Civil Engineering Project Management (4th Edition)
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‘Painting items N1–N13 after erection … Lump Sum’. Alternatively a provisional<br />
sum for painting can be entered. By such procedures the number of items<br />
in a bill can be reduced.<br />
Description of items. The standard method states that item descriptions are<br />
to avoid unnecessary length, their intention being to – ‘identify the component<br />
of the works and not the tasks to be carried out by the contractor’. Nevertheless<br />
descriptions according to the CESMM method tend to be lengthy in some<br />
cases. Each item has a letter and three-figure code number which identifies<br />
the work required according to the CESMM classification; but the code descriptions<br />
are not taken as definitive and, to avoid ambiguity, the actual<br />
descriptions have to be written out in words.<br />
The bill items have also to be read in conjunction with the specification and<br />
the drawings – and it is an essential matter for the drafter of the bills to ensure<br />
all these relate. The location of items may need to be specifically stated also,<br />
and any additional description rules specified by the CESMM must be followed,<br />
in order to ensure that all detail necessary to identify the work is given,<br />
as required by the method. This ensures that items can be priced properly and<br />
their application to the work on site identified easily.<br />
15.4 Problems with classes of work and<br />
number of items<br />
Measurement and bills of quantities 181<br />
For most works of any size there should be separate bills for obviously separate<br />
parts of the project. This clarifies the location of work under bill items,<br />
makes it possible to cost structures separately, and may be needed if completion<br />
of certain parts of the work is required by some stated earlier time. Within<br />
each bill the items will be classified into different types of work, always taken<br />
in the same order in all bills.<br />
The standard method lists 26 classes of work labelled A–Z; Class A being for<br />
general items (more commonly known as ‘Preliminaries’); Class B is for site<br />
investigation including sampling and laboratory testing; Class C for geotechnical<br />
processes, such as grouting and construction of diaphragm walls; Class<br />
D for demolition and site clearance. Thereafter there follow classes for the common<br />
constructional operations – earthworks, concrete, pipework, etc. – through<br />
to Class Y which is for sewer and water main renovations. The final Class Z is for<br />
‘Simple building works incidental to civil engineering works’ and covers carpentry<br />
and joinery, doors and windows, surface finishes and services, etc.<br />
Not all the 24 classes of construction work, B–Y, will normally be used on<br />
most projects, and a problem is that if the project includes a large building, the<br />
items under Class Z may be numerous and so need sub-classification. There<br />
may also be some difficulty in deciding where to bill certain types of work to<br />
achieve a logical order, since some work which would normally be considered<br />
part of the finishing building trades, such as painting, is in the civil engineering<br />
classes of work.