NRM2 work sections: the complete list
Published on 15 July 2026, updated 7 October 2026
In short: NRM2 sorts building work into 41 numbered work sections, running from Preliminaries (section 1) to builder's work in connection with the services (section 41), roughly in the order a building goes up. Measuring and ordering a Bill of Quantities to those sections is what makes it readable and lets tenders be compared like for like. Here is the full list.
What a work section is
A work section is a grouping of related work that NRM2 gives its own measurement rules, units and required description content. It is published in Part 3 of NRM2, the tabulated rules of measurement. When you compile a Bill of Quantities, each measured item sits in one of these sections, which is what keeps a bill from one quantity surveyor readable by any other.
The 41 NRM2 work sections
- Preliminaries
- Off-site manufactured materials, components and buildings
- Demolitions
- Alterations, repairs and conservation
- Excavating and filling
- Ground remediation and soil stabilisation
- Piling
- Underpinning
- Diaphragm walls and embedded retaining walls
- Crib walls, gabions and reinforced earth
- In-situ concrete works
- Precast/composite concrete
- Precast concrete
- Masonry
- Structural metalwork
- Carpentry
- Sheet roof coverings
- Tile and slate roof and wall coverings
- Waterproofing
- Proprietary linings and partitions
- Cladding and covering
- General joinery
- Windows, screens and lights
- Doors, shutters and hatches
- Stairs, walkways and balustrades
- Metalwork
- Glazing
- Floor, wall, ceiling and roof finishings
- Decoration
- Suspended ceilings
- Insulation, fire stopping and fire protection
- Furniture, fittings and equipment
- Drainage above ground
- Drainage below ground
- Site works
- Fencing
- Soft landscaping
- Mechanical services
- Electrical services
- Transportation
- Builder's work in connection with mechanical, electrical and transportation installations
How the sections group
You do not have to memorise all 41. They fall into a handful of natural families, and they broadly follow the sequence a building is put up in:
- Enabling and groundworks (3 to 10): demolitions, excavation, piling, underpinning, retaining structures.
- Structure (11 to 16): concrete, masonry, structural steel and carpentry.
- Roof and envelope (17 to 21): roof coverings, waterproofing, partitions, cladding.
- Joinery and openings (22 to 27): joinery, windows, doors, stairs, metalwork, glazing.
- Finishes (28 to 31): floor, wall and ceiling finishings, decoration, suspended ceilings, insulation.
- Fittings and drainage (32 to 34): furniture and fittings, above and below ground drainage.
- External works (35 to 37): site works, fencing, soft landscaping.
- Services (38 to 41): mechanical, electrical, transportation, and the builder's work that ties them in.
Why the order matters
Keeping to the NRM2 section order is what makes a bill navigable. A contractor pricing it, or a QS valuing a variation later, can go straight to the right section without reading the whole document. It also keeps coding consistent, so section totals roll up cleanly into the summary. For the wider method, see how to produce an NRM2 Bill of Quantities, or how NRM2 differs from SMM7, whose lettered sections (A to Y) these numbered ones replaced.
Work sections, elements, and what Kestrel™ exports
Worth being clear about, because the two get confused. The 41 work sections above are NRM2's measurement rules: they tell you how each kind of work is measured and what the description has to state. How you then arrange the bill is a separate decision, and NRM2 allows elemental, work section or work package breakdowns.
Kestrel exports the elemental arrangement, which is the one most UK cost consultants work in: NRM group element (for example 3 Internal Finishes) to element (3.1 Wall finishes) to the measured items underneath, with the codes, descriptions, units and live formulas already in place, plus a zone-by-zone summary sheet. The measurement rules you apply as you take off are still the work section rules 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.