The costly errors in a BOQ sent to China for pricing are predictable, repeat across almost every project type, and are cheap to fix during takeoff but expensive to fix after deposit has been paid and production has started. This checklist covers the five mistakes that most commonly delay quotations, inflate costs or trigger rework on a China-sourced BOQ — and what to check before your BOQ leaves your office.
Mistake 1: Mixed Metric and Imperial Units
A BOQ with some dimensions in millimeters and others in inches or feet — often the result of combining drawings from different design phases or consultants — forces the factory to guess which convention applies to an ambiguous line, or to convert inconsistently across the document. Chinese factories work in metric by default; any imperial dimensions should be clearly labeled and, ideally, pre-converted before the BOQ is sent, rather than left for the factory to interpret.
Mistake 2: Quantities Carried from a Superseded Drawing Revision
BOQs are frequently built early in a project and not updated when the drawings change. A quantity take-off run against Revision B while the current issued-for-construction set is Revision D produces a quotation for the wrong scope entirely — and the discrepancy often isn’t caught until a factory questions a quantity that no longer matches the latest floor plan. Always confirm the BOQ was taken off against the current drawing revision, and note the revision number on the BOQ itself.
Mistake 3: Finishes Named by Brand Code with No Physical Reference
Specifying a finish only as a brand’s proprietary color or material code (a specific paint reference, a named laminate finish) with no physical sample, RAL/Pantone equivalent, or photographic reference gives the factory no reliable way to match it. Brand codes are often region-specific or discontinued, and colors render differently across screens and printed documents. Provide a physical sample where possible, or at minimum a universal color reference (RAL, NCS) alongside the brand name.
Mistake 4: Missing Destination Standards
A BOQ that specifies a product without noting the destination country’s applicable standard — fire rating, electrical certification, water efficiency labelling — leaves the factory quoting against its own default export spec, which may not match what your jurisdiction actually requires. This is especially common on multi-country project portfolios, where a template BOQ gets reused across markets without updating the compliance column for each destination.
Mistake 5: No Stated Delivery Sequence
A BOQ organized purely by product category, with no indication of which items are needed first on site, makes it impossible for a sourcing agent to plan container consolidation around your actual installation schedule. Without a stated sequence, containers get loaded by whichever factory finishes first — which is rarely the order the site actually needs the goods in. Even an approximate phase or floor-by-floor priority noted on the BOQ makes a meaningful difference to how smoothly the installation runs.
Have a BOQ ready to send for pricing?
FBM Sourcing works with project owners, developers, main contractors and FF&E contractors on commercial building projects. Send us your BOQ or drawings — our team will flag any of these five issues before quoting, not after.
A Quick Self-Check Before You Send Your BOQ
- Are all dimensions in one consistent unit system, with any exceptions clearly labeled?
- Does the BOQ match the current issued drawing revision, with the revision number noted?
- Are finishes referenced with a physical sample or a universal color code, not just a brand-specific code?
- Is the destination country’s compliance requirement noted per product category, where relevant?
- Is there any indication — even approximate — of installation sequence or phasing priority?
These are the same items an experienced BOQ takeoff for China sourcing checks for before a package goes out to factories at all — catching them at this stage is far cheaper than catching them after quotations come back inconsistent.
How FBM Sourcing Reviews a BOQ Before Quoting
FBM Sourcing manages the entire China procurement package for overseas construction projects, and before any BOQ goes out to factories for pricing, we check it against these five common issues — unit consistency, drawing revision currency, finish referencing, destination compliance and delivery sequencing — and flag anything unclear back to you rather than letting the factory guess. This upfront review is what keeps quotations coming back consistent and comparable across product categories, instead of each factory interpreting a gap differently. All quotations, invoices and shipping documents are issued by FBM Sourcing — you deal with us, and we carry the responsibility. For products you have selected yourself, we charge a 5–8% commission (8% below USD 50,000, 5% above); for products we source for you, we quote a direct price.
If you have a BOQ ready to send, share it with us before it goes to factories. Our team will review it against this checklist and flag anything that needs clarifying — use the quote button above or WhatsApp +86 135 6007 5057.
Where This Sits Before the RFQ Goes Out
Everything above happens before a single factory sees your documents. Once the BOQ is clean it is split into factory-level RFQs, any window and door schedule is converted into an order sheet, and the returned prices are consolidated into a BOQ-based quotation with a stated exclusion list before anything moves to shop drawings the factory can build from. The full chain is mapped in how to send a BOQ or drawings to a China sourcing agent and delivered as one service — the BOQ & drawing takeoff service.
