Composite Bill Item

A composite bill item should be thought of as a combination of a bill section and an ordinary bill item. It is a section in the sense that a composite item has components which are items and it is an item in the sense that it has a quantity, a unit, a net rate, etc., all the usual properties of an item with the exception of a bill attribute property. Composite bill items are necessary since their work breakdown structure cannot be modeled in a unified way like an ordinary bill item. Consequently, they are modeled as an aggregation of diverse components which are items in their own right.

By way of example, a BOQ may contain an item that provides for the manufacture of a number of precast concrete beams. The manufacturing process requires a team doing reinforcing steelwork fixing, a team doing shuttering, and a team doing concrete casting. At any point in time, the steel fixing team may have completed their task for twelve beams and the shuttering team for ten beams, while a total of six beams may have been cast and finished. Questions that arise are: How many beams have effectively been completed at this point in time?, What is allowable for the wage bill at this point in time?, etc. If the precast beams are represented by an ordinary bill item, only six beams have been completed and the actual completed work cannot be measured correctly.

Trimble Quest’s composite bill items provide a solution. Continuing the example, the manufacturing of precast beams should be modeled as a composite bill item with its own quantity, unit, etc., but it comprises component items for steel fixing, shuttering, and concrete casting, each with itsown quantity and unit of measurement. This allows for proper measurement of work at the required level of granularity. Defining a composite bill item is described in detail in sections Creae Composite Bill Items and Work with BOQ Worksheets .

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