The Quantity Surveyor

Will be dealing with the very basic form of rate analysis from first principles, this would be part of a series of posts, as I feel it would be better to go step by step rather than fitting in everything at once. Part 1 - CEMENT MORTAR Cement mortar as the name bluntly suggests is the combination of cement, sand and water in a prescribed ratio. This mix ratio is generally determined by the usage of the mortar, that is, if it is used for block work, plastering or a simple flooring etc., the mix proportions used are various i.e, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 so on and so forth, where the first part of the ratio indicates the quantum of sand and the second part of the ratio in indicative of the quantum of cement i.e., C:S Let's take this in three simple steps for about 10 cum of cement mortar: Step 1:  DRY VOLUME CALCULATION Since the mixing of materials is first dry, we need to calculate the dry volume of materials to be used, as a general assumption we consider between 30 to 40% of...

QSs' involved with both pre-contract and post-contract may be aware of the process of bench-marking, in-case one is not, this may be of help depending on the quantum of work one is looking to bench-mark. The process of bench-marking is essential, especially at the stage of preliminary cost estimates. What I would do here is first try to establish a simple explanation to what cost bench-marking is, so that the process becomes clear. Right, so the process of bench-marking involves a very basic elemental comparison of a particular type of project. Please note my mention of a particular type of project here, since one cannot possibly establish a comparative between a residential and a commercial project, nor will one be able to establish a valid comparison between projects in various zones of construction, hence a similarity between the projects will have to be achieved either by the use of permutations or by simply comparing projects which would remain similar at the base. ...