The RICS new rules of measurement: Detailed measurement for building works

This article is all about the RICS new rules of measurement: Detailed measurement for building works (‘NRM 2’).

What's in this Article ?

Introduction

The RICS new rules of measurement: Detailed measurement for building works (‘NRM 2’) is a standard set of measurement best practice rules for ‘taking’ off quantities for building projects.

It is arranged in a logical, sequential format to help the quantity surveyor in taking off quantities and to assist in providing pricing documents that allow competing contractors to price the exact same work and allow straightforward progress payments post contract e.g. Bills of Quantities.

The work sections are as follows:

Serial no/Work Section/Suffix

1 Preliminaries (main contract) /01
1 Preliminaries (works package contract) /01
2 Off-site manufactured materials, components and buildings /02
3 Demolitions /03
4 Alterations, repairs and conservation /04
5 Excavating and filling /05
6 Ground remediation and soil stabilisation /06
7 Piling /07
8 Underpinning /08
9 Diaphragm walls and embedded retaining walls /09
10 Crib walls, gabions and reinforced ear th /10
11 ‘In-situ’ concrete works /11
12 Precast/composite concrete /12
13 Precast concrete /13
14 Masonry /14
15 Structural metalwork /15
16 Carpentry /16
17 Sheet roof coverings /17
18 Tile and slate roof and wall coverings /18
19 Waterproofing /19
20 Proprietary linings and par titions /20
21 Cladding and covering /21
22 General joinery /20
23 Windows, screens and lights /21
24 Doors, shutters and hatches /20
25 Stairs, walkways and balustrades /21
26 Metalwork /20
27 Glazing /21
28 Floor, wall, ceiling and roof finishings /20
29 Decoration /21
30 Suspended ceilings /30
31 Insulation, fire stopping and fire protection /31
32 Furniture, fittings and equipment /32
33 Drainage above ground /33
34 Drainage below ground /34
35 Site works /35
36 Fencing /36
37 Soft landscaping /37
38 Mechanical services /38
39 Electrical services /39
40 Transportation /40
41 Builder’s work in connection with mechanical, electrical and transportation installations/41

Replacement of SMM7

The RICS new rules of measurement: Detailed measurement for building works officially replaced the SMM7 work sections on the 1st January 2013.

The SMM7 work sections were based on the Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS) but its replacement NRM2 has moved away from CAWS and has its own rules of measurement (but crucially is not a system of indexing and therefore is not a competitor to CAWS or other systems such as Uniclass.

In SMM7 the various work sections were arranged with each separate section allocated a letter of the alphabet e.g. Section D Groundwork. This was based on the CAWS system of indexing.

Now using NRM 2 the work sections are arranged using numbers e.g. Nr 3 Demolitions and it has nothing to do with any indexing system.

This means that going forward the NRM2 is completely separate to any indexing such as CAWS or Uniclass. It is best practice for measurement of building quantities and that’s it.

The Standard Method of Measurement for Building Works (‘SMM’) was first published in 1922 with SMM& being published in 1988 so it really was an end of an era.

From a quantity surveyors point of view though its great news as our measurement rules can now be constantly improved ‘inhouse’ without having to be worried about being linked up with any other system.