Unit II
Estimating Bill of Materials
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Building construction estimation is the determination of probable construction
costs for any given project. Many items have an impact and contribute to the cost of the
project; each item must be analyzed, quantified and priced. Because the estimate is
prepared before the actual construction, a great deal of study and thought must be
included in the construction documents. An estimator who can visualize the project and
precisely determine its costs will become one of the most important persons in any
construction company.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Module 6: Rebar Works (Masonry)
Introduction
Reinforcement bars (rebars) are incorporated into concrete and other masonry
members primarily to prevent cracking when tension, compression and other forces or
loads that exceed the strength of the latter are applied without steel reinforcements.
Round bars are popularly used in the construction of reinforced concrete. They
could be plain or deformed. Deformed bars have lugs on the surface to provide increased
bond between concrete and steel to prevent slipping. In many instances, the ends of bars
would be bent or terminated in hooks.
Source: http://jps-ep.com/portfolio-item/m-s-round-bars
Figure 5-1. Plain round bar.
Source: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/stack-steel-bar-texture-construction-site-background_4614493.htm
Figure 5-2. Deformed bar.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Rebar Size Chart (Deformed Bar)
Bar Size Nominal Area, Nominal Mass,
English Metric mm2 kg/m
#3 10 79 0.616
#4 12 113 0.888
#5 16 201 1.579
The table above shows the commonly used rebar sizes in masonry works. 10 mm
Ø is commonly used in the CHB wall. 12 mm Ø is generally used in door and window
openings and lintel beams while 16 mm Ø is usually used in CHB wall
intersections/corners. But still, it depends on the construction plan details so better to
verify it first before starting to estimate the materials.
The following is the common rebar layout in CHB walls:
Figure 6-1. Two-segment CHB wall sample arrangement of the rebars.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Figure 6-2. Other configurations o CHB wall.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Estimating Rebar Works of CHB Wall
Horizontal Bars
𝑵⁄𝑯𝒘
𝒏𝒉 =
𝑺⁄𝑯𝒃
𝒏𝒉 (𝑶⁄𝑳𝒘 )
𝑵= (𝟏. 𝟏)
𝑩𝑭⁄𝑳
Where:
𝑛ℎ = number of horizontal bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝑁⁄𝐻𝑤 = net height of wall
𝑆⁄𝐻𝑏 = spacing of horizontal bars
𝑁 = number of F/L bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝑂⁄𝐿𝑤 = overall length of wall
𝐵𝐹/𝐿 = full-length of rebar that can be purchased from the supplier
(6 m, 7.5 m, 9 m, 10.5 m, 12 m, 13.5 m, 15 m)
Note: The multiplier 1.1 is included to the formula to add allowance for splicing
and hooks or bends.
Vertical Bars
𝑵⁄𝑳𝒘
𝒏𝒗 =
𝑺⁄𝑽𝒃
𝒏𝒗 (𝑶⁄𝑯𝒘 )
𝑵= (𝟏. 𝟐)
𝑩𝑭⁄𝑳
Where:
𝑛𝑣 = number of vertical bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝑁⁄𝐿𝑤 = net length of wall
𝑆⁄𝑉𝑏 = spacing of vertical bars
𝑁 = number of F/L bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝑂⁄𝐻𝑤 = overall height of wall
𝐵𝐹/𝐿 = full-length of rebar that can be purchased from the supplier
(6 m, 7.5 m, 9 m, 10.5 m, 12 m, 13.5 m, 15 m)
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Note: The multiplier 1.2 is included to the formula to add allowance for splicing
and hooks or bends. The multiplier is larger than the multiplier of horizontal bars
because vertical bars requires more splices.
Continuous Footing
Estimating the full-length bars required for the longitudinal and transverse
reinforcements of continuous footings (CHB/wall footing):
Estimating the Longitudinal Bars
𝑳𝑻 𝒏 𝑳
𝑵= (𝟏. 𝟐)
𝑩𝑭⁄𝑳
Where:
𝑁 = number of F/L bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝐿𝑇 = total length of all wall footings in consideration
𝑛𝐿 = number of longitudinal bars
𝐵𝐹⁄𝐿 = selected full-length bar that can be purchased from the
supplier
Note: Multiplying the initial result of the calculation by 1.2 as shown, adds 20% as margin
for bar splicing, hooks or bend, and for wastage. All calculated final answers in
normal rounding off must be written first before including the rounded-up value to
see to it that the process is correct.
Estimating the Transverse Bars
𝑳𝑻
𝑵=
𝑺𝑩 𝒏𝒂
Where:
𝑁 = number of F/L bars required
(round up the value to the nearest whole number)
𝐿𝑇 = total length of all wall footings in consideration
𝑆𝐵 = spacing of bars
𝑛𝑎 = number of bars available from full-length bar
Note: Transverse bar length to be used is the width of CHB/wall footing. All calculated
final answers in normal rounding off must be written first before including the
rounded-up value to see to it that the process is correct.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Sample Problem
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Other details of plans:
Door D-1 = 1.1 m Width x 2.1 m Height
Distance from FFL to top of RB = 3.2 m
From the given construction plans and details above, compute for the following:
Note: All dimensions are in millimeters.
1. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 9 m rebars required for CHB wall horizontal bars at
GL 1 & 3/A-C.
2. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m rebars required for CHB wall vertical bars at GL
1 & 3/A-C.
3. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 continuous
bars at GL 1 & 3/A-C.
4. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 6 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 transverse
bars at GL 1 & 3/A-C.
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Solution:
1. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 9 m rebars required for CHB wall horizontal bars at
GL 1 & 3/A-C.
Based on the detail plan, the horizontal bar spacing is every 3-layers. Height of
CHB is 200 mm, therefore, 3-layers is equal to 600 mm.
𝑁⁄𝐻𝑤 0.4+0.2+0.1+0.1+3.2−0.3
𝑛ℎ = = = 6.17 𝑜𝑟 7 𝑝𝑐𝑠
𝑆 ⁄𝐻𝑏 0.6
𝑛ℎ (𝑂⁄𝐿𝑤 ) 7(8)(2)
𝑁= (1.1) = (1.1) = 𝟏𝟑. 𝟔𝟗 𝒐𝒓 𝟏𝟒 𝒑𝒄𝒔 𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝒎 𝒙 𝟗 𝒎
𝐵𝐹⁄𝐿 9
2. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m rebars required for CHB wall vertical bars at GL
1 & 3/A-C.
Since the wall configurations and roof beams are same in the grid line for
consideration, we just need to compute for the requirement of 1 wall then multiply it to 4
to get the total required number of rebars.
𝑁 ⁄𝐿𝑤 4−0.3−0.15
𝑛𝑣 = = = 5.92 𝑜𝑟 6 𝑝𝑐𝑠
𝑆 ⁄𝑉𝑏 0.6
𝑛𝑣 (𝑂⁄𝐻𝑤 ) 6(0.2+0.4+0.2+0.1+0.1+3.2)(4)
𝑁= (1.2) = (1.2) =
𝐵𝐹⁄𝐿 7.5
𝑁 = 𝟏𝟔. 𝟏𝟑 𝒐𝒓 𝟏𝟕 𝒑𝒄𝒔 𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝒎 Ø 𝒙 𝟕. 𝟓 𝒎
3. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 continuous
bars at GL 1 & 3/A-C.
The configurations of WF1 in GL 1 & 3/A-C are all the same that’s why we just
need to compute for 1 span and just multiply it to 4 to compute for the required quantity.
𝐿𝑇 𝑛𝐿 4(4−0.3−0.15)(3)
𝑁= (1.2) = = 𝟓. 𝟔𝟖 𝒐𝒓 𝟔 𝒑𝒄𝒔 𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝒎 Ø 𝒙 𝟕. 𝟓 𝒎
𝐵𝐹⁄𝐿 7.5
4. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 6 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 transverse
bars at GL 1 & 3/A-C.
𝐵𝐹/𝐿 6
𝑛𝑎 = = = 15 𝑝𝑐𝑠
𝐿𝐵 0.4
𝐿𝑇 4(4−0.3−0.15)
𝑁= = = 𝟑. 𝟏𝟔 𝒐𝒓 𝟒 𝒑𝒄𝒔 𝟏𝟎 𝒎𝒎 Ø 𝒙 𝟔 𝒎
𝑆𝐵 𝑛𝑎 0.3(15)
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ESTIMATING BILL OF MATERIALS
Self-Assessment Question
From the given construction plans and details in sample problem, compute for the
following:
Note: All dimensions are in millimeters.
1. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m rebars required for CHB wall horizontal bars at
GL A & C/1-3.
2. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 6 m rebars required for CHB wall vertical bars at GL
A & C/1-3.
3. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 6 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 continuous
bars at GL A & C/1-3.
4. Total number of 10 mm Ø x 6 m rebars required for wall footing WF1 transverse
bars at GL A & C/1-3.
Answers to Self-Assessment Question
1. 12.32 or 13 pcs 10 mm Ø x 7.5 m
2. 16.8 or 17 pcs 10 mm Ø x 6 m
3. 6.48 or 7 pcs 10 mm Ø x 6 m
4. 2.4 or 3 pcs 10 mm Ø x 6 m
References
1. Tagayun, Vicente A. (2002), Estimating Bill of Materials.
2. Fajardo, Max Jr. B., Simplified Construction Estimate. 3rd Edition.
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