Page 215 - Civil Engineering Project Management, Fourth Edition

Measurement and bills of quantities
other tenderers, etc., the contractor may decide to add or subtract an adjust-
ment figure to the total of billed prices. He could, of course, select certain bill
items whose rate or price he could alter to make the adjustment, but this could
be risky if more or less work under such items should prove necessary. 195
15.12 Preamble to bill of quantities

There must be a preamble to the bill of quantities in which is stated, among
other things, the following:

• the method of measurement used in preparing the bills of quantities;
• if the CESMM is used, the edition which applies and which parts of
sections 1–7 (which cover general instructions, etc.) are to apply;
• the classes or types of work which are not measured in accordance with
the CESMM;
• provisions with respect to ‘method-related’ items;
• provisions with respect to any ‘adjustment item’ to the total of billed prices;
• payments to be made in respect of prime cost items;
• the definition of ‘rock’;
• if CESMM is used, identification of bodies of water on or bounding the site;
• if no price is entered against an item that it will be assumed that no pay-
ment is to be made under that item.
The provisions with respect to the method-related items inserted by the ten-
derer may need further amplification added before the contract is awarded,
to clarify such matters as the method of payment of such items.

15.13 List of principal quantities

The CESMM requires that ‘the principal components of the works with their
approximate estimated quantities shall be given solely to assist tenderers in
making a rapid assessment of the general scale and character of the proposed
works prior to the examination of the remainder of the bill of quantities’. This
list is to precede the preamble to the bill of quantities. It is difficult to under-
stand how this requirement could be of any real value to a serious tenderer.
It would in any case be a subjective selection by the engineer of ‘the principal
components’. It is the tenderer’s responsibility to select those components that
are most significant to him in terms of cost, quantity or difficulty. The early part
of the specification should describe the nature, magnitude and output or size,
etc. of the principal components of the works so that the extent of the works
required is defined and readily appreciated. This is also useful if the cost of the
contract is to be of value for cost analysis purposes in the future.