Question

BOQ is a multipurpose document which could be useful in many ways. The imperative of information contained in the BOQ is known by the people in the construction industry because the document is still being using even though many alternatives were introduced to replace it. Recent technology development led to expansion of research on the software which could perform BOQ effectively, easily and less time consuming. As a result a broad spectrum of BOQ software with different characteristics and applicability are developed and supplied to the market to be used in construction industry. The students are expected to provide an academic essay of 1000 words (+/- 5%) with respect to state of art review report which considers the most current development of available BOQ software in the market as well as brief demonstration of selected software function. It is strongly advised for the state of art review to be including graphical content such as figures, tables and screen shots in presenting functional performance of corresponding software along with their advantages and shortcoming.

Answer 1

Bill of quantities

A quantity bill is a paper used to contract products, parts, and services (and costs) in the construction industry. It also details (ideally) the conditions under which the construction contract is to be constructed or repaired and details all work to allow a contractor to price the work he or she is offering to do. The volumes can be measured by quantity, area, volume, weight, and time. To prepare a quantity bill the design must be complete and a requirement prepared.

The quantities are requested for the tenderers to draw up a price for the works. The quantity bill allowed bidders to quantify building costs for the offer because since both bidders can pay equivalent quantities, it often provided a rational because of the precise tendering mechanism rather than taking quantities from the sketches and requirements.

Create

• A quantity check and a building estimator prepare a list of quantities. In fact, "the quantity check was the basis for developing the quantity check as a separate profession."
• Historically, this approach was the result of non-contractual measures and drawings to assist contracting companies in calculating lump-sum prices.
• There are various styles of quantity notes, mainly the elementary quantity notes and commercial charges.

Some of the fortune

• An element contained in a list of quantities is a contingency number.
• This item refers to unpredictable costs that are likely to occur during the contract.
• The contingency amounts are two kinds. The first applies to a single object, for example, 'additional adjustment to facilities during the construction of the shower unit,' where an element is not mentioned on the inventory of amounts for improvements to current facilities but is foreseen for operation.
• The second form of number is when, on request of the client, money may be assigned within the volume arrangement in the same manner as the case above or as "additional work to be carried out by the client."
• The first is usually approximated by the PQS[closure needed] by the customer and the second by the QS[closure necessary] contractors (or business manager).

Seeley and Winfield (1999) Quantity Bills are a paper consisting of a timetable of the work items to be carried out in the framework of a contract with quantity entered for each item prepared by the Standard Building Works Measurement Method (SMM7). BOQ's are drawn up on behalf of the client by the quantity surveyor, according to Ramus and Birchall (2003), based on detailed architectural drawings and specifications. The BOQs are also sent to the contractors at the price of the next project, together with the drawings and specifications. The businessmen inject instead a unit price for each object into the banknotes and if the products are all aggregated, the effect becomes the expense of the whole account and therefore the price of the tenderer (Turner, 1995).

According to Ashworth and Hogg (2000), the history of BOQ goes back to the 19th century. They state that the merchants hired surveyors to plan a BOQ for the job through that general contracting in the industrial revolution. The vendors quickly found that the bills were endlessly duplicated and that each was using their surveyor so a common surveyor was hired to produce a report that would price both firms' workers. The firms decided that a successful employer should pay the wages of the boss. With the payment of the surveyors ultimately from the customer, it soon became obvious that these surveyors were better used for them under the architect's direct authority (Ashworth & Hogg, 2000). This method of procurement was historically embraced until post-World War 2 and remains mostly in the small to medium scale today (Cartlidge, 2006).

For several years the benefits and drawbacks of BOQ have been discussed and argued, and the dispute has contributed to clear views and differences of opinion. "The quantity bill was in the recent past often maligned as obsolete and needless in new procurement settings," says Duncan Cartlidge (2009). Indeed, the number of contracts based on a score of quantities in the last 20 years or so has fallen sharply. Many in the construction industry consider this to be the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the BOQ. The first is the pre-contract tendering step (described earlier), while the other is at the post-contract period when the contractors use the BOQ and the QS to change the work value and price in terms of the design. The advantages and pitfalls of the BOQ in both pre and post-contract processes are addressed by Davis, Love, and Baccarini, (2009).

Pre-contract advantages of BOQ:

• Database – Price information for a potential estimation is provided in the BOQ.
• Calculation of charge – The BOQ is the sole basis on which the consultative payments are measured.
• Asset Management – Data for the management of the building completed, the life cycle costing, maintenance schedules, general assurance, and insurance cost substitution are readily provided by BOQ. Asset management.
• Taxation – as part of a full project asset control system, BOQ offers the framework for fast and accurate planning of depreciation schedules.

Precontract step drawbacks of BOQ:

• Cost and time – BOQ preparation tends to cost and prolong the documentation period.
• Estimate procedure-Tenderer is only charged according to the BOQ and may disregard the criteria (e.g. standards for the workmanship). This may contribute to the price and the consequent danger of bad results as entrepreneurs are trying to avoid loss of capital.
• A provision – The application of detailed design and associated BOQ discourages entrepreneurs from proposing alternative design solutions because alternatives will modify quantities. The BOQ is mainly (if any) appropriate for standard procurement.

Post-contract phase advantages of BOQ:

• Progress payments certain – The BOQ provides a post-contractual management tool to evaluate progress payments. It is straightforward and reliable to calculate these progress claims. This trust provides businessmen, executives, and financers with peace of mind as they realize that all research takes place at equal and realistic rates.
• Variance control – The BOQ provides a solid general framework for the estimation of improvements. The BOQ unit rates also lower the prices of variations. The price change without BOQ results in long negotiations. Without a BOQ.
• Risk management – BOQ prices are used to compare the price of the contractor with current market trends. This offers a framework to assess what risk factors are likely to evolve.
• BOQ errors – Errors don't make a big difference. The average change order was found by Choy (1991) to be 7.7 percent with BOQ mistakes accounting for 4.5 percent of all variations in contract values.

Post contract phase disadvantages of BOQ:

• BOQ mistakes – Due to the amount of information needed in a BOQ, inconsistencies, omissions, and differences between the sketches and the BOQ are extremely probable to be found with consequent conflict. The BOK 's advantages are outweighed by this risk of misinterpretation and error dispute.
• Unit rates — Cost data collected from the BOQ is also used in cost accounting by QSs for the assessment of intermediate appraisals. Such knowledge should be assumed for factors such as vendors that will raise early sales prices over their real costs and rising costs of potential trades to boost cash flow.
• The BOQ means that the contractor's liability, which contributes to lawsuits and conflicts, is transferred or "harm blurred."
• Standard measuring method — SMM is often said to be too complex and numerous disputes are arising from their language and how the contractor and QS interpret the system.