BOQ unit errors: the mistake that inflates a line

A wrong unit is easy to miss in a BOQ. The number looks fine, but the unit does not fit the item. In a long list, nobody stops to ask.

A real case, anonymised

The rule engine of BOQIFY once found a flooring line of 264 m² that had been measured in linear metres. A floor is an area. A length is a different thing, and the line was priced as if the two were the same. The cost of that line did not match the real floor.

Why unit errors happen

Walls, floors and skirting boards use different units: m², m² and m. A copied line, a merged cell or a unit typed by hand can carry the wrong unit into the total. Once it is inside a long BOQ, it is hard to see.

How to catch them

• Read the unit before you read the number.
• Ask if the unit fits the item: area for a floor, length for an edge, pieces for doors.
• Compare the quantity with the plan. A floor quantity should match the area of the rooms.
• Run the BOQ validator. It runs checks on an existing BOQ in Excel, PDF or Word.
• Use the source of each line, the sheet, the layer and the entity, to see what was measured.

A habit that helps

Write the unit next to every number, in every review. A cost estimation that starts from a wrong unit ends with a wrong total.

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