QSV 401

MEASUREMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS I

FEBRUARY 2018
 INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING MEASUREMENT
Development of civil engineering codes of measurement;

The institution of civil engineering publishes on report of a committee dealing with

engineering quantities in 1933, and thus provided for the first time standard procedure for
drafting bill of quantities for civil engineering work. Prior to the introduction of thin document
there was no uniformity of practice in the measurement of civil engineering quantities and the
engineers responsible for the preparation of civil engineering bills of quantities largely worked
up their own system of measurement as they thought fit. The order nature of the bill items, the
units if measurement and even the method of tabulating the information in specific columns
usually referred to as ruling which was adopted for the bills of quantities varied considerably

It will be appreciated that thin lac of uniformity in the preparation of civil engineering bills of
quantities made the task of civil engineering contractors in pricing them far more difficult than it
in today, now that a mere uniform method of measurement has been generally adopted. In 1953,
after much deliberation and consultation, a revised document titled the standard Method of
Measurement of civil engineering quantities was issued by the institution of civil engineers and
this was re-issued with slight amendments in 1963 and a metric addendum in 1968. This
amended the previous (1933) report to meet the changing needs of civil engineers and
contractors, and tied up with the provision of the general conditions of contract for use in
connection with works of civil engineering construction. Certain section of the 1933 report were
simplified particularly those dealing with concrete and pipelines. New section covering site
investigation and site clearance were added and provision was made for the measurement of pre-
stressed concrete. In 1967 the construction industry research and information Association
(CIRIA) established a working party to identify research needs aimed at improving contract
procedure. One of the projects that followed aimed at developing and testing an improved form
of bill of quantities for civil engineering contracts and the result were summarized in CIRIA
reports. This steady sought to define the need of the industry and to proposed means of making
the information in the bill more useful and reducing the high administration cost of
measurement. The investigations incorporated the use of experiment features of bills of
quantities on live civil engineering contracts. The document conclusion in the report is that civil
engineering bills of quantities apart from scheduling the component of the contempt work should
also contain charges related to the method and timing of the contractors operation

Following the publication of the CIRIA report a steering committee was appointed by institution
of civil engineers to undertake detailed reappraisal of civil engineering code of measurement.
The committee consulted extensively with construction industry and other relevant bodies and
individuals persons. The resulting civil engineering standard method of measurement was finally
published in 1976.
 The principal changes introduced by the CESMM are as follows:

1. Greater standardization of format both in the component items ad in the way they are described.
A reduction of the previous variety that frequently arose from house style and often led to
unnecessary confusions to tendering contracts
2. The new method introduces various level of classification or pigeon holes from which
description can be developed. There are also coding arrangement which have no contractual
significance although they will assist where computer are used and form a useful basis for cost
analysis
3. Use of method related charges to represent more clearly site construction cost, such as the cost of
setting up and operating plant, labor teams and the lies. In these cases the best cost parameter is
not the finished physical work but what the contractor has to do on site
4. A large member of small changes to detailed rules of measurement, resulting in tightening up
and increased detailing and the removal of anomalies and some differences in interpretation
 INTRODUCTION TO CIVIL ENGINEERING MEASUREMENT CONTINUED
The contract documents normally used in connection with a civil engineering contract as follows

1. Form of agreement
2. General condition of contract
3. Specification
4. Bills of quantities
5. Contract drawings
6. Form of tender
Consideration will now be given to the nature and purpose of each of these documents:

i. Form of Agreement
The form of agreement constitutes the formal agreement between the employer (promoter)
and contractor for the execution of the work in accordance with the other contract documents.
This is now generally covered by the form of agreement incorporated in the general conditions of
contract engineering construction

ii. General condition of contract

The general condition of contract define generally the terms under which the work is to be
undertaken, the relationship between the promoter or employer the engineering and the
contractor, the powers of the engineering and the terms of payment for many years. It had been
considered desirable to use a standard set of conditions which could as far as practicable, be
applicable to all civil engineering contracts. Any special conditions relating to an individual
contract, can be added to the general clauses. The principal clauses of the general condition of
contract for work of civil engineering construction is commonly referred to as ICE conditional
meaning that (institute of civil engineering) conditions having clauses, that covers the
measurement and valuation of works while for building works, it usually make use of the
standard condition issued under the sanction of the Royal institute of British Architect and
various bodies and generally referred to as the JCT condition

iii. Specification
The specification amplifies the information given in the contract drawings and the bills of
quantities. It describes in detail the work to be executed under the contract and the nature and
quality of the material components and workmanship. It gives details of any special
responsibilities to be borne by the contractor apart from those covered by the general conditions
of contract. It may also contain clauses specifying the order in which the various sections of the
work are to be carried out
iv. Bills of quantities:
The bill of quantities consists of a schedule of the items of work to be carried out under the
contract with quantities entered against each item, the quantities being prepared in accordance
with the civil engineering standard method of measurement. Owing to the small scale of many of
the drawings, the large extent of the works and the uncertainties resulting from difficult site
condition, the quantities inserted in a bill are often approximate. Nevertheless, the quantities
should be as accurate as information available allows and the description accompany each item
must clearly identify the work involved.
The unit rate entered by the contractor against each item in the bill of quantities normally
include each item in the bill of quantities normally include all overhead charge and profit, but
subject to the approach adopted in pricing method related charge and the adjustment item in the
grand summary. The contract usually makes provision for the quantities to be varied, and it is
therefore highly desirable that separate items should be incorporated as method related charges
against which the contractor may enter the cost of meeting various contingent liabilities under
the contract such as special temporary work and aspect will be dealt with more detailed later.

v. Contract drawings
The contract drawings depict the details and scope of the works to be executed under the
contract. They must be prepared in sufficient detail to enable the contractor to satisfactorily price
the bills of quantities. All available information as to the topography of the site and the nature of
the ground should be made accessible to all contractors tendering for the job. The contract
drawings will be subsequently used when executing the works and may well be supplemented by
further detailed drawing as the work proceed.

vi. Form of tender:

The form of tender constitutes a format offer to construct complete, and maintain the
contract works in accordance with the various contract documents for the tender sum. It usually
incorporates the contract period within which the contractor is to complete the works. The form
of tender largely used for civil engineering contract now, in the form incorporated in the general
condition s of contract for use in connections with works of civil engineering construction. The
form of tender provides for a bond often amounting to 10% of the tender sum. The contractor
may be required to enter to a bond, whereby he provides two sureties or a bank or insurance
company who are prepared to pay up to say 10% of the contract sum if the contract is not carried
out satisfactorily
 THE STRUCTURE OF BILL OF QUANTITES FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS
The bill of quantities should be divided into 5 sections:
1. List of principal quantities
2. Preambles
3. Day work schedule
4. Work items
5. Grand summary
List of principal quantities: The list of principal quantities are principal components of the
works with their approximate quantities to make tenderer make rapid assessment of the general
scale and character of proposed work to avoid any possible claim on account of divergences
between the list of principal component, and it will also assist the contractors in determining
whether we has the resources to carry out the work. The list can be kept relatively brief and
should not usually exceed one page in length.
It envisage that except in exceptional cases the list will comprise 10 to 15 items
A typical example and illustration of list of principal quantities for civil engineering
works for an industrial estate are as shown
Section General item Units Quantities Rate # K
1. Provisional sum 20,000 00
D.c items 50,000 00

2 Earthwork
Excavation M3 10,008
Filling M2 980

3 Road works
Road M2 820
Pavement M2 240

4 Pedestrian underpass
Exaction M3 890
Concrete M3 890

5 Fowl drainage
Pipes M 198
Manhole Nr 20

6 Surface drainage
Pipes M 58
Manholes Nr 32

Division of stream
7 Excavation M3 830
Filling M3 60
Concrete M3 890
Preambles: the preambles in civil engineering bills of quantities is to indicate to tendering
contractors whether other methods of measurement have been used for any part of the works and
whether any modifications have been made in applying the CESMM to meet special needs

Day works schedule: day work schedule describe how day work would be paid for. It is
necessary to make provision for a day work evaluation of work which cannot be assessed at bill
rates or rates analogue thereto. The CESMM provides three alternatives procedure:

i. A list of the various classes of labour, material and plant for which day work rates or
prices are to be inserted by the tenderer.
ii. Provision for payment at the rate and prices contained in the current federation schedules
of day works adjusted by percentage additions or deduction for labor, materials and plant
iii. The insertion of provisional sum for work existed on a day work basis comprising
separate items for labor, materials and plants and applying appropriate percentage
addition or deduction as prescribed in the second method to each provisional sum

Work items: means division into parts that is the bill o quantities is divided into section or
work items which may be arranged into numbered parts and which will differ from one bill to
another. The division into parts is determined by location considerations or the timing of the
work and it enables the person preparing the bill to distinguish between parts of the work which
are thought likely to give rise to different methods of construction or consideration of cost. This
form of division will extend the usefulness of the bill for estimating purpose and in the
subsequent financial control of the contract division into kits requires knowledge of the factors
influencing the contractor’s cost and assist in promoting more positive working relationships
between the engineer and the contractor

Grand summary: the grand summary is an abstract of all sections total. If it is required, a
provisional sum for general contingency may also be included,

Note: An item described as an adjustment item shall also be given in the grand summary. The
ideal of this adjustment item is to give the tenderer, the opportunities to insert a lump sum
addition of deduction before establishing the tender figure. It should also be noted also that this
is a lump sum and not percentage, therefore it will not be subject to adjustment except in the case
of certain formula for price adjustment used in the final account.

FUNCTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERING QUANTITIES

1. To set down various item of work in a logical sequence and recognize manner so that they
may be readily be priced by contractor
2. It enables contractors to tender on a common basis
3. It provides good basis for various valuing of variation
4. It is used to value work in progress
 SCOPE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS
Before comparing the method adopted for the measurement of civil engineering work
with those used for building work, some consideration should be given to the nature and scope of
good engineering works to appreciate and quite separate mode of measurement to operate in
respect of these later works. This comparison is included primarily for the use and guidance of
quantity surveyors, many of whom are mainly concerned with the measurement of building
works

Civil engineering works covers a large variety of different jobs, some of which are of
great magnitude, vast cuttings and embankments; large mass and reinforced concrete structure,
such as frame work of large industrial buildings ranging from blocks of flats to large reservoirs,
sea walls, bridges and cooling towers for power stations; structural steel framework of large
buildings; piling for heavy foundation, jetties and wharves; long pipelines and tunnels and
railway track, all form the subject matter of civil engineering contracts.

Civil engineering work may also include structural engineering projects in reinforced
concrete steel, brick and timber, and municipal Engineering projects carried out on behalf local
and water authorities and including road bridges, sewers Sewage pumping stations ; sewage
treatment of river and sea defense, refuse disposal plant and swimming pool. These works
requires considerable skill ingenuity and technical knowledge in both design and construction.
The constant introduction of raw materials and techniques is for ever changing the nature.

SCOPE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS CONTINUED

The nature and methods of construction used in these projects and the increasing size and
intricacy of these works demand a greater knowledge and skill for their measurement and
valuation. Some works involves element of uncertainty, as for example the excavation work for
extensive deep foundation or the laying of underground services under very variable site
conditions. Many civil engineering projects are carried out on the ban of rivers or on the sea
coast, and on low lying marshy land thus making the operation that are involved even more
difficult and exacting. For these reasons, it is absolutely essential that a code of measurements
specially applicable to this class of work should be used
Owing to the magnitude of most civil engineering works, it is advisable that the code of
measurement adopted should be relatively simple, to avoid the separate measurement or many
laborers and smaller items, which are dealt with separately when measuring building work. The
term labour refers to relatively small items of work, involving laborer but no materials, such as
labour in eaves filling and rough cuttings to brickwork owing to the very nature of the works,
there is a great deal more uncertainty than on building works and the methods of measurement
used to be more flexible to allow for variations in the method of construction used and changes
effected during the course of the constructional work made necessary by site conditions.
 COMPARISON OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND BUILDING METHOD OF
MEASUREMENT
There are two separate and distinct practices of measurement operating for civil engineering and
building works, there is however, some common ground as regards the general approach, unit of
measurement employed and items of work that can be measured under both code:

1. Building works is measured in accordance with BESMM by NIQS while civil engineering
work is measured in accordance with CESMM by ICE institution of civil engineers and
federation of civil engineering contractors
2. Details of building works, are usually more precise of the stage of preparing BOQ than civil
engineering works
3. Building works cover more trades or work sections and as a result subject to more detailed
measurement
4. In building contract, BOQ will constitute a contract document and in majority specification
will not, as a result, more detailed description than the civil engineering BOQ
5. Building works involves much greater number of measured items including small items of
works and labour
6. Most temporary work measured in building work but not in C.E work
7. C.E measurement introduces methods related charges and coding system
 METHOD RELATED CHARGES
Definition: MRC means the sum of an items inserted in the BOQ by a tenderer to cover items of
works relating to his intended method of executing the work. The cost of which are not to be
consulted as proportional to the quantities of other items and for which we have not allowed in
the rate and prices for other item

USES OF M.R.C
1. The use of method related charged should remove substantial some of construction costs
which do not vary in proportion to the volume of permanent works executed from the pricing
of these permanent works and also reduces likely claims
2. If we effectively it enable contractor to recover in monthly valuation the cost of items other
than permanent work on an equitable been, either in the event of work proceeding largely as
planned of tender stage or on the event of substantial variation
3. Contractor will be able to recover these non-quantity proportional items on a monthly basis
and not be obliged to want until the end of the contract or at least the later stage to submit
claims to recover cost
4. The employer will have the benefit of more accurate valuation of variation with improve
monitoring of the financial position of the contract
5. Contractor will also be aware of the level of expenditure at an early stage which will help him
to plan how cash flow and budget for his ultimate level of financial commitment
6. There could still be different approaches to the pricing of bills, by introducing method related
to charge the different basis for computation and approach are more clearly identified
7. The employer gains by the use of cost structure that is better suited to deal with variations and
changes while the contractor receives more prompt and equitable payment
8. The pilot studies showed no problems with final accounts and the approach assist the
contractor in making claims and the engineer in setting them on a more realistic basis without
argument and conflict

UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHY OF M.R.C OR REASON FOR INTRODUCTION

1. Problems encountered by the engineer and contractor in valuing and agreeing variation and
cost of delay
2. Contracting claims measured quantities of permanent work priced of bill rate do not represent
true value of estimated work where significance variations have occurred
3. Engineer believes that the priced B.O.Q represent a shopping list of item and on completion
work can be re-measured and value of bill rate
4. Large claim settlement agreed on many project is enough evidence that the later of the above is
unsatisfactory to the contractor. CESMM therefore sought to remove the above problem by the
introduction of method related charges
 ADVANTAGES

1. Reduce likely claim and agreement in event of variation

2. Enable the contractor to recover cost on such item on monthly valuation on an equitable basis
3. Improve cash flows of the contractor
4. The employer has benefit of more accurate valuation of variation with improved monitoring of
the financial position of the contract
5. The employer will be aware of level of expenditure of an earlier stage which will help him
plan his cash flow and budget for his ultimate level of financial commitment.

DISADVANTAGE OF M.R.C

1. The major setback of the M.R.C is for high early payment to the contractor without collateral
security

DUTIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYOR IN CIVIL ENGINEERING CONTRACT

The Q.S is responsible to the engineer unless there is clear and written delegation of authority.
His duties will normally include:

1. Preliminary cost study and preparation of approximate estimate

2. Advice on contractual arrangement and tendering procedure
3. Preparation of tender document
4. Evaluation of tenders
5. Re-measurement of works as expected
6. Checking applications by the contractor for payment on account
7. Evaluating the final cost of the work base on re-measurement and contractors applications

WORK CLASSIFICATION

The work classification provides the basic frame of the CESMM constituting a list of commonly
occurring component of C.E works. It will assist the contractor in the following ways:
1. Cost control
2. Recording of prices as basis for pre-contract estimating
3. Computer processing and specification preparation