Preparing an Estimate Using SSR, Leads and Lifts

Quantities before rates

An estimate begins with the measurement of quantities from the drawings and the design — earthwork, concrete, pipe lengths, fittings and so on — set out item by item in the same order as the schedule of rates. Rates applied to wrong or vague quantities produce a confident but useless number.

Take quantities carefully and show the calculation, because the quantity sheet is the backbone the whole estimate hangs from, and it is the first thing a check or audit re-measures.

Using the Standard Schedule of Rates

The Standard Schedule of Rates gives a sanctioned rate for each standard item, already built up from material, labour and machinery. For the many items that appear directly in the schedule, estimation is simply quantity times the current SSR rate.

Always use the schedule in force for the relevant period and region. Mixing rates from different years or circles is a common error that makes an estimate indefensible even when every quantity is correct.

Data analysis for non-schedule items

Not every item exists in the schedule. For a non-schedule item, the rate is built up by data analysis: the quantities of material, labour and machinery needed per unit, each priced at the basic rates, with the prescribed overhead and contractor's profit added.

A data-analysed rate should quote its basic rates and factors so it can be checked. An unsupported lump-sum rate for a non-schedule item is one of the weakest parts of any estimate and the easiest to question.

Leads and lifts

Materials rarely sit at the work site. The lead is the distance a material such as metal, sand or pipe is carried from its source to the site, and it is priced per unit per unit distance; the lift is the additional height through which earth or material is raised. In rural works a long lead can quietly dominate the cost.

Record the source, the lead distance and the basis for each, because leads are a favourite audit target. A lead that cannot name its source and distance is an invitation to disallow it.

The abstract of cost

The abstract rolls the priced items up into the total estimated cost, grouped so that each major component of the work is visible on its own rather than buried in a single total. Add the prescribed provisions — contingencies, work-charged establishment, quality control and the like — as separate lines.

A clear, itemised abstract is easier to sanction, easier to convert into a tender schedule, and far easier to defend later. Transparency in the abstract is worth more than a tidy-looking single figure.

Leads, lifts and why rates drift from the SSR

A detailed estimate rarely matches the bare Schedule of Rates, and the difference is almost always leads, lifts and site conditions. The SSR rate for an item assumes a standard lead for materials and a standard lift for earthwork; real sites impose longer carriage for sand, metal and pipes, and deeper or higher handling for excavation and masonry. Each extra lead and lift is a legitimate, documentable addition — but only if the distances and quantities are recorded, not assumed.

Build the estimate item by item against the SSR, add the carriage and lift components with their computed distances, apply the current cost index where the SSR permits, and carry contingencies and supervision charges as separate, visible heads. An estimate that hides these inside a lump rate cannot be checked and will be sent back.

Keep the lead chart, the quarry and source distances and the cost-index notification with the estimate so every rate can be reconstructed from first principles during technical sanction.