What is a BOQ? BOQ vs estimate, quotation and BOM
A bill of quantities (BOQ) lists every item of work with its description, unit and quantity, measured from the drawings before anyone prices it. Contractors fill in the rates, so three quotes can be compared line by line. An estimate is the expected cost, a quotation is a priced offer, and a BOM lists the parts of one product.
Pujan Motiwala · Standards checked against the BIS catalogue on
What a BOQ is
A BOQ is the list of work, not the price of it (what one looks like in Excel). Each line names one item (a wardrobe, a ceiling, a wiring point), says what it is made of, gives the unit it is measured in and the quantity measured from the drawings. The rate and amount columns stay empty until someone prices them.
Its job is to make prices comparable. When three contractors price the same lines, the quotes differ only in rates, and a cheap quote can't hide a thinner board or a missing loft.
BOQ, estimate, quotation, BOM: the difference
| Document | Who makes it | What it holds | Binding? |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOQ | Designer or quantity surveyor | Items, descriptions, units, quantities | No; it is the basis for prices |
| Estimate | Designer or owner | The BOQ with expected rates: what the job should cost | No; internal |
| Quotation | Contractor or the design-build studio | Rates, amounts, taxes, terms, validity | Yes, once accepted |
| BOM | Manufacturer or workshop | Every part and material to make one product | No; it drives buying and cutting |
The BOM and the BOQ meet in a workshop. The client's BOQ has one line for a wardrobe priced by area; the workshop's BOM for that wardrobe lists the sheets of plywood, the laminate, the edge band and each hinge.
Rate analysis and schedules of rates
A rate analysis breaks one item's rate into material, labour, wastage, overheads and profit. It is how a contractor arrives at the rate in a BOQ line, and how a designer checks one that looks too low.
A schedule of rates is a published list of item rates. For central government works, the Central Public Works Department publishes the Delhi Schedule of Rates (DSR). It is a reference for how items are described and priced in government work, not a price list for private interiors in another city.
Lump sums, provisional sums and PC sums
- Lump sum: one price for a defined scope ("bathroom CP fittings, LS"). Quick to write, but it hides what's inside; split it into named items wherever you can.
- Provisional sum: an allowance for work not yet defined, adjusted when it is.
- Prime cost (PC) sum: an allowance for something the client will choose later, such as tiles at a stated rate per sq ft, adjusted to the actual price.
When a provisional or PC sum is settled, or anything else changes after the BOQ is agreed, it is recorded as a variation order.
Boundary
This page explains the documents; it does not give rates. How each interior item is measured and specified is in the item library, and the checker reads a BOQ from Excel and shows what each line leaves open.
Paste a BOQ from Excel and see what each line leaves open, then print it as a quotation.
Designer Ops keeps your own BOQ library and every quote, turns an accepted quote's payment stages into invoices, then runs the project: orders, site visits and the workshop. Try the live demo · system for interior designers · what to require from one
Official sources
- Indian Standards catalogue (Know Your Standards). Bureau of Indian Standards, October 23, 2026.
- Delhi Schedule of Rates (DSR). Central Public Works Department, October 23, 2026.
What this page is not
A guide written by Ahrom Labs; not legal, tax or engineering advice. Indian Standards are cited by number and title from the BIS catalogue, not quoted; the standard governs wherever this page differs from it. No rates are given: they change with city and month. Last updated .
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