Traditionally a contingency sum was included to allow for unforseen additional costs but clients have always asked questions as why this allowance is necessary.

Alterations Measuring alteration work is one of my favourite tasks as it allows the quantity surveyor to use their descriptive talents!...

Kickers Kickers are small concrete upstands used when casting columns and walls. Kickers can be suspended or isolated. Suspended kickers...

Partitions are referred to on NRM2 in three work sections; 16, 20 and 22. Which section to use often causes confusion.

Surface water is water on the surface of the site and excavations. Disposal of surface water is deemed to be included in NRM2 Section 5. However SMM7 had previously required disposal of surface water to be measured as an item and confusion can occur as to what constitute surface water and ground water.

Provisional quantities should be avoided whenever possible, as rates can loaded in the hope of quantities increasing when remeasured.

Where appropriate, additional information shall be given to ensure full clarity of description. If in doubt give additional information regarding quality and location of work. For example, if the majority of brickwork is at ground floor level but there is also some at roof level the QS should measure the high level brickwork separately in the bill of quantities stating its location.

Window & door openings Taking-off openings in external walls for doors, windows, etc. are measured as a composite item when using NRM2....

Work and materials listed as ‘Deemed included’ can only be priced by the tenderer if that work is clearly shown on drawings,...

Mental illness in construction Provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics show 355 skilled construction and building...

Value engineered ? Space control to Major John (Apologies to David Bowie) “As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my...

New build snagging I think that I must have been living a sheltered existence. We all know that there is a massive skill shortage in the...

The UK construction industry has received more reports and targets than most other sectors. In 2013, the UK government released...

Rightly or wrongly the assumption behind the introduction of the PFI was that the private sector is better at managing risk and...

The RICS Still no news from the RICS about the changes in pathways and entry requirement revisions flagged up by the institution last...

Hitting the buffers Despite the government’s stated ambition to 'build baby build' they seem to be putting so many obstacles in the way...

Moths around a light It’s been quite a few weeks for Justin Sullivan, the newly elected president of the RICS. As discussed in the last...

Operational carbon The construction industry world wide is facing mounting pressure to carry out a whole life carbon assessment (WLCA)...

Construction and the Building Safety Regulator have been going head to head during the past few weeks over the time taken to approve HRB.

In a recent podcast on duncancartlidgeonline I mentioned that the Building Safety Regulator was refusing to sign off higher risk...