BOQ from the 3D model
Press one button on the project and the building's 3D model becomes a draft BOQ, a section a trade, with quantities and your rates. The walls, concrete, roofing and glazing come from the elements drawn. The tiles, paint, false ceilings, points, stairs, facades and garden come from the finishes and the outside.
PLANSScale only
Built and checked on a test building on our own systems. Not yet tried at a customer.
Why it matters
A QS usually counts a building twice: once from the drawings for the tender, and again when the design changes. Masonry less openings, slab concrete, chajjas, facade cladding and tile areas are slow to measure by hand and easy to get wrong. Here the quantities come from the same 3D model the client saw. Change a wall or a finish, press the button again, and the draft BOQ is filled again, or a final BOQ gets its next version. The BOQ then drives your budget, work orders and client bills as any other BOQ does.
The problem it solves
- Your QS spends days measuring masonry, concrete and finishes off PDF drawings before the tender.
- The design changes after the BOQ is final, and nobody re-measures until the bill is short.
- Chajjas, lofts, facade cladding and grooves are left out because they are tedious to count.
- The client's 3D view shows one building and your BOQ prices another.
How it works
- Draw the building in the designer and lay the finishes, stairs, facade and garden on it (see The building in 3D).
- Set your rates once: Settings > Construction Building for masonry, concrete, glazing, roofing, facade paint, cladding, grooves and solar. The Design Studio catalogues hold finishes and outside items.
- On the project, a Construction Manager presses one of the buttons at the top of the form. They are BOQ from the Building, BOQ from the Model or BOQ from the Frame.
- Each opens a draft BOQ with a section per trade and an item for every quantity, its unit matched to your BOQ units. A note in the project's history links the BOQ.
- Check the items and rates, then Make Final. After a design change, press the button again: a draft is filled again, and a final BOQ gets its next version.
Everything it does
BOQ from the Building (the elements)
- Named "Building (from the elements)"
- Masonry walls by thickness and build-up, in m² less the openings, with length and volume noted
- Curtain walls and glazing in m²; doors and windows by kind and size in nos
- Concrete in m³: floor and roof slabs, balconies, chajjas, landings, storage lofts, columns and beams
- Roofing in m² on the slope; elevation features from the library and forms
- Facade finishes in m² less the openings, by material and colour; grooves in m
- Solar panels by type with kWp; with services, sections for electrical, plumbing and drainage, gas, and heating and cooling, with MCBs and wires by size
BOQ from the Model (finishes and outside)
- Named "Finishes and Outside (from the model)"
- Sections by trade: civil, flooring, tiling, painting, false ceiling, electrical, carpentry, glazing, facade, fabrication, plumbing, landscape and others
- An item for every line the installed families count: the rooms' finishes, ceilings, lights and points, and the stairs, railings, facades, garden and site structures
- Each item says its place: the room, or Outside
- Rates from each family's catalogue
BOQ from the Frame (structure)
- Named "Structure (from the frame)", from the grid, columns, beams, footings and slabs laid in Draw Rooms > Frame
- Excavation, lean concrete, RCC footings, columns, beams and slabs by concrete grade, formwork, reinforcement steel and back-fill
- Working space round footings 300 mm, lean concrete 75 mm and 100 mm past the footing, slab steel 80 kg a m³ to start with
- Sizes and steel per m³ are what you type: no structural design is done
Rates and versions
- Rates of 0 leave the item to be priced in the BOQ
- Pressed again: a draft BOQ of the same name is filled again. A final one gets a new version; the old one becomes Replaced when the new one is final
- The BOQ is an ordinary BOQ afterwards: edit, Make Final, use it for the budget, work orders, client bills and daily progress
- Only Construction Managers see the buttons
Not built
- A screen of quantities on its own: they reach you through the BOQ
- Reference models brought in from SketchUp and the IFC model are not counted
- A form's cut opening is not taken out of a facade finish
- Bar bending schedules
Who uses it
QS or estimatorMakes the BOQ from the model, checks the items and rates, and makes it final.
Project managerMakes the next version after a design change and sees what moved.
Construction AdministratorSets the rates in Settings > Construction Building and the catalogues.
Where you use it
- Web: Construction Projects > Projects > the project > BOQ from the Building, BOQ from the Model, BOQ from the Frame
- Web: Construction Projects > Planning > Quantities and Rates > Bills of Quantities for the BOQs made
- Web: Settings > Construction Building for the element rates; Settings > Construction Frame > Quantities for the frame
- Not in the SmartMy Construction app
What you control
Settings
- Settings > Construction Building: Masonry, Concrete, Glazing, Roofing, Facade paint, Cladding, Grooves and Solar rates, 0 to start with
- Settings > Construction Frame: Working space 300 mm, Lean Concrete 75 mm, Lean Concrete Projection 100 mm, Slab Steel 80 kg per m³
- Frame rates for excavation, lean concrete, RCC, formwork, steel and back-fill: 0 to start with
- Catalogue rates of each Design Studio family
Questions
Does it replace my QS?
No. It counts what is drawn and prices it at your rates. Your QS checks the items, adds what the model does not hold, and makes the BOQ final.What happens to a final BOQ when the design changes?
Press the button again. A new version of the BOQ is made from the model, and the old one becomes Replaced when the new one is made final.Can I use my own item numbers and descriptions?
The items are numbered by section, such as 2.3, and named from the model. Edit them in the draft before you make it final.Are openings deducted from masonry and plaster?
Yes. Walls and facade finishes are counted in m² less their doors, windows and openings.Can it give the steel quantity?
From the frame, as kg per m³ of concrete you set for each member type. A bar bending schedule is not built.Related features
DESIGN STUDIOThe building in 3DDraw the building on its plot, wall by wall and level by level. See it in 3D with its roof, site, neighbours, stairs, facade and garden. Cut it open, check the sun at any hour and walk in from the gate. Print the A3 drawing set, open the architect's IFC model beside it and make lifelike photos in the browser.ESTIMATINGBOQ with versionsKeep each project's bill of quantities in the system, item by item, priced and tied to places and cost codes. Import it from the client's Excel, make it final, and when the scope changes start a new version: the old one is kept as Replaced. Site progress, the budget, work orders and client bills all work from the same items.DESIGN STUDIO2D drawings to 3D with AIUpload a floor plan or elevation as a picture, a PDF page or a DXF. The plan is read into walls, doors, windows, rooms and the roof; you check what was found and the scale, then press Build in 3D. The building opens in the designer, ready for its BOQ. A picture or PDF takes about 50 AI credits a drawing; a DXF is read without them.ESTIMATINGRate analysis and the cost libraryBuild each BOQ rate from its material, labour, plant and subcontract cost, plus overhead and profit, using basic rates kept in one cost library. When cement or labour rates change, update the analyses and take the new rates into a draft BOQ.MONEYBuilding budget with 80 and 100 % alertsOne budget per project, by cost code and place, approved once and changed only by approved revisions. Costs from site flow into it every hour. The project manager is told when a line passes 80 % and 100 % used.
See your next site report on it.
Tell us what you build, how many sites you run and how your client hears about progress today. We will set up a project with you and send your first daily update.