The difference between specifications and metric calculations? The specifications describe materials and processes, the calculation specifies quantities and costs.

If you deal with construction work, you will surely find yourself having to deal with the drafting of a specification and a metric calculation, two documents aimed at regulating the correct execution of the works. Sometimes, the specifications and the bill of quantities are often considered the same document, but in reality they are two very distinct documents with different functions.

In this article, I’ll explain what the difference is between specifications and metric calculations and how to draw them up quickly.

Difference between tender specifications and metric calculation

The specifications and the bill of quantities are two documents that are attached to the contract. Both designs have great relevance in the implementation of any building work, therefore it is very important that every technician working in the design field knows the difference.

The difference between specifications and metric calculation concerns the fact that, while the specifications are a document that serves to describe materials and processes also defining the contractual conditions, the metric calculation is a document that is used to quantify the works (and subsequently carry out the estimates).

The drafting of the specifications and the metric calculation is mandatory when the works are of public interest and the client is the public administration.

However, both documents are useful even when the client is a private figure. In fact, they represent an instrument of protection both for the client and for the company:

• the client protects himself from an unjustified increase in costs;
• the company protects itself from any complaints (or from requests for compensation).

What is the tender specifications?

It is possible to identify two types of specifications:

• general tender specifications: (defined by Ministerial Decree April 19, 2000, n.145) regulates the relations between the company and the PA and refers to the mandatory rules for the execution of the works. It is a sort of ” specifications of the specifications ” as it sets the standards with which the other specifications are to be drawn up;
• special tender specifications: defines the requirements and the quality of the works that must be carried out with particular attention to the materials used and the methods of execution of the works.

The special tender specifications are a technical-administrative document that is attached to the tender contract, that is to the contract that regulates the relationship between a client and a construction company and describes as precisely as possible the needs to which the contractor must answer.

The special tender specifications must contain a detailed list of all the works that are intended to be built or renovated and for each of them it is necessary to indicate which materials and which techniques to use, the execution times and duration of the works, which elements are required. intend to accomplish; it generally also includes an economic reference for each of the items shown in the document.

Drawing up the special tender specifications is a rather complicated task since for each process there are different prescriptions and regulatory references to be kept up to date and the related technical standards to be applied.

What is the metric calculation?

The metric calculation is a mandatory document of the final and executive project; it is used to quantify the interventions necessary to carry out a work and identify the costs of materials. It represents a fundamental tool to get a very precise idea of the works of any project and allows you to compare the estimates of various construction companies with each other.

The calculation, therefore, identifies and measures “what needs to be done”, and in the metric estimate it also quantifies the costs.

It is good to distinguish the calculation in:

• metric calculation in which an estimate is made of the quantity of work necessary for the completion of the work;
• metric calculation in which the estimate of the prices of all the works and the estimate of the total cost of the work are added;
• final calculation that is drawn up only when the work is completed (therefore at the end of the work); the purpose of this document is to compare the estimated costs at the start of the works (through the estimated metric calculation) with those actually incurred.

The metric calculation and the metric calculation are closely linked to each other, in fact it is not possible to draw up a metric calculation without first having made the metric calculation, as the second is an integration of the first, obtained by associating the quantity of each process a unit price.

The distinctive elements of a calculation are:

• the description of the individual processes (designation of the works);
• the measurements of the workings (dimensions – length, width and height);
• the unit price of the work;
• the amount of the individual processes (obtained from the product of the quantities and the unit price);
• the total amount (total).

It is essential that the metric calculation is drawn up in an extremely precise manner in order to eliminate the possibility of incurring previously unforeseen extra costs and / or in disputes.

Source https://biblus.acca.it/dif ferenza-tra-capitolato-e-computo-metrico/?utm_source=16190geo&utm_medium=NEWS_difference-tra-capitolato-e-computo-metric&utm_campaign=mail-biblus-net

GECOSEI by Giuseppina Napolitano