BOQ stands for Bill of Quantities. It is the itemised list of work, materials or supplies in a tender, with quantities against each item, where you fill in your rates. On most Gujarat civil and infrastructure tenders it is the price bid: the number the authority compares to decide who is lowest.
Because the BOQ decides the money, portals treat it strictly. On nProcure it usually comes as a locked spreadsheet you must fill in an exact format. Fill it wrong and the system may reject your file or your rate may be read incorrectly. Here is how the BOQ works and how to fill it without errors.
What the BOQ contains
A BOQ lists each item of work or supply as a separate line: a description, a unit (metre, cubic metre, number, kilogram), and an estimated quantity set by the authority. You add your rate per unit. The line total is quantity times rate, and the sum of all lines is your bid price.
For a road or building tender, lines might cover excavation, concrete grades, steel, plaster and finishing. For a supply tender, each product and quantity is a line. You do not change the descriptions or quantities; those are the authority's. You only quote the rate.
Item-rate versus percentage tenders
Gujarat tenders come in two common price formats. In an item-rate BOQ, you quote a rate for every line and the total is your bid. In a percentage-rate tender, the authority gives estimated rates and you quote a single percentage above or below the estimate, for example five percent below.
Read which one you are in before you start. Quoting line rates on a percentage tender, or a percentage on an item-rate tender, produces a bid that does not compute and can be rejected. R&B works often use percentage-above or percentage-below formats, so watch for it.
Filling the BOQ file correctly
On nProcure the BOQ is typically a protected spreadsheet where only the rate cells are editable. Do not unlock, reformat, add rows, delete columns or copy it into a new file. The portal reads it back in the exact structure it issued; any change can make it unreadable.
Enter numbers only in the cells meant for rates, in the units asked. Fill every priced line. A blank line can be read as a zero rate or make the whole BOQ invalid. Before you upload, check that your totals look sane and that you have not slipped a decimal, which is how a firm accidentally quotes ten times too high or too low.
Common BOQ mistakes
The recurring errors are simple and expensive: leaving a line blank, quoting in the wrong unit, misplacing a decimal, reformatting the file, or uploading last year's saved BOQ into this year's tender by mistake.
Also watch consistency between figures and words where a total in words is asked, and make sure taxes are handled the way the tender specifies, either included in your rate or shown separately. When your BOQ total is what wins or loses the tender, a five minute recheck before submission is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.
Frequently asked questions
Is the BOQ the same as the price bid?
On most works tenders, yes, the filled BOQ is your price bid. It sits in the second cover and is opened only after the technical evaluation, and its total decides who is lowest.
Can I edit the BOQ spreadsheet layout?
No. Fill only the editable rate cells and never reformat, add or delete rows or columns. The portal reads the file in its original structure, so any change can invalidate your bid.
What if I leave a BOQ line blank?
It is risky. A blank line may be read as zero or make the BOQ non-responsive. Quote every priced line, even if you have to enter a nominal rate, unless the tender says otherwise.
Bidding on a Gujarat tender?
BidShakti gives you a Go/No-Go decision and a signed, ready-to-submit bid pack for any live GeM or nProcure tender in Gujarat.