Backed by Innovate UK BridgeAI and The Alan Turing Institute
Every project arrives in a different shape.
Your history is the best benchmark you have. But reclassifying a BoQ against your framework takes days, so it stays in the folder and your most experienced people keep re-keying it by hand.
Bill 6 Doors and Windows rev B.xlsx
ABCDEF
4BILL NO. 6
5DOORS & WINDOWS
7ItemDescriptionQty.UnitUnit RateAmount (£)
10DOORS (08 11 13)
12Supply and install doors including frame and sub-frame, ironmongery, complete; all in accordance with the Drawings and Specification
14ATo Door-Overall size 2000 x 2200 mm high.38No.1,150.0043,700.00
16BTo Door-Overall size 1000x 2200 mm high.52No.585.0030,420.00
19Aluminum windows (08 51 13)
23CCurtain wall glazing860.00m2172.00147,920.00
Page 1
Bills of quantities
Trade sections, preambles and spacer rows, laid out for printing, not for analysis.
Excludes VAT, professional fees and client contingency.Page 2 of 14
Cost summaries
Lump sums by element, locked in a PDF, with no breakdown behind them.
Tender Analysis - Stage 2 returns (DRAFT).xlsx
ABCDE
3PackageBidder ABidder BBidder C
41Substructure1,288,4001,412,6001,356,000
52Frame & upper floors5,904,000Incl. in 3.26,118,250
63Envelope4,870,9005,226,300TBC
74MEP8,115,0007,990,4508,402,100
85External worksExcl.1,104,800962,000
96Prelims12.5%2,210,00014% on 1-5
11QualificationsSee letter18 no.Attached
Tender returns
Three contractors, three layouts, and "Incl. in 3.2" where a number should be.
Final Account Statement Variation register (scanned copy)FA-07
VO
Description
Status
£
VO-014
Additional SFS to level 3 core
Agreed
12,4OO
VO-015
Omit porcelain tiles to WC 2.04
Agreed
(3,120)
VO-016
Dayworks: out of hours deliveries
Pending
TBC
VO-017
Revised drainage to car park
Pending
28,950
VO-018
Client change: reception joinery
Disputed
41,200
Signed for and on behalf of ............3 / 9
Final accounts
Variations in a scanned PDF, where an O can pass for a 0.
Chapter 1 of 5 · Sort
Upload it messy. Get it back sorted.
1
Upload anything
Excel, PDF, BoQs, CSAs and tender returns, exactly as they are.
2
Rebuild the hierarchy
Bills, sections and preambles become a tree, so every line keeps the headings above it.
3
Classify every line
Each item is mapped to NRM1 or your own framework, with its headings in view.
4
Regroup by element
Trade bills become elemental cost data you can total, compare and benchmark.
Bill B-4 General Building Works rev C.xlsxHierarchy: 4 sections, 8 items, headings keptClassified to NRM1: 8 lines, 3 elementsSample data
ABCDEF
4GENERAL BUILDING WORKS
5
6ItemDescriptionQty.UnitUnit RateAmount (£)
13
16
22
Page 1
3BILL NO. B-4›L1GENERAL BUILDING WORKS, BILL B-4
7CONCRETE (03 30 00)›L2CONCRETE (03 30 00)
89Supply and place insitu concrete including formwork, reinforcement and curing; all in accordance with the Drawings and Specification›L3Supply and place insitu concrete including formwork, reinforcement and curing; all in accordance with the Drawings and Specification
14METALS (05 12 00)›L2METALS (05 12 00)
17DOORS & WINDOWS (08 11 13)›L2DOORS & WINDOWS (08 11 13)
1819Supply and install doors and aluminum windows including frame, sub-frame and ironmongery, complete›L3Supply and install doors and aluminum windows including frame, sub-frame and ironmongery, complete
23FINISHES (09 65 00)›L2FINISHES (09 65 00)
DescriptionNRM1QtyUnitRateTotal
›1 SUBSTRUCTURE2 entries£139,692.00
›2 SUPERSTRUCTURE4 entries£1,086,990.00
›3 INTERNAL FINISHES2 entries£230,790.80
10ATrench fill foundations, C25 conc.Trench fill foundations, C25 concrete1.1.1186.00186m3m³142.00£142.0026,412.00£26,412
Structural steelwork, fabricate and erect2.1.1214t£2,850.00£609,900
Steel vehicle safety barrier, single sided8.4.1760m£64.20£48,792
Site works bill classified to RICS New Rules of Measurement 1. Sample data.
Group
Description
Code
Total
1 Substructure
Excavate for foundations, not exceeding 2m deep
1.1.1
£23,940
1 Substructure
In situ concrete C32/40 in bases
1.1.1
£68,880
2 Superstructure
Structural steelwork, fabricate and erect
2.1.1
£609,900
8 External works
Strip topsoil average 150mm deep and stockpile on site
8.1.2
£26,880
8 External works
300mm concrete storm drain in trench, 1.5 to 2m deep
8.6.1
£121,464
8 External works
Precast concrete kerb, half battered, bedded and backed
8.2.1
£84,475
8 External works
Asphalt surface course, 40mm
8.2.1
£143,080
8 External works
Steel vehicle safety barrier, single sided
8.4.1
£48,792
Sample mapping for illustration. NRM1 and MasterFormat shown at item level, NRM2 at work-section level, CESMM4 at class level, MMHW at series level.
Rate search
Type a description and get a range in seconds: min, P25, median, P75 and max, with the sample size shown so you know how far to trust it.
Composite metrics
Any rate over any denominator. £/m² GIA, £/MW, £/key, £/km. Save the query and run it again in one click.
Project and element totals
How much did concrete cost on the last job? Totals by any mapped taxonomy, without re-summing a spreadsheet.
Audit trail
Every rate traces back to its parent element, package, sheet tab and original description. When a number is challenged, the answer is immediate.
Knowledge banks
We build classification rules with your team. Once live, every upload applies your standards automatically, and you own the ruleset.
Chapter 3 of 5 · Check
Your team checks it.
1
See what needs a look
High-confidence lines go straight through. Medium and low confidence lines wait for you.
2
Read why
Every code comes with its reasoning and the alternatives that were considered.
3
Keep, change or search
Accept it, pick an alternative or search the full code list.
4
It gets sharper
costify learns your organisation’s classification preferences from the decisions your team validates. Your data is never used to train shared AI models.
Classification validation1 of 2 to review · 6 of 8 lines accepted automatically2 of 2 to review · 6 of 8 lines accepted automaticallyAll 8 lines validated · 6 automatic, 1 kept, 1 changedSample data
Source hierarchyBILL B-4 › FINISHES (09 65 00)
Static-dissipative resilient flooring to technical rooms
Quantity
1,240.00
Unit
m²
Rate
£103.17
Total
£127,930.80
Current classification
3.2.1Finishes to floorsMedium confidenceValidated by you
Why this classification
The line describes a resilient floor finish to technical rooms. NRM1 3.2.1 Finishes to floors covers resilient sheet and tile coverings, and static-dissipative flooring is a functional variant of these.
3.2.2 Raised access floors was considered and rejected: this is the finish itself, not a platform floor.
Confidence is medium because "technical rooms" sometimes signals a specialist flooring system.
Keep & nextSearch
Source hierarchyBILL B-4 › DOORS & WINDOWS (08 11 13)
Curtain walling, aluminium, incl. brackets
Quantity
990.00
Unit
m²
Rate
£160.00
Total
£158,400.00
Current classification
2.6.1Windows and external doors2.5.1External enclosing wallsMedium confidenceChanged by you
Why this classification
The bill lists this line under DOORS & WINDOWS, which points to 2.6 Windows and external doors.
But curtain walling is a complete wall system rather than an opening within a wall. NRM1 places curtain walling in 2.5 External walls.
Confidence is medium because the source heading and the description disagree.
Use 2.5.1 & nextSearch
All 8 lines validatedReady to benchmark. Every decision is recorded in the audit trail.
Chapter 4 of 5 · Compare
Then compare like with like.
1
Line up your projects
Comparable schools, offices or data centres from your own portfolio, by NRM1 element.
2
Exclude what skews it
Leave out an element for any project, like abnormal piling or off-site highway works. The benchmark recalculates without it.
3
Rebase by location and inflation
A 2024 Manchester job and a 2026 Bristol one, compared on the same basis.
4
Use the metric your client uses
£/m² GIFA or £/pupil place here. £/MW, £/key and £/km for data centres, hotels and roads.
£160.00/m² on Bill B-4, coded 2.5.1 External walls and validated by your team.
Built for everyone who prices construction.
Build the cost database your competitors do not have.
Every project you deliver is a data asset. costify structures your project history, rates, packages and benchmarks into a private database that grows with your business.
What did we pay for rainscreen cladding on our last five office jobs?
Sample data
What did we pay for rainscreen cladding on our last five office jobs?
Leeds, offices, 2023
£388/m²
Bristol, offices, 2023
£401/m²
Manchester, offices, 2024
£412/m²
Reading, offices, 2024
£379/m²
Glasgow, offices, 2025
£395/m²
Median £395/m² across 5 projects
Answer client questions with your own evidence.
Every cost plan, tender report and benchmark study your practice has produced is raw material. Turn messy CSAs into a proprietary asset, not an industry average.
Is this tender’s structural steel rate high?
Sample data
Is this tender’s structural steel rate high?
This tender
£2,850/t
Your P25 to P75
£2,610 to £2,790/t
Comparable projects
14
2.2% above your P75: worth a query
Cost intelligence you can defend.
When you commission construction, build an evidence base from your own capital programme and procurement history, rather than someone else’s averages.
What should the next primary school cost per m² GIFA?
Sample data
What should the next primary school cost per m² GIFA?
Your schools, last 6 years
9 projects
Range, rebased to today
£2,180 to £2,640/m²
Median
£2,410/m²
Median £2,410/m², rebased to today
The same structured data feeds Power BI dashboards and gives your AI initiatives a foundation they can trust.
Your data stays yours.
Built to enterprise security standards from day one, because a cost database is only valuable if it stays private.
Backed by
Innovate UK BridgeAI
The Alan Turing Institute
Reduction in manual data transformation
92%
Worth of projects transformed
£2bn+
Never used to train shared AI models
Your data is processed for your organisation and nobody else.
No shared pool
Benchmarks are built entirely from your own portfolio.
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Start building your own cost intelligence database.
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