Cable Tray BOQ: Reconcile Fittings, Supports and Included Hardware

A cable tray quantity measured in metres is only one part of an installable package. Fittings, joint hardware, supports, covers and interface accessories can remain missing even when every route has been traced accurately. Build the bill of quantities around the physical assembly, then map those quantities into the tender’s measurement and pricing rules.

This method is for estimating and scope reconciliation. Support spacing, loading, cable bending requirements, corrosion protection, bonding and expansion arrangements must come from the responsible designers and the selected manufacturer’s project-applicable instructions. The numerical example below is an original purchasing illustration, not a support design or installation detail.

1. Define exactly what a measured metre includes

Record the tray type, width, side-rail height, material, finish and system reference before taking off length. Keep different systems on different lines. A metre of ladder tray cannot automatically share a rate with a metre of wire basket, nor should indoor and corrosive-area finishes disappear into one average.

Read the BOQ preamble and specification together. A composite metre rate might include supports, fittings and normal accessories even though the internal estimate measures them separately. Conversely, the tender might provide separate fitting or support items. Preserve the required tender format while retaining the detailed cost build-up behind it. A separate internal quantity does not create a separate payment entitlement.

Choose a consistent measurement boundary: for example, straight portions measured between fitting connection faces, with fittings counted separately. If the contractual method measures continuous route length through fittings, retain that measurement for valuation and maintain a second procurement takeoff. Do not quietly mix the two conventions.

2. Give fittings their own identity

• Count bends by angle, plane, radius, width and finish. A horizontal bend and an inside vertical bend are different purchasing items.

• Identify tees, crosses, reducers, risers and equipment connection pieces from the coordinated layout. Record each size transition explicitly.

• Identify covers for straight sections and fittings separately, including the required cover fasteners.

• Mark unresolved offsets and field-fabricated changes as questions or defined allowances, with an owner and a drawing reference.

The Eaton imperial cable tray product information separates straight sections, fittings, covers and accessories, and distinguishes multiple bend angles and radii. Its steel accessory information also identifies splice pairs supplied with straight sections. These are examples of why the supplier’s actual packing basis matters; they are not universal inclusions for every tray system.

3. Reconcile joints with supplied hardware

Count physical connection interfaces on the route, then identify the approved connection type at each interface. Record whether a quoted kit means one plate, a pair of plates, or a complete connection including bolts. The ordering unit must match the supplier’s unit. A quantity labelled “18 splices” is ambiguous unless the contents of one splice set are defined.

For an original example, assume 48 m of net straight portions can be assembled from sixteen 3 m sections without offcuts. The coordinated route also contains two elbows and one tee. These nineteen components form one connected, branching arrangement with no closed loop, giving eighteen component-to-component interfaces. Assume all eighteen use the same approved standard joint kit; any special joint would need its own line.

The hypothetical quotation includes one complete joint kit with each straight section and none with the fittings. Required kits are 18; included kits are 16; additional kits to purchase are 2. Ordering eighteen extra kits would duplicate sixteen already included. Ordering no extras would leave two interfaces uncovered. Confirm the packing statement in writing before deducting included hardware.

This neat example does not justify dividing every route by three and rounding once. Actual cuts, stock lengths, end treatments, expansion connections and fitting geometry can change both the number of pieces and the connection count. Reconcile those details on a segment schedule before ordering.

4. Take supports from a layout and an assembly schedule

Create a support register with one identifier per physical support location. Link each identifier to its detail and the trays it carries. Shared trapezes should be counted once as physical assemblies, while any internal allocation between systems is recorded separately. Dividing total route length by a typical spacing can be an early allowance, but it does not establish the final support quantity.

Continue the hypothetical example with 35 support assemblies already identified on the approved support layout. If that particular detail contains two suspension rods per assembly, the purchasing check is 70 rods, with lengths taken from the actual elevations. The channel, anchors, nuts and tray restraints still require their own approved-detail quantities. Neither the count nor the two-rod arrangement is a recommendation for another installation.

Manufacturer choices can change the accessory package. Eaton’s KwikSplice information describes a particular trapeze option that eliminates separate hold-down clamps, while its cover information identifies clamps ordered separately for certain covers. Copying a generic accessory multiplier across these arrangements can therefore overstate one item and omit another.

Original hypothetical purchasing example. Support counts and details are assumed to have been supplied by the project designer; no spacing or installation design is implied.

5. Close the interfaces before freezing the estimate

1. Mark each item as included in the supplier package, separately purchased, supplied by another trade, or unresolved. Give unresolved items a decision date.

2. Check interfaces at equipment entries, changes in material or finish, movement joints, penetrations and shared supports. Obtain design decisions rather than inventing details.

3. Reconcile bonding and earthing accessories against the approved electrical design and product requirements; do not assume every joint has the same treatment.

4. Review access equipment, installation labour and builder’s-work responsibilities alongside material quantities. A complete material list can still omit installation scope.

5. Compare the internal assembly total with the tender return and explain every item absorbed into a composite rate.

Eaton’s cable channel guidance highlights that thermal expansion and the selected splice arrangement affect support requirements. The estimating response is to request the applicable detail and quantify it, not to apply a universal expansion-joint spacing.

A useful final check

Ask whether another estimator could reconstruct the package from the takeoff, component schedule and supplier inclusions without guessing. The strongest audit trail is a marked route, a fitting count, a support register and a clear included-versus-additional hardware reconciliation. Review all four when a tray system or supplier changes.

For a more systematic estimating review, explore the paid MEP Estimators Handbook as a practical reference for developing your estimating approach.

Explore the paid estimating handbook