Trade breakdowns

The practical middle ground

A full Bill of Quantities is the right tool for a formal tender. For a lot of the work small builders do — a knockdown rebuild, a duplex, a large renovation — it is more measurement than the job needs. What you actually want is to know how many square metres of brickwork, how many cubic metres of concrete, how many linear metres of framing, so you can get quotes back that are comparable.

That's a trade breakdown. Same measurement discipline, organised the way you build rather than the way a contract administrator reads.

What you get

• Quantities for every trade, in construction sequence — site, footings, slab, frame, roof, external, services, internal, finishes, external works
• Cut into packages you can send straight to each subcontractor without editing
• Assumptions listed against each trade, so you know where the risk sits
• One consolidated RFI list for drawing queries
• Excel and PDF

When a trade breakdown is enough

Situation	Recommendation
Pricing a residential build for a private client	Trade breakdown
Formal tender with a bill required in the documents	Full Bill of Quantities
Need comparable subcontractor quotes quickly	Trade breakdown
Contract likely to be administered with progress claims against a bill	Full Bill of Quantities
Early feasibility, deciding whether to bid at all	Trade breakdown

Typical projects

New builds and renovations up to around $1.5m in construction value: single dwellings, knockdown rebuilds, duplexes, granny flats, second-storey additions, substantial alterations. Above that range a full bill usually earns its extra cost.