What Is a BOQ (Bill of Quantities)?
A Bill of Quantities (BOQ) is an itemized list of every material, labor, and work item needed for a project, each with a quantity, unit, and rate — used to price, tender, and control the project.
What a BOQ typically contains
- Item description: What the work is — e.g. excavation, concrete, blockwork, plaster, tiling.
- Unit of measurement: m³, m², linear meters, or "each," depending on the trade.
- Quantity: How much of that item the project requires, taken off the drawings.
- Unit rate: The price per unit, either estimated or quoted by the contractor.
- Line total: Quantity × unit rate — every line total sums to the project cost base.
Why contractors rely on it
A BOQ turns a design into a priced, comparable, and trackable document. It lets multiple contractors bid on identical scope (so the client compares like-for-like), gives the contractor a clear cost base to build a quotation from, and — once work starts — becomes the baseline to track actual cost and progress against.
Item: Excavation — Unit: m³ — Qty: 120 — Rate: $8 — Total: $960. Item: Concrete (Foundations) — Unit: m³ — Qty: 45 — Rate: $95 — Total: $4,275. These lines, summed across the full document, give the project’s direct cost.
Frequently asked questions
Who prepares the BOQ — the client or the contractor?
Usually a quantity surveyor or consultant prepares it during design, based on drawings, and issues it to bidders. Contractors then price each line to submit their bid. On smaller or design-build projects, the contractor may build the BOQ themselves.
Is a BOQ the same as a quotation?
No. The BOQ is the priced list of quantities. The quotation is the client-facing document built from the BOQ total, with markup, VAT, payment terms, and validity added.
What happens if quantities change during construction?
Variations are logged against the original BOQ, with the client and contractor agreeing on added or reduced quantities and their cost impact — this is why keeping the BOQ as a live, trackable document matters.
Price your BOQ
Related guides
Managing a BOQ in a spreadsheet gets messy fast.
Metrak lets you upload or build a BOQ, track actual cost against every line as the project runs, and export a client-ready quotation.