(International)
For Works of Construction
JUNE 1979
Published by RICS Business Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, under the RICS Books imprint, Surveyor Court Westwood Business Park Coventry, CV4 8JE UK No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material included in this publication can be accepted by the authors, publisher or The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The views expressed and the conclusions drawn in this book are those of the authors. ISBN 0 85406 108 8 First Edition 1979 Reprinted 1988, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2002 and 2004 © RICS 1988. Copyright in all or part of this publication rests with the RICS, and save by prior consent of the RICS, no part or parts of this publication shall be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, now known or to be devised. Printed by Q3 Print, Loughborough
Foreword The use of bills of quantities is a well-established means of enabling the financial control and management of building works. The key to the success of the use of bills of quantities is a clear understanding by all parties to the contract of what is included, or excluded, in the measurement. It is this that gives rise to the requirement for clearly defined standard methods of measurement. Since these principles of measurement were first issued in 1979, many countries have developed their own more detailed standard methods. A recent survey of its international membership carried out for the RICS Construction Faculty by the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) identified that 14 of the 32 responding countries had their own method of measurement. However, the Principles of Measurement (International) (POMI) were still being used in about half of the countries and are still widely used on international contracts.
There has been a trend in