Producing trade bills for a commercial office refurbishment

We supported a main contractor preparing trade pricing for a commercial office refurbishment. Six bills of quantities translated the available design into measured work and clearly identified pricing items, supported by a drawing register and more than 40 queries, assumptions and exclusions.

Background

The proposed refurbishment involved several floors of an existing building, with the work divided into decoration, floor finishes, tiling, internal walls, joinery and ceilings. The contractor required package information within short, staged timescales, while parts of the design remained incomplete or inconsistent.

Our appointment was to quantify the available information and make the basis of the bills clear. This included recording the assumptions and outstanding details that would affect how the work was priced.

Our approach

We organised the measurement around the six trade packages and the level of detail agreed for each. The appointment combined builders quantities for some packages with NRM2 measurement for others. A drawing register recorded the documents and revisions used, establishing a defined basis for the quantities and the information covered by each issue.

The work required comparison of schedules, details and specifications as well as measurement from drawings. We maintained a live register of queries, assumptions and exclusions. Missing doors and inconsistent vision panel information were raised with the client, and the basis adopted for measurement was recorded. More than 40 numbered queries and clarifications documented the gaps and qualifications across the packages.

Package interfaces also needed attention. Stair soffits were allocated to the ceiling bill, while treads and risers were included with the floors. Feature joinery and its associated decoration were expressly excluded. Floor finishes were considered alongside the substrate details so that the preparation and supporting layers could be described on a consistent basis.

Where the design did not support a firm quantity or description, we identified the uncertainty in the bill. In the absence of MEP drawings, openings were included as pricing items against the relevant wall types. Undefined partition head details and ceiling access panels were identified through provisional quantities or descriptions requiring confirmation. This allowed the package information to progress with the unresolved scope visible to those preparing prices.

Measurement, bill production, checking and package issue were tracked separately. The bills were accompanied by the drawing register and the accumulated queries, clarifications and exclusions. A summary report explained the principal qualifications and the information on which the measurement was based, so the quantities could be read alongside the design documents.

Outcome

We produced six trade bills and the supporting records needed to understand what had been measured, assumed or excluded. Client feedback recorded that the requested information had been provided in a timely manner and that the staged returns, typically one or two weeks, were suitable for the appointment.

The client also confirmed that the assumptions list helped clarify what the designers still needed to provide. The completed package offered quantified scope for pricing and a record of the remaining design uncertainties, giving the contractor a clearer basis for assessing the information available before procurement.