CHAPTEK IX 



BILLS OF QUANTITIES 



1 . Bill of quantities denned . . . 



2. Duty of quantity-surveyor 



3. Whether bound to disclose 



his calculations ... 



4. Liability of quantity-sur- 



veyor 



5. Whether bills of quantities 



part of contract 



6. Accuracy of bills of quan- 



tities ... 



PAGE 



104 



104 



105 

 105 

 107 

 108 



7. Clause drawing attention 



of the contractor to the 

 bills of quantities ... 109 



8. Rectification of bills of 



quantities ... ... 109 



9. Who is to pay the quantity- 



surveyor 109 



10. Amount of quantity-sur- 

 veyor's fees Ill 



1. Bill of quantities defined. A bill of quantities professes 

 to be a correct list of the quantities of work and materials 

 required to be done and provided in the erection of a building, 

 or in the completion of a contract for large works (Scrivener 

 v. Pask, 1866, L. K. 1 C. P. at p. 716). It is a well-ascertained 

 practice that the building owner places before the builder 

 documents specifying the materials on which he is to 

 make his tender. But a bill of quantities, whether it forms 

 part of the specification or is a special document, is not 

 intended to be a representation in the sense of being a 

 warranty. It is an estimate which the builder may act on as 

 an honest estimate made by a qualified person, but it is not 

 a warranty. It cannot be pushed beyond an estimate and 

 turned into a warranty (see per Collins, M. K., in lie Bemrose, 

 Ford v. Bemrose, 1902, 18 T. L. E. 443). See further as to 

 the definition of bills of quantities, 6, post. 



2. Duty of quantity- survey or. The duty of the quantity- 

 surveyor in an ordinary case was thus very tersely explained 

 by Lord Esher in Priestley v. Stone, 1888, 2 H. B. C., at 

 p. 137 : " Now what is it that the man who is employed to 

 take out the quantities is employed to do for the architect ? 

 He is employed to take out the quantities for the architect, and 

 to give those quantities to the architect; and he has no 



