A contractor-ready BOQ: starting procurement the day design is approved
A contractor-ready BOQ is a bill of quantities that lists every item in the design with a unit and a count, so a contractor can price it and procurement can order from it. SpaceZap produces one straight from the store design, so procurement can start the day the design is approved.
What holds up procurement in a typical store project?
Procurement cannot begin until someone knows what to buy and how much. In many projects that knowledge comes late.
The design is approved. Then a quantity surveyor or a site engineer goes through the drawings and counts. They measure wall lengths, flooring areas, partition runs, light fittings, fixtures and signage. It is careful work and it takes time. If the design changes after approval, the count has to be redone.
Meanwhile the clock is running. Orders for fixtures and materials with long lead times wait for the numbers. The contractor, who needs the same numbers to price the job, waits too.
Manual counting also brings the risk of mismatch. The drawing says one thing and the BOQ says another. The difference is found when material arrives short, or when extra material is left over on site.
How does SpaceZap build the BOQ?
SpaceZap counts from the model itself. Every item in the design is counted and measured as part of the same store you see on screen. The quantities are taken from the store on screen, not from a separate document that someone had to keep in sync.
The bill is organised by item, unit and quantity. It is simple to read, which is the point. A contractor, a purchase manager and a finance reviewer can all look at the same list and understand it.
Because the BOQ comes from the same model as the layout and the drawings, it stays consistent with them. If the layout is updated, the drawings and the BOQ are updated with it.
What does a ready BOQ change for your team?
The benefit is mostly about time and clarity.
- Procurement: can place orders for long-lead items right after approval.
- Contractors: can price from the same list that purchasing uses, so quotes are easier to compare.
- Finance: can see the scope of the store in one list before spending starts.
- Project managers: spend less time reconciling drawings against counts.
Say a 40-store chain is rolling out a new format. If each store has its own hand-counted BOQ, each one is a small project of its own. If quantities come from the model, procurement can see how each store differs from the last, and plan bulk orders accordingly. That is where a rollout starts to feel manageable, which we describe in rolling out at scale.
A BOQ is only as good as the design behind it. That is why the earlier steps matter. A layout that follows your standards, as described in brand standards applied to every store, gives predictable quantities. A drawing set that is complete, as in GFC and MEP dockets explained, leaves less to chance.
It is also worth being clear about what a BOQ is not. It is not a price. It tells you what and how much. Your teams and contractors still negotiate rates and delivery terms. What changes is that they start from a list everyone trusts. You can see the full workflow in the SpaceZap section.
How to get started
- Approve the design. Finish the layout and 3D review, so quantities reflect the final store.
- Generate the BOQ. Produce the bill of every counted and measured item from the design.
- Check it with the drawings. Compare a few key lines, such as flooring area and partition length, with the GFC set.
- Share it with procurement and the contractor. Give both the same list and ask the contractor for rates.
- Order long-lead items first. Start with the fixtures and materials that take the longest to arrive.