The Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers with support from the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and funding from Historic England, has developed a Bill of Quantities (BQ) approach to procuring archaeological work.
Predicting the quality and quantity of archaeological discoveries is not possible. Any quotations for archaeological excavations can only ever be estimates, with a high likelihood that some form of variation to an archaeological project will be required. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) advises the use of an approximate bill of quantities when ‘…there is great uncertainty in certain elements, such as major excavation and earthworks’.
A bill of quantities is a process where tendering and payment is based on per unit costs of outcomes/tasks. In archaeology these units might be interventions (boreholes, trenches, sample collection, etc.), or volumes of soil, or features investigated (walls, postholes, graves, etc.), or quantities of artefacts (ceramics, flints, bones, etc.) or even the weight of artefacts. An approximate BQ in when the tendering is based on initial, estimated, quantities of those units, but as the project progresses the quantities are revised – called remeasurement by surveyors – and payment(s) are made based on those revised/remeasured quantities, so negating the need to initiate a contract variation.
Benefits of a BQ
Such an approach benefits all involved by:
- variations between the tendered and actual works undertaken are equitably adjusted thus ensuring the contractor is reimbursed accordingly, removing over-/under-estimating risks i.e. risk sharing;
- saving the time/money of preparing bespoke project designs/bids;
- presenting all tenders in a consistent manner, ensuring they are easy to compare, which saves tender commissioners the time/money spent trying to compare different bespoke proposals;
- provides consistency, clarity and recognisable measures of output which can be tracked and verified against a programme of work;
- reducing the risk of misinterpretation in pricing;
- building trust between clients and contractors, because there is a framework to understand any cost increases or decreases.
Essentially, it removes the guesswork from bidding, and conversely in analysing bids, together with decreasing opacity of project costs, while reducing risks and improving relationships/understanding.
The Archaeological Standard Method of Measurement
The Archaeological Standard Method of Measurement (ASMM) is a framework by which archaeological works can be priced and paid for through the use of a BQ. It is inspired by the RICS new rules of measurement (NRM). The ASMM is a suite of documents written to provide a set of measurement best practice methods that can be understood by anyone involved in an archaeological project.
The ASMM has been developed with feedback from FAME members and organisations that commission archaeological work. We have completed a draft that should be usable in its current form but to ensure all concerns are addressed we are opening up a round of final comments on the documents. If you have any feedback on the suite of documents please email it to – info@famearchaeology.co.uk. By June 1st, 2024.
There are two documents – the ASMM word document, which explains the main concepts of an archaeological bill of quantities and an excel spreadsheet which is the template BQ.
Scope – who is this for?
While it has been produced primarily with reference to the UK development and construction sectors, it is adaptable to archaeological work in different settings and different countries.
These documents are for people commissioning or undertaking archaeological work. Specifically, those involved in the tendering, commissioning, monitoring of contracts and paying for work – on either side of those tasks.
