Key issues affecting contractor's uses of Bills of Quantities (BQ)

Abstract

There have been numerous studies which reported issues over the uses of Bills of Quantities (BQ) by contracting organisations. The issues have caused a baffling effect to the contractors thus vitiated BQ reputation as a valuable instrument for the construction industry. Though, concerns over the uses of BQ have been well documented abroad, there seemed to be limited data captured that corresponded to the Malaysian context. Hence, this study seeks to report findings made from a study that aimed to determine significant issues affecting the uses of BQ to the contracting organisations in the Malaysian construction industry. The study outlined three objectives which include identifying the uses of BQ to the contracting organisations identifying issues affecting the uses of BQ and determining the significant issues affecting the uses of BQ. Through the survey, questionnaires were distributed to 500 active G7 contractors selected at random of which 112 (22.4%) responded. Data was first tested for its reliability using Cronbach's Alpha while the Relative Significance Index (RSI) and the analysis of significance were used for data analysis. The results showed that 'Inaccurate/wrong quantities' 'insufficient information on quantities, i.e., location' and 'inaccurate descriptions' were the most significant issues affecting the uses of BQ. The findings were significant as it offered data that corresponded to the local context and input that the industry could consider for improvements.