A Bill of Quantities (BOQ) is an itemised list of every material, labour and work item a construction project needs, with the unit, quantity and rate of each, so the project’s cost can be estimated, tendered and controlled.
A BOQ is prepared from the drawings and specifications, usually by the architect, a quantity surveyor or an estimator. Each line describes one item of work — for example PCC in foundations, brickwork in cement mortar or vitrified tile flooring — with its unit of measurement (cum, sqm, rmt, kg or nos), quantity, rate and amount.
Contractors price the BOQ when they bid, so bids can be compared line by line. Once work starts, the BOQ becomes the project budget: contractor and vendor bills are checked against its quantities and rates, and anything beyond it shows up as a variation.
In India, BOQ item descriptions often follow the CPWD Delhi Schedule of Rates (DSR) or a state PWD schedule, with GST added on the total.
Illustrative line: “Brickwork in cement mortar 1:6 · Unit: cum · Quantity: 42 · Rate: ₹6,800 · Amount: ₹2,85,600.”
ARC PEM builds each project’s budget from a BOQ, with reusable BOQ templates and cost per sq ft, contingency and GST computed automatically. Vendor bills, labour wages, contractor bills and site expenses are then tracked against it as budget vs actual, with overrun alerts. See all features.
Free tool: Construction Cost Calculator — Estimate the cost of building a house in India — per sq ft rates by quality and city, with a full cost breakdown and material quantities.
ARC PEM tracks your BOQ, vendor bills, labour attendance, contractor ledgers and GST across every project — live for the whole firm, on any phone or computer.
Join 30+ architecture and construction firms already using ARC PEM to track budgets, manage vendors, and generate professional reports — without a single spreadsheet.