NRM2 Bill of Quantities: a worked example
Published on 15 July 2026
In short: a Bill of Quantities lists every measured item with a reference, a description written to the NRM2 rules, a unit, a quantity, a rate and an amount. Below is a short worked example of what those lines look like across a few work sections, and how they add up. If you want the background first, read what an NRM2 Bill of Quantities is.
What each column means
- Ref is the item reference within the work section.
- Description states the work to the NRM2 rules, with the detail a contractor needs to price it.
- Unit is how the item is measured: m, m2, m3, nr or item.
- Quantity is the measured amount, taken off the drawings.
- Rate is priced by the contractor.
- Amount is quantity multiplied by rate.
A worked example
This is a small extract from the fit-out of a single office, grouped by NRM2 work section. The rates are illustrative, there to show the shape of the arithmetic rather than to quote a real price.
| Ref | Description | Unit | Qty | Rate £ | Amount £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section 20: Proprietary linings and partitions | |||||
| A | Metal stud partition; 75mm studs; 12.5mm plasterboard both sides; 2.70m high | m2 | 42.00 | 38.00 | 1,596.00 |
| Section 24: Doors, shutters and hatches | |||||
| B | Single leaf door; FD30; including frame and ironmongery | nr | 2 | 465.00 | 930.00 |
| Section 28: Floor, wall, ceiling and roof finishings | |||||
| C | Skirting; MDF; 18 x 119mm | m | 34.00 | 9.50 | 323.00 |
| D | Floor finish; carpet tiles; on screed | m2 | 38.00 | 24.00 | 912.00 |
| Section 29: Decoration | |||||
| E | Emulsion; two coats; to plasterboard walls | m2 | 84.00 | 6.50 | 546.00 |
| Section 30: Suspended ceilings | |||||
| F | Suspended ceiling; mineral fibre tile; exposed grid | m2 | 38.00 | 32.00 | 1,216.00 |
| Extract subtotal | 5,523.00 | ||||
How it rolls up
Each work section is totalled, and every section total is carried into a summary at the front of the bill, alongside the preliminaries, any provisional and prime cost sums, and risk allowances. Those add up to the tender figure. Because every contractor prices the same measured quantities, the returned bids can be compared like for like, line by line.
Notice that the quantities are the fixed part and the rates are the variable part. That is the whole point of a bill: it pins down the scope so the only thing moving between tenders is price. For the full method behind it, see how to produce an NRM2 Bill of Quantities, and the list of NRM2 work sections the items are grouped into.
From takeoff to a bill like this
The quantities in that table come from a takeoff. We built Kestrel™ so that measuring on the drawing and writing the bill are one step, not two: you measure lengths, areas and counts straight on the PDF, and Kestrel exports an NRM2 Bill of Quantities in Excel with the descriptions, units, codes and live formulas already in place, laid out much like the extract above. It is built by a working UK estimating firm and runs on Windows with a 14-day free trial. Download Kestrel to try it on your next bill.