Chương I Thông tư 17/2019/TT-BXD: Quy định chung

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular shall provide instructions about quantity takeoff or measurement of construction works as a basis to determine and manage investment and construction costs of investment and construction projects funded by the state budget and non-budgetary capital, and other public-private partnership (PPP) investment projects.  

Projects funded by official development aid (ODA) capital shall be subject to regulations laid down in treaties and regulations of domestic laws specified in the Law on Treaties.

Article 2. Subjects of application

This Circular shall apply to entities and persons involved in determination, estimation or surveying of quantities of construction works as a basis to manage investment and construction costs of investment and construction projects funded by the state budget and non-budgetary capital, and other public-private partnership (PPP) investment projects.  

Article 3. Quantity takeoff principles

1. Measurement/quantity takeoff of construction works means the determination of detailed quantities or volumes of a construction work by using the method of measurement, counting, calculation and checking on the basis of the size and quantity prescribed in design drawings, design explanations, or from the request for project implementation, construction, technical or engineering guides, other relevant documents and guidelines, and Vietnamese construction standards and regulations.

2. The quantity takeoff for a construction work must serve correct purposes, using methods of determining and managing construction investment expenses according to regulations.

3. Quantities produced after measurement or takeoff activities need to show the property, structure, main materials used and construction methods, and provides all conditions necessary for determining construction expenses.

4. For a number of parts of a construction work, the construction volumes belonging to a construction work or work item that cannot be measured in an exact or detailed manner, it is possible to make a quantity estimate. Estimated quantity is determined when the works are specified in the design document or project implementation requirements but it is not possible to determine the exact quantities according to the takeoff rules. The estimated quality will be taken off again when performing acceptance testing, payment and settlement or as specified in the construction contract.

5. The determination of quantities in acceptance, payment and settlement of construction expenses shall conform to contractual terms and conditions, and the quantity takeoff principles specified in this Circular.

Article 4. Requirements for quantity takeoff of construction works

1. Construction quantity takeoff documentation shall comprise:   Summary or general bill of quantities, Detailed or breakdown bill of quantities and detailed statistics sheets (if any).

2. Requirements of the general or summary bill of quantities

a) Summary or general bill of quantities is a summary of the results of takeoff of a construction work or work item, providing information on volumes, quantities and other relevant information as a basis to determine construction costs.

b) All construction tasks/task groups to be performed must be recorded in the summary or general bill of quantities. The summary or general bill of quantities is made for the whole construction work or separately for each work item, bidding package and according to the project schedule and project implementation requirements.

c) Subject matters of the general or summary bill of quantities, including:  List of tasks/task groups, unit of measurement, method of measurement, results of measurement, and description of works (if necessary). The layout and representation of data in the summary or general bill of quantities must be simple and concise. The sample bill of quantities is given in the Appendix 2 hereto.

3. Detailed or breakdown bill of quantities for a construction work or work item shall be used for providing detailed explanations about the calculation method and the results produced after the takeoff process. The sample bill of quantities is given in the Appendix 3 hereto.

4. The list of works needs to be measured in accordance with the design drawing and the construction order, showing the full contents of construction works that need to be measured, positions of parts and construction activities of construction works.

5. Units of measurement shall be selected according to management requirements and designs and conform to those belonging to the normative system and system of units prescribed in current regulations.

6. The symbols used in the detailed or breakdown bill of quantities of a construction work or work item must conform to those shown in design drawings. The statistical volumes or quantities of a design must be clearly indicated according to the design's statistics and must clearly indicate the number of the design drawing containing statistics.

7. Construction quantity takeoff results shown in the detailed or breakdown bill of quantities shall be integrated into the summary or general bill of quantities after being processed according to the principle of rounding numerical values. In case the calculation result is a decimal, the thousandths place value shall be accepted.

Article 5. Use of quantity results achieved by running design or quantity takeoff software  

1. In the case of using quantity statistics produced by design software programs and other specialized automated takeoff and estimating software, it shall be necessary to clearly specify the measurement or estimation methods in the summary or general bill of quantities. Organizations or individuals performing quantity takeoff, measurement or estimation activities by using software shall be responsible for the accuracy of these statistics and shall be accountable to verification and evaluation authorities for the conformity of the data and quantity takeoff principles of such software. The quantity statistics produced from design and other specialized software must be consistent with the principles defined under the guidance given herein.

2. The reporter of quantity statistics produced by design and other specialized software programs mentioned in clause 1 of this Article needs to know the contents of such data, supplement the descriptive information suitable for costing or application of unit prices and norms.