Bills of Quantities and Measurement: IS 1200, CPWD Discipline, and Where Quantities Leak

A bill of quantities is only as reliable as the mode of measurement behind it, and in India that mode is carried by the IS 1200 series, by CPWD's measurement-book procedure, and — for roads — by nothing in IS 1200 at all, because the road-work Part is withdrawn. This report compiles what the published rules actually say, records the two BIS-run catalogues that disagree on whether the 2025-26 revisions of nine Parts are yet in force, and traces the mechanisms by which quantity error and double-counting enter a bill and survive to certification. It is assembled entirely from primary sources — BIS, CPWD, MoRTH, GFR, CAG and RICS — each named and linked.

Part of AECS Research Global's publications programme — drawing on ARG's work across cost management, EPC advisory and integrated project delivery. Download the full report below.