BOQ format
How to quote civil work work
Demolition, masonry, plastering and waterproofing on an interior BOQ, and why civil is the section that overruns when the site is opened up.
The unit
Mixed — area for surfaces, volume for masonry, count for openings
Civil is the one section that cannot use a single unit. Plastering is sqft, a brick wall is priced by area at a stated thickness, and a new opening is a count. Forcing it into one unit is how the scope stops being readable.
What the BOQ breaks into
| Line | Unit | Why it is its own line |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition | sqft | Per surface removed. Say what is being taken down. |
| Debris removal | trip | Its own line. Municipal disposal charges are real money. |
| Brickwork / block work | sqft | At a stated thickness — 4 inch and 9 inch are different walls. |
| Plastering | sqft | Internal and external at different rates. |
| Waterproofing | sqft | Wet areas. State the system and the warranty. |
| New openings / lintels | nos | — |
The specs that decide the rate
- Wall thickness
- 4 inch versus 9 inch changes material, labour and the floor area the client ends up with.
- Waterproofing system
- Chemical coating, membrane or box-type, and how many coats. The one civil line that produces a claim years later.
- Making good
- Whether the rate includes restoring adjacent surfaces disturbed during the work.
"As per site condition" is an open cheque in both directions
Civil is quoted before anything is opened up, so a provisional line is honest. What is not honest is leaving it undefined: write what the assumption is, what would change it, and how the revised figure gets agreed. A variation raised against a stated assumption is a conversation; one raised against a blank is an argument.
Houscade writes this breakdown for you, room by room, and the client approves it on their phone. See a real quotation.