Author(s)

ZhiWei Wang

Affiliation(s)

Hebei Donghan Construction Engineering Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei, China.

Corresponding Author

ZhiWei Wang

ABSTRACT

Ambiguity in bill of quantities (BOQ) descriptions triggers 34.2% of construction contract disputes, resulting in cost overruns of 15%-25% with dispute resolution averaging 11.8 months. Cluster analysis of 128 cases reveals four core ambiguity types: item specification ambiguity (38.6%), scope boundary disputes (29.3%), measurement rule violations (21.1%), and provisional price failure (11.0%). Underlying causes stem from technical specification gaps (missing design details in 26% of projects), human resource deficiencies (absence of dual-signature review systems in 34% of projects), and management failures where compressed bidding cycles (60% of standard duration) and 7.2-day change order delays cause version control breakdowns.

The proposed prevention framework integrates three operational phases: during compilation, BIM parametric modeling eliminates manual transcription errors through automated specification generation; at tendering stage, notarized site investigation meetings establish binding scope definitions while optimized price adjustment formulas address market volatility; finally, BIM-AI fusion enables real-time response to design changes within ≤0.8 seconds. Pilot implementations demonstrate 61.3% reduction in dispute incidence.

KEYWORDS

BOQ ambiguity; Cost disputes; Specification ambiguity; BIM-AI integration; Prevention framework

CITE THIS PAPER

ZhiWei Wang. Ambiguity in bill of quantities descriptions and prevention strategies for cost disputes based on case analysis. Eurasia Journal of Science and Technology. 2019, 1(1): 45-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.61784/ejst3089.

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