Ask ten Nigerian quantity surveyors how they take off quantities and most will describe the same thing: drawings on one side, dimension paper or an Excel sheet on the other. Software has improved, but the dimension sheet is still how the profession thinks, how students are trained and how many firms check each other's work. The problem is not the method. It is the spreadsheet that has to carry it: broken formulas, items typed differently each time, and bills that have to be rebuilt by hand in the right order.
We built a free BESMM4 take-off template to fix that. It keeps the traditional method and adds the structure: a dimension sheet that squares itself, a bill arranged in NIQS BESMM4 elemental bills with work-section codes, a Main Summary in BESMM4 order and current market rates for your city. This guide explains the method, walks through a worked example and shows where the template saves time and where it doesn't.
What a Quantity Take-off Is
A take-off is the measurement of every item of work from the drawings: cubic metres of excavation and concrete, square metres of blockwork and plaster, metres of skirting, the number of doors and windows. Those quantities become the Bill of Quantities, which contractors price and which the client uses to compare tenders and control cost. In Nigeria the rules for how each item is measured are set by the Building and Engineering Standard Method of Measurement, 4th edition (BESMM4), published by the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) in 2017. BESMM4 does not set prices. It sets the units, what each item includes and how bills are arranged, so that every contractor prices the same thing.
If you are new to the standard, read our guides to the BESMM4 bill format, its work sections and coding system and the measurement rules for concrete and blockwork first.
The Traditional Method: Five Steps
The dimension-paper method has five steps. Every QS learns them, and the template follows them exactly.
- Timesing. How many times the measurement occurs. Six identical windows are measured once and "timesed" by six. A negative figure deducts, for example window openings out of a wall.
- Dimensioning. The measurements themselves, in the order length, width, depth or height, written in metres to two decimal places.
- Squaring. Multiplying the dimensions (and the times figure) to get the quantity: three dimensions give m³, two give m², one gives m, none gives a number.
- Abstracting. Collecting the squared quantities of each item, adding and deducting, so each item has one net total.
- Billing. Writing the items into the bill in the right order with their descriptions and units, ready to be priced.
On paper, squaring and abstracting are where most of the time goes and most of the arithmetic errors happen. In the template both are done by formula, so you only do the professional part: deciding what to measure and measuring it correctly.
What Is in the Template
| Sheet | What it does |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | One line per measurement. Choose the item from a drop-down list, enter Times, Length, Width and Depth/Height. The quantity squares itself and the unit appears next to it. |
| Bill | Every item grouped into BESMM4 elemental bills (Substructure, Frame, Upper Floors, Roof, Stairs, External and Internal Walls, Windows, Doors, Wall, Floor and Ceiling Finishes, Services, External Works) with work-section codes. Quantities total themselves from the Dimensions sheet; each bill is carried to the Summary. |
| Summary | A Main Summary in BESMM4 order: Preliminaries, measured works by group, Risks, Provisional Sums, Overheads and Profit, VAT and the total. The grey cells are your inputs. |
| Rates | Current market unit rates for the city you chose, plus a yellow "My rate" column. Type your own price and the bill uses it instead. |
Codes are shown in full only where we checked them against the BESMM4 classification tables (for example 1.5:6.2.1 for excavating trenches, 1.14:1.2.1 for blockwork walls). Where an item does not map to a single classification, the section number alone is shown. The template is not certified or endorsed by NIQS, and nobody certifies spreadsheets against BESMM4. For tenders, loans or contracts, a registered quantity surveyor should review the finished bill.
Worked Example: A Small Bungalow
The template comes with twelve example lines from a small bungalow, shaded blue so you can see how measurements are entered before you overwrite them. Here are four of them.
1. Excavating foundation trenches
The total length of the strip foundation trenches (external and internal walls, measured along the centre line) is 62.00 m. The trench is 0.675 m wide and 0.90 m deep. On the Dimensions sheet that is one line: Times 1, Length 62.00, Width 0.675, Depth 0.90. The sheet squares it to 37.67 m³ and the item appears in Bill 01 Substructure under code 1.5:6.2.1.
2. Blockwork with deductions
External walls on the ground floor are 48.00 m long and 3.00 m high, so the gross area is 144.00 m². The building has six windows of 1.20 × 1.20 m and two external doors of 0.90 × 2.10 m. Enter them as two extra lines on the same item with negative Times: −6 × 1.20 × 1.20 (−8.64 m²) and −2 × 0.90 × 2.10 (−3.78 m²). The bill shows the net figure, 131.58 m², without any manual adding or subtracting. Check the masonry rules in BESMM4 section 1.14 for which openings must be deducted on your project.
3. Counted items
Windows, doors and electrical points are counted, not measured. Enter only the Times figure: 6 windows, 5 internal doors, 32 electrical points. The quantity is the count, in nr.
4. Slabs and fill
The ground floor slab is 14.00 × 10.00 m, so 140.00 m² (two dimensions). The hardcore under it is 14.00 × 10.00 × 0.15 m, so 21.00 m³ (three dimensions). Because the unit comes from the item, you cannot accidentally bill m² of something measured in m³: the Unit column on the Dimensions sheet shows you which dimensions to fill in.
With current Lagos rates, those twelve example lines alone come to about ₦15.2 million of measured work before preliminaries, overheads and VAT. That shows how quickly the bill builds as you measure.
Using Your Own Rates
Every rate in the template is a complete unit rate (materials and labour) for the city you chose. If you price differently, and most firms do, type your own figures in the yellow "My rate" column on the Rates sheet. The bill switches to your rate for that item immediately. If you have saved rates in My Rates on this site, they are already filled in when you download, so your rate book follows you from one project to the next. Our companion guide explains how to build and maintain a rate book.
Excel Template or Software: Which Should You Use?
Both have a place. A spreadsheet is still the right tool when you need to work offline, share a file with a client or another consultant who will not create an account, or show every step of your measurement for checking. It is also the best way to learn: you see exactly how each quantity was built up.
Software is faster when you are measuring from drawings you already have as PDFs. Our Drawing Take-off lets you set the scale from the drawing, snap to lines, count symbols and measure areas directly on screen, then download a priced BoQ in standard or BESMM4 format. For a quick budget without drawings, the Professional Estimator builds a full itemised estimate and BESMM4 BoQ from room sizes. Many people use all three: the Estimator for an early budget, the Take-off for the measured bill, and the template when a client wants an editable spreadsheet.
Common Take-off Mistakes the Template Helps You Avoid
- Typing items differently each time. "9 inch block wall", "225mm blockwork" and "blockwork 9in" become three items in a hand-typed abstract. The drop-down list means one item has one name, so it always totals correctly.
- Forgetting deductions. Openings are easy to forget when you measure walls gross. Entering them straight after the wall, as negative lines, keeps the gross and the deductions side by side for checking.
- Wrong units. The unit is shown on every dimension line, so you can see at a glance that excavation needs three dimensions and windows need none.
- Summary errors. Bills carry to the Summary by formula, so a late change to the take-off flows through to the total.
How to Get It
The template is free. Choose the city whose market rates you want filled in and download it from the BESMM4 take-off template page. You need a free account, which takes about a minute, and you can download it again for any city whenever you like. It works in Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this an official NIQS template?
No. It is our own workbook, arranged in BESMM4 elemental bills with work-section codes where we checked them. NIQS does not certify templates or software. For formal use, have a registered quantity surveyor review your bill.
Can I add items that are not in the list?
Yes. Add a row to the Rates sheet with the description, unit and rate, extend the list range, and add the item to the right bill on the Bill sheet. For one-off items, many QSs simply add a line directly in the bill.
Do the rates include labour?
Yes. They are complete unit rates including materials and labour, for the city you chose. They do not include preliminaries, overheads and profit, or VAT, which go in the Summary.
Can I use it for a duplex or a block of flats?
Yes. Measure each floor on the Dimensions sheet (add a note such as "first floor" in the Location column). Upper-floor slabs, stairs and frame items have their own bills.
Get the Free BESMM4 Take-off Template
Dimension sheet, elemental bills with BESMM4 codes, a Main Summary and current market rates for your city — in one Excel workbook. Prefer to measure on screen? Drawing Take-off measures straight on your PDF.
Download the free template →
