Case study · BOQ OS
BOQ OS: from drawing set to priced bill
Take-off, pricing and revisions for cost consultants and contractors. Every quantity points back to its drawing, every rate says where it came from, and every change is listed.
The problem
A bill of quantities is still built by hand
A Bill of Quantities, or BOQ, is the list of everything a building needs, measured and priced. Cost consultants and contractors build it by reading the architect's drawings and typing the results into Excel. It works, but it is slow, and it breaks in the same four places every time.
- It is slowReading a full drawing set by hand takes days of careful, repetitive work.
- Nothing traces backA quantity in a cell cannot be pointed back to the place on the drawing it came from.
- Rates have no sourceA rate typed into a cell rarely says whether it is a market rate, a vendor quote or a guess.
- Revisions start overWhen the architect changes a sheet, the measuring and pricing begin again from the top.
How it works
Four steps, from sheets to an issued bill
Watch one drawing set travel through BOQ OS. Pick a step to jump to it.
BOQ OS
Priced bill, tender bill, review link
Open questions go out as clarifications. A person rules on each one, and the bill is rebuilt.
- Every sheet registered as it arrives. Drawing files and PDFs come in together and are checked against the set the architect listed.
- Scope from the hatches, not the room labels. The area outside the contract is taken away. A ceiling with no hatch is still a finish.
- Every line priced, every rate with a source. Each row is measured, counted or provisional, and priced at a market rate or a vendor rate. An estimate stays flagged.
- Priced bill, tender bill, review link. Open questions go out as clarifications. A person rules on each one, and the bill is rebuilt.
Receive
Every sheet registered as it arrivesDrawing files and PDFs come in together and are checked against the set the architect listed.Take off
Scope from the hatches, not the room labelsThe area outside the contract is taken away. A ceiling with no hatch is still a finish.Price
Every line priced, every rate with a sourceEach row is measured, counted or provisional, and priced at a market rate or a vendor rate. An estimate stays flagged.Issue
Priced bill, tender bill, review linkOpen questions go out as clarifications. A person rules on each one, and the bill is rebuilt.
What a person still decides
The software raises the doubt. A person rules on it.
Drawings often disagree with each other: a plan shows one thing, a section shows another. BOQ OS does not pick a side quietly. It raises a clarification, says which sheets conflict, and waits.
The cost consultant rules on every clarification and gives every rate that is not a quote. Their answer is recorded, and the affected lines update.
When the architect marks up the bill, each mark-up is checked against the model before it goes in. Only the changed lines move, and the revision is rebuilt the same day, with the differences listed.
The client gets a clean edition without internal notes or rate sources. The working edition keeps all of it, so every figure can still be opened and checked.
Where it is used
Teams that live on drawings
- Architecture and interior studiosChecking quantities and budgets early, while the design can still change.
- Façade contractorsTaking off panels, frames and finishes from detailed elevations.
- Engineering consultanciesProducing tender-ready bills on projects in India and the Gulf.
Next
Bring a drawing set and see a priced bill
A short call is enough to see whether BOQ OS fits how your team prices work.
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