Bill of quantities definition

View the related practice notes about Bill of quantities

Construction contract documents

In most cases, a construction contract will incorporate a number of documents that all work together to set out the obligations and liabilities of the parties and to define the works and when, where and how they are to be carried out. These are often referred to as the 'contract documents'.In addition to the conditions of contract, the other documents that will be incorporated into the contract will depend upon the procurement route that has been adopted. They will commonly include (using JCT language for simplicity):•employer’s requirements•contractor’s proposals•a contract sum analysis or (depending on the form of contract) bill of quantities•specifications•drawings•the programme•BIM protocolOther ancillary documents can be used to clarify the parties' responsibilities, such as the tender, minutes of a pre-contract meeting or derogations/tender clarification—if so, these may be included as separate contract documents or incorporated within one of the documents listed above.Conditions of contractThe conditions of contract will frequently incorporate or be based on one of the industry standard forms, for example one of the contracts in the JCT,...

Traditional procurement of construction contracts

This Practice Note provides a basic explanation of traditional procurement in construction. It looks at why this type of procurement is used and also considers particular issues to take into account when choosing to follow this procurement route.When an employer decides to commence a construction project, the first stage is typically for it to engage an architect to carry out a feasibility study and to prepare a very basic design. If the architect advises that the employer’s proposals are achievable within the budget that has been set, the employer will then engage the architect and, typically, a number of other consultants (engineers etc), to develop the designs for the project and provide related advice.In the early stages of a construction project, the employer, usually with guidance from its professional team, will need to make a decision on how to procure the construction. There are various procurement routes and forms of contract to choose from and the employer’s choice will be influenced by the time available for tendering and for completion...