An approach to preparing a bill of quantities

Abstract

At the pre-design stage, it is essential for designers and property owners to have a rough idea regarding the material quantities necessary for construction as well as the building cost. To know these approximate values is of great importance in terms of the correct establishment of the financial model at the pre-design stage, the elimination of cash flow problems and the prevention of loss of national wealth. While calculating these values, approximate unit costs announced by the Ministry of Public Works and Settlement are used. In Turkey, the cost estimate at the pre- design stage is obtained by multiplying the total building construction area by the unit construction cost. However, it is generally accepted that this value is high in terms of free market costs. The purpose of this study is to prepare a program that can calculate approximate construction cost with unit workmanship prices in a specific region and approximate quantities including the minimum and maximum values of the material values by entering simple information about a planned RC building. Accurate cost estimation at the pre-design stage is proportional to the accuracy of the material metering ratios. The coefficients taken into account in this study have been checked and calibrated with a large number of projects, and it was observed that the samples containing the preliminary results of the study were compatible with the application project results.