A BOQ that just lists “tile — 500 sqm” or “doors — 40 units” isn’t enough for a supplier to return a reliable quote — it’s enough for them to return a guess. Getting an accurate quotation requires category-specific technical fields, not just a name and a quantity. This guide breaks down exactly what to include for each major building material category, so your BOQ gives a supplier everything they need to price it precisely the first time.
Based on our experience supplying building materials for projects across the US, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia, we have received BOQs that said ‘doors — 40 units’ and the supplier returned quotes for four different door types at four different price points — adding fire rating, leaf thickness, and finish to the BOQ collapsed that to one quote for the right product.
Why Generic BOQ Fields Aren’t Enough for Material Quoting
A standard construction BOQ, built for a quantity surveyor’s internal use, often just tracks item, quantity, and unit rate — because the QS already has full specifications documented elsewhere in the project. When a BOQ is sent directly to a supplier for a material quote, it needs to carry the technical detail that would otherwise live in those separate specification documents, or the supplier is left filling in blanks with assumptions.
中段CTA： Have a rough quantity list but not a full technical BOQ? Send us your BOQ for a preliminary sourcing plan → — we can help build out the missing technical fields from your drawings.
Fields to Include by Material Category
Tile and stone
- Size, thickness, and finish (matte, polished, textured)
- Slip resistance requirement (COF rating) for wet or exterior areas
- V-rating or shade variation tolerance, particularly for stone-look or wood-look finishes
- Quantity in square meters, plus a wastage allowance percentage for cutting loss
Flooring (SPC, engineered wood)
- Wear layer thickness and total plank thickness
- Finish type (matte, semi-matte, embossed) and color/shade reference
- Installation method (click-lock or glue-down), since this affects underlayment and trim requirements
- Quantity in square meters, plus transition strip and trim linear meters separately
Doors and hardware
- Door type (solid core, hollow core, fire-rated) and fire/acoustic rating if applicable
- Dimensions (width, height, thickness) and swing direction per opening
- Hardware set specified alongside the door — hinges, lockset, closer — not as a separate line item disconnected from the door itself
- Quantity in units (“leaves” or “sets”), not square meters
Aluminum windows
- Window type (casement, sliding, fixed) and opening direction per unit
- Glazing type (single, double, Low-E) and required performance rating if destination code requires one
- Frame finish and color, referenced against an approved physical sample
- Quantity in units, with rough opening dimensions for each
Cabinetry
- Material (particleboard, plywood, MDF) and finish (laminate, veneer, painted)
- Configuration per unit type (base cabinet, wall cabinet, tall unit) with dimensions
- Hardware specified alongside (handles, hinges, soft-close mechanisms)
- Quantity per unit type, multiplied by unit count for multifamily projects
Getting the Unit of Measurement Right
A common source of quoting errors is inconsistent units within the same BOQ — mixing square meters and linear meters for flooring trim, or unit counts and sets for door hardware, without clearly labeling which is which. Industry convention generally follows the logic of how the material is actually installed: tile and flooring by area (sqm), trim and molding by length (linear meters), doors and windows by unit or opening, and hardware by set. Labeling every quantity field with its unit explicitly, rather than assuming it’s obvious, removes a common source of quoting mismatches.
Reference Samples and Images: Filling the Gap Written Specs Can’t Close
Even a technically complete BOQ benefits from attached reference images or physical samples wherever a finish involves any visual judgment — stone-look tile, wood-look flooring, painted cabinetry colors. Written descriptions like “warm gray” or “natural oak finish” are interpreted differently by different people; a reference image or an approved physical sample removes that ambiguity entirely and should be attached to the relevant BOQ line item, not sent as a separate, disconnected file.
What This Looked Like in Practice
For a hotel renovation project, the BOQ for door and hardware included fire and acoustic ratings per door type, swing direction confirmed per guest room, and the electronic lock system’s cutout requirements specified alongside the door itself — rather than as a separate hardware order — which let the supplier quote and produce doors pre-fitted for the exact lock system being installed, avoiding on-site modification.
Common Questions About Building a BOQ for Quotation
Do I need to fill in every field for every material category? More detail generally produces a more accurate quote, but if certain specs genuinely aren’t finalized yet, flagging them as “TBD, will confirm” is more useful than leaving a field blank without explanation — it tells the supplier where the quote may still shift.
Can a supplier help build out a BOQ from architectural drawings? Yes — this is a standard part of the material takeoff process, and it’s often faster than trying to extract every technical field manually before reaching out.
Should reference images be embedded in the BOQ or sent separately? Either works, as long as each image is clearly linked to its specific BOQ line item — a folder of unlabeled reference photos sent alongside the BOQ creates more confusion than it resolves.
Conclusion
An accurate building material quotation depends on a BOQ that carries category-specific technical detail, not just item names and quantities. Filling in the right fields for each material type — and attaching reference samples wherever a finish involves visual judgment — is what turns a rough quantity list into a quote you can actually rely on.
Building out a BOQ for an upcoming project? Send us your BOQ for a preliminary sourcing plan → — we’ll fill in the gaps and return a line-item accurate quote.
Related reading: Building Material Quote from China: BOQ Guide · Compare China Building Material Quotes · Sourcing Building Materials from China: Complete Guide
BOQ costs: a complete BOQ gets a quote in 3-5 days; an incomplete one takes 10-14 days. Sampling fees run $50-200 per material type. For a hotel with 6-8 categories, expect $300-1,600 in sampling costs. Most partners credit 50-100% against the production order.
A building material BOQ should include item description, material specification (grade, finish, color reference), dimensions (length × width × thickness), quantity (with unit of measure), unit price, total price, and any applicable notes (tolerance, fire rating, certification). Category-specific fields like tile PEI rating or door fire rating should be added per material type.
Detailed enough that two suppliers quoting the same BOQ would return prices for the same product. Specify the exact material grade, dimensions, finish, and standard — ‘porcelain tile, 600×600×10mm, polished, PEI IV, color code per approved sample’ is a good level of detail. ‘Floor tile — 500 sqm’ is not.
Tiles need PEI rating, water absorption rate, and shade variation index. Flooring needs wear layer thickness and core density. Doors need fire rating, leaf thickness, and hardware cutout dimensions. Windows need U-value, SHGC, glass type, and opening direction. Cabinetry needs material (solid wood/MDF/plywood), hardware spec, and finish.
Sources: Building material (Wikipedia) · Construction industry data (Statista)