A civil contractor turns two-week BOQs into two-day estimates with live project costing
BOQ templates, project budgets, site stores and subcontractor billing on ERPNext for a civil and commercial contractor.
- to prepare a tender BOQ
- 2 wks → 2 days
- to prepare a tender BOQ
- material cost overruns
- −11%
- material cost overruns
- live sites on one system
- 26
- live sites on one system
- ready from day one
- GST & BAS
- ready from day one
The client
Tarragon delivers civil works and commercial buildings across Queensland, usually running twenty to thirty sites at once with a mix of in-house crews and subcontractors.
The challenge
- ✕Each tender BOQ was rebuilt from old spreadsheets, taking up to two weeks.
- ✕Project managers only saw actual costs once invoices were processed.
- ✕Materials issued to sites were loosely tracked, and wastage went unnoticed.
- ✕Subcontractor progress claims and retentions were managed on paper.
The solution
BOQ and estimating
A library of BOQ templates with rate analysis for labour, plant and materials, and version-controlled revisions.
Project budgets and actuals
Budgets by cost code, updated live from purchase orders, timesheets and site issues.
Site stores
Material requests raised from site, deliveries received on mobile and issues tracked per activity.
Subcontract claims
Progress claims, measurements, retentions and variations with approval workflows.
How we delivered
- 01Estimating and site workflows mapped with project managers and quantity surveyors.
- 02Pilot on three live sites before company-wide rollout.
- 03Historical project data migrated to seed the rate library.
- 04Monthly health checks during the first quarter.
The results
- ✓Tender BOQs take two days instead of two weeks.
- ✓Material cost overruns fell 11% across active projects.
- ✓Project managers see margin while the job is still running.
- ✓Subcontractor claims are approved and paid on time.
“We tender faster, and we know which jobs are drifting while there is still time to pull them back.”