Civil Engineering Measurement & Pricing
Budget: $30 – $250 USD
Assessment task details and instructions
You are required to measure, price and report on the civil-engineering works described below. Measurement shall be in accordance with CESMM4, and pricing shall use the BCIS database.
Part A – Measurement
You are required to take off the quantities and prepare a Bill of Quantity for the following.
1. Retaining wall — Earthworks, In Situ Concrete & Concrete Ancillaries.
2. Interlocking sheet piles — Piles and piling ancillaries.
3. Below-ground drainage — Pipes; Pipework – Fittings and Valves; Manholes and Pipework Ancillaries; Pipework – Supports and Protection; Ancillaries to Laying and Excavation.
4. Bill of Quantity: Prepare a detailed bill of quantity for the measurement works carried out for the Retaining wall, interlocking sheet piles and Below-ground drainage work according to CESMM4 and price your BQ using the BCIS database.
Please take note of the following regarding your submission:
Take off quantities for the works listed above using the conventional quantity-surveying taking-off sheet (TDS). Please note that only the TDS sheets are required to be handwritten.
Record all dimensions clearly on TDS sheets, show working calculations, and square dimensions to produce quantities for each measured item. Use appropriate units.
Prepare a detailed Bill of Quantities for the Retaining wall, interlocking sheet piles and Below-ground drainage, using CESMM4 item descriptions and measurement rules. Items must be numbered and cross-referenced to the TDS sheets and drawings. Price the BQ using the BCIS database. For each priced item show: unit rate source (BCIS), date accessed, and any adjustments/assumptions applied (labour, plant, preliminaries, profit & attendance, etc.).
List separately any queries raised during measurement and any assumptions made (with reasoned justification).
Format and deliverables — Part A
• Taking-off sheets: Submit as a clear, legible scanned PDF. You may use university printers/scanners or scanning applications such as Adobe Scan, Office Lens, or similar. Please do not submit photographs taken with mobile phones, especially those with shadows or poor visibility.
• Bill of Quantities: Excel, Word or PDF format. BQ must include CESMM4 item references where relevant.
Part B – Written Report
Task: Using the measurement work in Part A as examples, discuss the sources of cost data available to a contractor’s estimator at tender stage and evaluate their relative strengths, limitations and applicability. To ensure that the estimate of cost is as realistic as possible.
Your report must be presented in the following format:
• Structure: Introduction; Discussion of cost-data sources Application to Part A (explicit examples showing how a particular source would be used for the retaining wall / sheet piles / drainage); Critical evaluation and recommendation for best practice at tender stage and a Conclusion.
• Referencing: Use Harvard author–date style (APA 7th as per module guidance). Provide in-text citations and a reference list.
https://www.salford.ac.uk/skills-for-learning/home/using-and-referencing-information/referencing
GRADE DESCRIPTORS
90% - 100%
• Without any error, accurately measure the quantity of the works, as set out on the drawing.
• Without error, present the measured quantities in the correct format, using the Dimension Paper, ensuring that all calculations are accurate and extended correctly.
• The level of accuracy and layout of the measured quantities on the dimension paper is to an outstanding standard and is clearly understandable and logical to the reader.
• Provide an outstanding understanding of the different sources of cost data and explain, to an outstanding level of detail, how the contractor’s estimator can use these to ensure that the estimate of cost is as realistic as possible. Clearly identifying examples of each.
• Outstanding use of referencing.
You are required to measure, price and report on the civil-engineering works described below. Measurement shall be in accordance with CESMM4, and pricing shall use the BCIS database.
Part A – Measurement
You are required to take off the quantities and prepare a Bill of Quantity for the following.
1. Retaining wall — Earthworks, In Situ Concrete & Concrete Ancillaries.
2. Interlocking sheet piles — Piles and piling ancillaries.
3. Below-ground drainage — Pipes; Pipework – Fittings and Valves; Manholes and Pipework Ancillaries; Pipework – Supports and Protection; Ancillaries to Laying and Excavation.
4. Bill of Quantity: Prepare a detailed bill of quantity for the measurement works carried out for the Retaining wall, interlocking sheet piles and Below-ground drainage work according to CESMM4 and price your BQ using the BCIS database.
Please take note of the following regarding your submission:
Take off quantities for the works listed above using the conventional quantity-surveying taking-off sheet (TDS). Please note that only the TDS sheets are required to be handwritten.
Record all dimensions clearly on TDS sheets, show working calculations, and square dimensions to produce quantities for each measured item. Use appropriate units.
Prepare a detailed Bill of Quantities for the Retaining wall, interlocking sheet piles and Below-ground drainage, using CESMM4 item descriptions and measurement rules. Items must be numbered and cross-referenced to the TDS sheets and drawings. Price the BQ using the BCIS database. For each priced item show: unit rate source (BCIS), date accessed, and any adjustments/assumptions applied (labour, plant, preliminaries, profit & attendance, etc.).
List separately any queries raised during measurement and any assumptions made (with reasoned justification).
Format and deliverables — Part A
• Taking-off sheets: Submit as a clear, legible scanned PDF. You may use university printers/scanners or scanning applications such as Adobe Scan, Office Lens, or similar. Please do not submit photographs taken with mobile phones, especially those with shadows or poor visibility.
• Bill of Quantities: Excel, Word or PDF format. BQ must include CESMM4 item references where relevant.
Part B – Written Report
Task: Using the measurement work in Part A as examples, discuss the sources of cost data available to a contractor’s estimator at tender stage and evaluate their relative strengths, limitations and applicability. To ensure that the estimate of cost is as realistic as possible.
Your report must be presented in the following format:
• Structure: Introduction; Discussion of cost-data sources Application to Part A (explicit examples showing how a particular source would be used for the retaining wall / sheet piles / drainage); Critical evaluation and recommendation for best practice at tender stage and a Conclusion.
• Referencing: Use Harvard author–date style (APA 7th as per module guidance). Provide in-text citations and a reference list.
https://www.salford.ac.uk/skills-for-learning/home/using-and-referencing-information/referencing
GRADE DESCRIPTORS
90% - 100%
• Without any error, accurately measure the quantity of the works, as set out on the drawing.
• Without error, present the measured quantities in the correct format, using the Dimension Paper, ensuring that all calculations are accurate and extended correctly.
• The level of accuracy and layout of the measured quantities on the dimension paper is to an outstanding standard and is clearly understandable and logical to the reader.
• Provide an outstanding understanding of the different sources of cost data and explain, to an outstanding level of detail, how the contractor’s estimator can use these to ensure that the estimate of cost is as realistic as possible. Clearly identifying examples of each.
• Outstanding use of referencing.
Related categories:
Project Management
Engineering
Civil Engineering
Structural Engineering
Construction Management