Bill of Quantities (BOQ)

A bill of quantities is produced from the design documentation, usually by a quantity surveyor or an estimator, and it converts drawings and specifications into a countable list. Each line carries a description, a unit of measurement, a quantity, and — once priced — a rate and a total. Because every bidder prices the same bill, tenders become comparable on price rather than on interpretation.

The accuracy of a BOQ depends entirely on the documentation underneath it. If a drawing revision was missed, or a specification cites a standard that has since been superseded, the error propagates into every bid built on that bill and is usually discovered on site. Reconciling a BOQ against the drawings and the specification is slow, manual work, and it is repeated every time the design changes.