GB/T 50500-2024 key points of the new China national pricing standard for BOQ for contractors (risk allocation / price adjustment for fluctuation / pricing of preliminary items / interim settlement by construction stage)

Topic Positioning

This card summarizes the pricing rule changes in GB/T 50500-2024, the China national pricing standard for BOQ (replacing GB 50500-2013, changed from mandatory to recommended GB/T) that most directly affect contractors, helping them quickly grasp the four main lines — risk allocation, price adjustment for fluctuation, pricing of preliminary items, and interim settlement by construction stage — when tendering, contracting, and managing settlements.

Core Conclusions

• Risk allocation: tender documents and contracts must specify the content, scope or risk band of measurement and pricing risks, and shall not use wording such as 'uncapped risk allocation to one party, all risks or similar expressions' (3.3.1); where prices of labour, principal materials, or fuel and power fluctuate beyond the risk band agreed in the contract, or the contract has no agreement / an unclear agreement and the fluctuation exceeds 5%, the contract price may be adjusted per Appendix A (index-based (formula) adjustment or adjustment based on published price information) (8.7.2).
• Tax treatment of adjustments: adjustment for price differentials caused by changes in costs is subject to VAT only, with no management fee or profit added — the risk on management fee and profit must be considered by the bidder within the risk cost of its tender (priced offer) (3.3.5).
• Pricing of preliminary items: measured work sections and items should preferably be priced by unit rate, and preliminary items should preferably be priced on a lump-sum basis, with percentage-rate based pricing additionally specified (2.0.10); for the bill of preliminaries priced by percentage rate, complete the 'calculation basis / percentage rate / price' columns; if priced on a lump-sum basis, only the 'price' column need be completed (Appendix E, Table E.3.2).
• Interim settlement by construction stage: interim settlement by construction stage (a Chinese 2020 institutional regime; no exact international equivalent) is carried out at the stages agreed in the contract, and the interim settlement amounts confirmed by both parties serve as the basis for the final account (10.3.1); payment applications must separately list cumulative costs of work sections and items, preliminaries, other-item costs (including provisional sums), adjustments of the contract price, VAT, and amounts to be deducted (10.2.10).

Applicable Boundaries

Applies to construction tendering and contracting priced on a bill of quantities basis; GB/T is a recommended national standard — after contracting, the contract terms govern, and the binding force on contractors is not reduced. This card is a guide to key changes, not a clause-by-clause interpretation; specific adjustment methods, risk bands, and the scope of materials subject to price adjustment are subject to the standard text and the tender documents/contract. Single-point price queries and project-specific pricing are out of scope.

Further Reading

See GB/T 50500-2024: Clause 3.3.1 (risk content and scope), Clause 3.3.5 (tax treatment of adjustment for price differentials due to changes in costs), Clause 8.7.2 (fallback adjustment where fluctuation exceeds the 5% risk band), Clause 2.0.10 (unit-rate pricing terminology and the three pricing methods), Clause 3.2.1 (BOQ-based pricing methods and risk cost in the all-in unit rate), Appendix E Table E.3.2 (detailed analysis table of the bill of preliminaries), Clause 10.2.10 (contents of interim settlement by construction stage payment applications), Clause 10.3.1 (linkage between the final account and interim settlement by construction stage); for old/new comparison refer to the corresponding chapters of GB 50500-2013.