Unit price contract

Established

Also: Measured contract, Schedule of rates, CCDC 4

A construction contract priced on rates per unit of work (per cubic metre, tonne, linear metre and so on), with payment based on the quantities actually installed and measured.

Explanation

Unit pricing suits work where the type of work is known but quantities are not, which is common in civil and municipal infrastructure (earthworks, roads, watermains). The tender includes estimated quantities for comparison; the final price depends on measured quantities, so accurate measurement and records are central to contract administration. Contracts usually allow rate renegotiation if quantities vary significantly from estimates. In Canada the standard form is CCDC 4 Unit Price Contract (2023); CCDC 18 (2023) is a civil works contract.

Practical example

A municipal road reconstruction tender lists 4,200 m³ of excavation at a bid rate of $28/m³. Field measurement records 4,650 m³, and the contractor is paid for the measured quantity at the bid rate.

Why it matters

Unit pricing allocates quantity risk to the owner and price-per-unit risk to the contractor, which suits linear and civil work with uncertain ground conditions.

Common confusion

Standards and references

  1. CCDC contract documents (catalogue). Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC).Widely accepted professional interpretation
    Supports: CCDC 4 Unit Price Contract (2023) and CCDC 18 Civil Works Contract (2023) · Status: Catalogue lists CCDC 2 (2020), 3 (2016), 4 (2023), 5A/5B (2025), 11 (2019), 14/15 (2026), 17 (2025), 18 (2023), 30 (2025), 31 (2020), 32/33 (2026).

VDC Stack.io writes its own explanations and does not reproduce copyrighted standards text. Consult the cited standard for normative wording.

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VDC Stack.io. (2026). Unit price contract. In VDC Stack.io Knowledge Dictionary. Retrieved from https://vdcstack.io/dictionary/unit-price-contract/