse the definition of metric measurements and the one of estimative metric calculation. However, one should always bear in mind that, in the context of the construction of any building work, both documents are meaningful and essential. Hence, it is vital that each consultant who lends his work in the field of design be fully and comprehensively knowledgeable about the two methods’ function, and how they are to be drafted. Specifically, the Metric Calculation implies that all operations necessary for the realization of the project be defined and all quantities of the labor necessary for the work’s completion be estimated. On the other hand the Estimative Metric Calculation must add the cost estimate of all processes and total cost of the labor to the above data.