Table of Contents
President's foreword, Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors xiii
Acknowledgements xiv
Acronyms xv
Part 1 Building the project team 1
1 Introduction 3
Quantity surveying 3
Estimating and measurement 3
2 Principal stakeholders of a project 6
Introduction 6
Principal team members 7
The project owner 7
The architect 7
Other design consultants 8
The quantity surveying consultant 8
The main contractor 8
The subcontractors and suppliers 9
Other external project stakeholders 9
Part 2 Deciding the procurement strategy 13
3 Project delivery methods 15
Introduction 15
Project delivery options 15
Designer-led 15
Management contracting 17
Design and build 19
Design, build and operate 22
Design, build, finance and operate 24
Allocation of responsibilities and risks 26
Selection of project delivery options 27
4 Payment mechanisms 30
Principles of payment mechanisms 30
Fixed price vs cost reimbursement 30
Application of fixed price and cost reimbursement payment methods 30
Type of contracts 31
Lump sum contract 31
Remeasurement contract 33
Cost reimbursement contract 34
Selection of payment methods 37
Part 3 Preparing for tender 41
5 Tendering methods 43
Why tender? 43
Open tendering 43
Selective tendering 44
Single-stage vs two-stage selective tendering 46
Single tendering 47
Negotiation 48
6 Tendering procedures 50
Tendering procedures in general 50
Tendering procedures of single-stage selective tendering 50
Step 1 Produce tender documents 50
Step 2 Prepare tender list 52
Step 3 Preliminary enquiry 52
Step 4 Decision to tender 53
Step 5 Dispatch tender documents 53
Step 6 Examine tender documents 54
Step 7 Compile data for estimates 54
Step 8 Build up estimates 58
Step 9 Build up preliminaries 59
Step 10 Complete the estimate and estimator's report 59
Step 11 Adjudicate tender 60
Step 12 Submit tender 61
Step 13 Open tenders 61
Step 14 Examine tenders 61
Step 15 Evaluate tenders 61
Step 16 Tender acceptance recommendation 62
Good practice for contractor selection 63
Tender performance review 64
7 Tender documentation 66
Composition of tender documents 66
Notes to tenderers 66
Conditions of tender 66
Form of tender 66
Articles of agreement 70
Conditions of contract 70
Drawings 73
Specifications 73
Bills of quantities 73
Preambles 74
Preliminaries 74
Measured work 74
Prime cost sums and provisional sums 75
Provisional/approximate bills of quantities 78
Schedule of rates (or schedule of quantities and rates) 78
8 Approximate estimating techniques in the pre-contract stage 79
The purpose of approximate estimating 79
Overview of approximate estimating techniques 80
The use of past project cost data for approximate estimating 81
Single-rate approximate estimating 82
Functional unit method 82
Floor area method 83
Multiple-rate approximate estimating 86
Elemental cost plan 86
Approximate quantities method 90
Pre-tender estimate 91
Choosing an approximate estimating method 92
Part 4 Measuring quantities 93
9 Principles and rules of taking-off 95
What is quantity take-off? 95
Rules of taking-off 95
Layout of dimension paper 95
Entering measurements in dimension paper 96
Use of schedules 101
Taking-off procedures 101
10 Length, area and volume measurement 104
Girths and mean girth 104
Application of mean girth calculation 107
Measurement of irregular areas 108
Measurement of irregular volumes 109
11 Introduction of HKSMM4 Rev 2018 114
The standard method of measurement 114
The Hong Kong Standard Method of Measurement 4th Edition Revised 2018 (HKSMM4 Rev 2018) 114
Information provided by HKSMM4 Rev 2018 115
Use of the tabulated rules 115
Using the SMM in practice 117
Quantities of work 117
Item description 117
When material specification is unavailable 118
Work not covered in SMM 119
12 Measurement of excavation 120
Introduction 120
Site clearance 120
Excavation 122
Working space allowance 122
Other item coverage for excavation 124
Surface excavation and oversite excavation to reduced level 124
Excavation for basements and foundations 125
Excavation for post holes 127
Excavate trenches for curbs 127
Excavate trenches for service pipes and cables 127
Break up and remove concrete, blockwork and masonry work 128
Earthwork support 129
Disposal 129
Backfilling and piling 130
Hardcore or granular filling 131
Blinding to hardcore surfaces 132
Preparation of ground or slope surfaces 132
Surface treatments 132
Turfing and grass seeding 133
Chunam surfacing 133
Sprayed concrete surfacing 134
Bulk checking on excavation, backfilling/filling and disposal quantities 134
13 Measurement of concrete works 138
Introduction 138
Concrete 138
Concrete in general 138
Concrete in beams and slabs 140
Concrete in walls and columns 142
Concrete in stairs 142
Concrete in other components 144
Miscellaneous 145
Reinforcement 146
Reinforcement in general 146
Reinforcement in slabs 149
Reinforcement in beams 150
Reinforcement in columns 153
Reinforcement in walls 155
Formwork 158
Formwork in general 158
Formwork to slabs 159
Formwork to beams 161
Formwork to walls and columns 162
Formwork to stairs 164
Forming openings 165
Precast concrete 167
14 Measurement of brickwork and blockwork 172
Introduction 172
Brick walls in general 172
Brick walls and block walls 174
Miscellaneous 177
Brick and block pavings and steps 179
15 Measurement of wood works 181
Introduction 181
General 181
Flooring, partitioning and sheeting 182
Boarding and lining to walls, ceilings, roofs etc. 183
Unframed trims 183
Fixed partitions and demountable partitions 184
Cubicle partitions 186
Doors 186
Others 187
16 Measurement of steel and metal works 190
Introduction 190
Structural steelwork 191
Understanding of structural steel members 191
Conversion of steel length/area to weight 192
Steel members and connections 193
Sundries 194
Metal works 195
Linings, coverings and claddings 195
Doors, gates and the like 196
Framed work and stairs 197
Fencing and gates 199
Sundries 199
Partitions and cubicle partitions 200
Suspended ceilings 201
Windows and glazed doors 203
Furniture, fittings, signage etc. 204
17 Measurement of plastering, paving and painting 207
Introduction 207
Plastering and paving 207
Spatterdash 207
Lathing and plasterboard 207
In-situ finishes and screeds, tiled, slab, sheet and carpet finishes 208
Painting 215
Finishes 218
Internal finishes 218
External finishes 220
18 Measurement of waterproofing 225
Introduction 225
General 225
Liquid membrane waterproofing 226
Sheet-based waterproofing 227
19 Worked examples 230
Introduction 230
General notes for the drawings 230
20 Processing measurements 282
Processing measurements 282
Conventional method of bill preparation 282
Squaring 282
Abstracting 282
Billing 284
Final bulk check 285
Alternative methods of bill preparation 286
Cut and shuffle method 287
Direct billing method 288
Part 5 Estimating unit rates 291
21 Pricing in general 293
Factors of production 293
Pricing methods 294
Build-up rates 294
Subcontractor rate 296
All-in material rate 297
Labour and plant rates 298
All-in labour rate 298
All-in plant rate 300
Other sundry costs 301
Pro-rata rates 302
22 Pricing trade work 307
Introduction 307
Coverage of BQ items 307
Factors affecting productivity 307
Pricing excavation 309
Method of excavation and productivity 310
Actual volume of soil 310
Worked example - unit rate build-up for excavation 311
Pricing concrete works 315
Quantity of concrete/ingredients required 315
Concreting productivity 316
Worked example - unit rate build-up for concrete 317
Materials allowed for reinforcement fixing 317
Worked example - unit rate build-up for reinforcement 318
Formwork cost coverage 319
Formwork type and amount of reuse 319
Worked example - unit rate buildup for formwork 320
Pricing brickwork and blockwork 321
Worked example - unit rate build-up for brick wall 322
Pricing wood works and steel and metal works 322
Worked examples - unit rate build-up for wood works and steel and metal works 323
Pricing plastering and painting works 324
Worked examples - unit rate build-up for screeds, tiling and painting works 325
Pricing items with P. C. rate 327
23 Pricing preliminaries 329
What are preliminaries 1 329
General practice 329
Difficulties in pricing preliminaries 329
Basic approaches to preliminaries pricing 330
Worked examples of preliminaries pricing 330
Site management 332
Site accommodation and facilities 332
Mechanical plant 334
Temporary works 337
Miscellaneous services 339
General attendance 341
Insurances and levies 341
Sundries 343
24 Computer applications in measurement and estimating 344
Quantity take-off using computer applications 344
Designing spreadsheet templates for taking-off 344
On-screen take-off from 2D AutoCAD drawings 345
Take-off by commercial software packages from 2D drawings 348
Automated quantities generated from 3D BIM 349
Billing by computer applications 354
Billing from spreadsheet take-off 354
Billing by estimating software 354
Estimating by computer applications 355
Estimating using a spreadsheet 355
Estimating by commercial software 355
References 356
Bibliography 360
Appendix 362
Abbreviations used in taking-off 362
Mensuration formulae 364
Index 366
