A bill of quantities in Kenya is a document, usually prepared by a quantity surveyor from your approved drawings, that breaks the whole build into measured items. Each line has a description, a unit, a quantity and a rate, and the amounts add up to a total for each stage of the house. It is what lets you compare two contractors on the same work, and it is what you pay against.
Without one, the fundi's figure is the only number you have. When the money runs out at the ring beam and he asks for more, there is nothing to check the request against. With a BOQ, you can ask a specific question: which line ran over, and why.
Why the number keeps growing without one
Building from abroad usually runs on trust and transfers. You send a lump sum for the foundation. A month later there is a request for more cement, then for a lorry of ballast, then for labour. Each request sounds reasonable on a phone call. Added up, they exceed what you were first told, and you cannot see what was bought or used.
That is not always dishonesty. Many small builds are priced from experience with no drawings measured, so the first figure was a guess. A BOQ replaces the guess with a measured list before work starts.
How a bill of quantities in Kenya is laid out
Layouts vary between surveyors, but a residential BOQ in Kenya usually follows the order the house is built in.
- Preliminaries. Site setup, water and power during construction, security, insurance, supervision and site clearance. These are the costs of running the job.
- Substructure. Excavation, hardcore, blinding, the foundation footings and walls, damp proof course, ground floor slab. This is everything below floor level.
- Superstructure. Walling, columns, lintels and ring beam, suspended slabs if any, and the roof structure and covering.
- Finishes. Plaster, screed, floor tiles, wall tiles, ceilings, painting.
- Doors, windows and joinery. Frames, shutters, glazing, ironmongery, kitchen units, wardrobes.
- Services. Plumbing, drainage, septic tank or sewer connection, electrical installation.
- External works. Walkways, parking, fencing, gate, landscaping, sometimes the borehole.
- Provisional sums, prime cost sums and contingency. Allowances for things not yet designed or chosen, and a reserve for the unexpected.
Each measured line looks the same: "Concrete grade 20 in foundation footings, cubic metres, quantity, rate, amount." The quantity is measured from the drawings. The rate is the price per unit, including materials, labour and the contractor's margin.
Reading it the way a surveyor would
Pick three lines you understand and check the quantity against the drawings. If the plan shows a house of a certain size and the BOQ has floor tiles for half again as much area, ask why. Quantities are where honest errors and padding both hide.
Then look at the rates. You do not need to know the right price. You need two BOQs priced on the same quantities, or one BOQ checked by a surveyor you appointed. A rate that is far above the other contractor's on the same line deserves a question.
Finally, look at what is not measured.
The lines that tend to grow
- Provisional sums. A large provisional sum for "electrical works" or "finishes" means that part was not priced at all. The final cost can land anywhere. Ask for those items to be designed and measured before you sign, or at least capped.
- Prime cost sums. These are allowances for items you choose later, like tiles, sanitary ware or a gate. If the allowance is low, your choice will cost more and the difference is added to the bill. Ask what brand and grade the allowance assumes.
- Preliminaries. On a small house this section can quietly carry a lot. Ask what each item covers and for how many months.
- Contingency. A contingency is sensible. It should be spent only with your written approval, not drawn down automatically.
- Variations. Any change you request, or any change the site forces, is a variation. Insist that each one is priced and agreed in writing before the work is done.
Using the BOQ to pay by stage from abroad
The most practical use of a BOQ for a Kenyan abroad is a payment schedule. Group the lines into stages a person can see and photograph: foundation complete to damp proof course, walls to ring beam, roof on, plastering and services first fix, finishes, handover.
- Agree the stages and their values in the contract. Each payment matches the BOQ total for that stage, less any retention you agree to hold back.
- Pay only after a valuation. At each stage, your quantity surveyor or a supervising architect or engineer visits, confirms the work against the BOQ and certifies what is due.
- Ask for a dated video walk-through. A slow walk round the site with the date shown tells you more than a few still photos.
- Pay accounts, not people. Pay the contractor's business account against an invoice that cites the certificate. Do not send stage money to a relative's or foreman's personal number to pass on.
- Keep the paper. File every certificate, invoice and variation. If the build stalls, the file shows exactly what was paid for.
A relative at home can still be your eyes on site. The schedule simply means they confirm a stage instead of deciding how much to send, which is fairer to them too.
Who prepares it, and who checks
In Kenya, quantity surveyors are registered by the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS), which publishes a register on its website. Ask your surveyor for their registration number and check it there before you pay a fee.
The paperwork around the build points the same way. The Building Regulations require building plans to be submitted before development permission is granted, and the Physical and Land Use Planning Act requires the plans and documents for a development application to be prepared by qualified, registered and licensed professionals. Banks set similar conditions. Co-operative Bank's diaspora mortgage requirements, for example, ask construction borrowers for approved plans and a bill of quantities from a registered quantity surveyor.
Questions people ask
How much is a bill of quantities for a 3 bedroom house in Kenya? It depends on the design and specification, so any figure online is a rough guide at best. Get a BOQ prepared from your own approved drawings. A BOQ from someone else's house will not match your plans.
Is there a sample bill of quantities I can use? A sample helps you learn the layout. It cannot be used to price your build, because the quantities come from your drawings.
Where do I find bill of quantities rates in Kenya? Rates move with material prices and location. The reliable way to test them is competitive pricing: give two or three contractors the same BOQ and compare line by line.
Can my fundi prepare the BOQ? A fundi can give you a materials list. A BOQ for a lender, or one you plan to pay against, should come from a registered quantity surveyor who is working for you, not for the contractor.
Where Karibu fits
If you are still choosing the plot, Karibu checks title records and asking prices by area, so you know what you are building on before the BOQ stage. You can ask bRRAIn what to check on a plot before you commission drawings.
Before the next transfer, ask the site for the BOQ line it relates to.
Sources: Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors, register of quantity surveyors. Physical and Land Use Planning (Building) Regulations, Legal Notice 239 of 2021, regulation 4. Physical and Land Use Planning Act 2019, section 59. Co-operative Bank diaspora mortgage requirements, January 2022 upload.