Measuring the enabling works around a modular school

We supported a modular-building contractor preparing bills of quantities for the works around a new school. Seven packages covered substructure, drainage, utilities and external works. The measurement exercise addressed the temporary and supporting activities as well as the permanent works, with a clarification record explaining design queries and the assumptions used for pricing.

Background

The modular buildings formed one part of a wider construction scope. Foundations, drainage, service routes, fencing and landscaping all needed to be described and measured in a way that allowed the contractor to obtain meaningful trade prices.

Several details affecting those packages were either absent from the initial drawings or required confirmation. The value of the exercise therefore depended on identifying the associated work and resolving or recording the interfaces, as well as taking off the quantities shown.

Our approach

We agreed an SMM7 measurement basis and Excel output arranged by work package. The final set comprised drainage, external furniture, hard landscaping, fencing and gates, utilities, soft landscaping and substructure. A drawing register defined the information used, with the bill read alongside the clarification schedule.

The substructure review considered how the foundations would be constructed. The piling mat was not initially detailed, so we raised the requirement and incorporated the client’s subsequent direction on thickness and extent. The associated excavation, formation preparation, geotextile and compacted fill were then represented in the measured scope.

Piling itself was treated as a specialist pricing point, with associated activities identified separately. Setup, pile numbers, arisings and cutting off piles needed to be considered alongside the principal specialist item. This made the extent of the enquiry clearer than a single allowance for the completed foundation system.

The drainage bill described pipework by size and trench depth, together with connections, channels and attenuation works. One attenuation tank had an effective storage capacity of approximately 370 cubic metres. Its measurement included the surrounding excavation, bedding, membrane and backfill requirements rather than treating the storage units as the whole installation.

We examined the boundaries between packages. For example, the electrical installation of lighting columns sat within the services scope, while the associated ducts formed part of the measured external works. Other queries established where tree protection belonged and where the available highway information limited the extent that could be measured.

Landscape and specification discrepancies were also recorded. Where a drawing description did not align with a specification reference, we sought confirmation and retained the response or stated basis. This reduced the risk of different tenderers silently pricing different interpretations of the same item.

The clarification schedule remained part of the deliverable. It explained which matters had been confirmed and where an assumption or further design input still affected the pricing basis. That record was particularly useful across seven packages, where a small scope ambiguity could otherwise be omitted or priced more than once.

Outcome

The client received seven coordinated bills and a supporting clarification record for its pre-construction enquiries. The documents made the main quantities, associated operations and package boundaries visible to the estimating and procurement teams.

Our contribution was to turn a developing set of design information into a defined pricing basis for the works around the modular building, while retaining a clear record of the information and assumptions behind it.