Pricing Bill of Quantities: Preliminaries

Preliminaries 1
PRICING BILL OF QUANTITIES: PRELIMINARIES
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Introduction
Preliminaries forms the first part of the bill of quantities document and provides
valuable information and items which need to be priced by the contractors. There are a number
of items that are normally included by the tenderers in the trade preliminaries during the
estimation process (Untrusty-Group 208). Traditionally, there are a number of groups of items
that are normally included in the trade preliminaries. The group of the items include the project
consultants and parties, the description of the, relevant documents like drawings, the contract
type, form and condition, the contractor’s liability and employer liability (Abas 2019). In
addition ,the employer restrictions and obligations, nominated sub-contractor’s works, materials
and equipment from the nominated suppliers and the works to be carried out by statutory bodies
and the government also forms part of the trade preliminaries.
The works including materials provided by the employer, the pricing and the
contingencies. The various categories provides a quick guideline for the tenderers carrying out
the pricing on how to select the various items necessary for the trade preliminaries. It is however
important to note that the items included in the trade preliminaries greatly depends on the type of
the project, size and the existing conditions of the site for the project. The analysis and
understanding of the site condition report is also important before the pricing is done.
The project parties and Consultants
This group of the items for the trade preliminaries always include the name, the
location and the nature of the project. The details of the employer and consultants such as names
and addresses and equally important, the general description of the works of the project are
looked at in this category of trade preliminaries (Alaloul 2016). The items can be listed then the

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various costs that are involved in each item estimated by the contractors. For instance costs may
be incurred in the fees that are paid to the consultants which also depends on their rates and
locations.
Description of the Site
This forms another category of items to be included in the trade preliminaries. The
information include the site boundaries including the type of fences, the means of accessing the
site, the existing services in the site such as drainage, power, gas and water services and the
neighbouring or adjacent buildings (Ji, Ahn, Lee & Han 2019). Also, information pertaining the
means of transport while visiting the site need to be looked at under this category. This
information depends on the site condition report and from this, the various activities to be
undertaken and their respective costs deduced or estimated by the contractors interested in
submitting tenders.
The Employer Obligations and Restrictions
The information pertaining the various restrictions that are imposed by the employer
are important during the process of carrying out estimates on items of the trade preliminaries.
Information on the access and use of the site, the restrictions on the working space, the
possibility of use of materials already exiting in the site and the disposal of site materials are
important (M.D. & Mahesh 2019). Information of the need for installation of various services for
the employer such as accommodation and the general temporary services for workers is also
important. Items to be included in the trade preliminaries are obtained with such information and
their respective cost estimates provided by the contactor.
The Nominated Sub-Contractors and Suppliers

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The roles of the nominated sub-contractors and suppliers are also put into
consideration while identifying items and the providing their estimates in the preliminaries. The
works carried out by the nominated sub-contractors are always considered as items in addition to
the ones carried out by the main contractor (Perera 2017). For example the need for special
scaffoldings by the sub-contractor including the need for loading and unloading services, storage
and accommodations. The contractor may also be required to pay for certain works and services
that are carried out by the various suppliers such as goods and materials transportation costs
(Marzouk 2014). It is worth noting that such costs can large enough to significantly affect the
project cost therefore should be correctly estimated and provided under the trade preliminaries
by the companies submitting tenders.
Liabilities and Contract Conditions and Government Works
The information of the type and the conditions of the contract also helps in the
identification of various items and estimates to be included in the preliminaries. Various
liabilities and risks both on the contractor and the client are considered and the need for their
minimization identified .This may call for the need for insurance services for the project or even
the workers, plants and equipment. Costs related to protection both in terms of security and
insurance services are considered (Serpella 2014).
Also, the contractors are entitled to adhere to various governmental regulations that
are provided by the various authorities. This means that costs that are likely to be incurred must
be identified and includes in the estimations (Australian Building and Construction Commission
2019). Such items include the authority and government inspection costs.
Construction Contingency