ABSTRACT
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) was established by the RICS in 1962 (see p. 80). It sets out a series of principles for the cost analysis of building works. There is no similar set of rules for the cost analysis of civil engineering works. This partially reflects the fact that civil engineering costs are related more to process than to quantity (see p. 53). These basic rules relating to the principles of analysis enable quantity surveyors to cost and compare building projects with a greater degree of reliability than was available previously, because of the consistency in the way in which the costs of the different parts or elements are now collected.
