What a bill of quantities is, and why everything starts there

What does a bill of quantities contain?

A BoQ is a table of line items. Each row describes one activity or material, the unit of measure, the quantity and — once priced — the unit rate and the line total.

The contracting authority supplies the items and quantities. The tenderer fills in the rates. The sum is the offered price.

That is why the BoQ is both the technical and the financial backbone of the contract at once. An error in one row carries through into the tender, the contract and the payment.

When does a contract have a bill of quantities?

It depends on the value and — a point often missed — on the type of contract. The thresholds for works and for supplies are different.

Under Art. 20(4) of the Bulgarian Public Procurement Act, direct award is available for works below EUR 40,903.35 and for supplies and services below EUR 25,564.59, excluding VAT. Under that regime a detailed bill of quantities often does not exist at all — pricing is against the description.

Above those thresholds the contract goes through a collection of offers, and at higher values through a public competition or an open procedure, where the documents almost always include a full BoQ.

Thresholds are set by law, they change, and they were redenominated into euro on 1 January 2026. Check the current text of Art. 20 and the documents of the specific contract.

A missing BoQ is often the award regime, not an omission. If the contract is small and has no bill of quantities, that is normal — pricing is against the description.

How do you read a bill of quantities correctly?

The unit of measure decides everything. Square metres and linear metres against the same item produce rates that differ by a multiple.

The notes under the table often carry the standard or the equivalence requirement. They are part of the line item, not decoration.

Where an item is described by a trade name, an equivalent is usually permitted. Exactly what counts as equivalent is in the documents — and that is where the margin is won or lost.

What are the most common pricing mistakes?

Pricing without checking availability. A rate taken from a months-old catalogue for an item that currently has a 14-week lead time.

A missed row. An unpriced line usually means exclusion, not a lower price.

The total does not reconcile. A manually entered line total that does not equal quantity times rate — a formal non-conformity.

An ignored standard. A cheaper product is offered because it meets a different standard. The difference surfaces at acceptance, not at evaluation.

What we do with your BoQ

We take it as it comes — spreadsheet, PDF, photograph. We check every line for availability, manufacturer, standard and real lead time.

You get pricing by row rather than a single total, so you can see where the difference is formed. Where the written requirement does not exist on the market in that form, we say so before ordering.

We do not charge for this. Our margin sits with the manufacturer.

The rest of the reference

The whole reference →