In Italy the architect defines the quantities of the building materials (the ‘Bills’ in the UK). This is done with a document called the ‘computo metrico’ which also contains national standard specifications of every item of work.

Once the client is happy to proceed the full schedule of materials and their associated costs is measured and drawn up.

Once the final price has been estimated the client is invited to review the final proposals and check the costs to ensure everything is as they require.