Quantity surveyor in central Israel: building in the Central District, from the Sharon to Rehovot, and what it changes in the quantities
A quantity surveyor in central Israel, an engineer or a registered building technician like Yaakov Avital, mostly meets apartment buildings: according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), construction started in 2024 on 13,305 dwellings in buildings with three or more dwellings in the Central District, 87% of all starts in the district and the highest number of any district. Here you will find what such a volume, the soils of the coastal plain, the concrete plants and the waste sites mean for the bill of quantities (BOQ).
The Central District in numbers: the most construction starts
The district includes, among others, Petah Tikva, Rishon LeZion, Netanya, Rehovot, Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Kfar Saba, Lod, Ramla, Ra'anana, Rosh HaAyin, Hod HaSharon and Yavne. In 2024 construction started there on 15,303 dwellings, more than in any other district, compared with 15,701 in 2023 and 16,744 in 2022.
| Item | Dwellings | Share of starts |
|---|---|---|
| Construction starts, total | 15,303 | |
| of which in buildings with one or two dwellings | 1,501 | 10% |
| of which in buildings with three or more dwellings | 13,305 | 87% |
| of which additions to existing buildings | 497 | 3% |
| Construction completed | 12,726 | |
| Under active construction at year end | 44,149 |
Source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Abstract of Israel 2025, Table 20.6 (dwellings by stage of construction, district and type of building); 2024 data are preliminary. The percentages were calculated from the 15,303 starts in the district and rounded.
At this volume, the BOQ for a multi-storey building is built around repetition: identical buildings and typical floors are shown separately, so that each layer can be checked. Many of the differences between projects are below ground, in the foundations, the shoring and the basements, and that is where a quantity surveyor in central Israel starts checking.
Kurkar, sand and clay: what a quantity surveyor in central Israel looks for in the soil report
The coastal plain has kurkar (a calcareous sandstone) and hamra (a red sandy soil), with sand lenses and properties that vary within the same site, and along the coast there are sand fields. In government foundation tariffs, dense sand counts as normal ground conditions and loose sand as special conditions. Expansive clay changes volume with moisture: a study from the Technion, Israel's institute of technology, found that at the site it examined, most of the seasonal changes in moisture took place in about the top 2.5 m. Only the soil (geotechnical) report says where expansive clay is present.
- Sand lenses or loose sand: check whether the foundation items are priced as special conditions, and add a drilling alternative with support for the bore walls.
- Expansive clay: the report usually sets the depth of the piles and the separation of the floor slab from the ground, and that changes items in the earthworks and structural frame chapters.
- Groundwater at the depth of the excavation: dewatering items and items for concreting in wet conditions come in.
How a sentence in the report becomes an item in the BOQ is set out on the soil report and BOQ page.
Soil report before BOQ. A BOQ written before the report can be a good one, but every foundation item in it is an assumption. When the report arrives, the assumptions are checked one by one and the quantities are updated, not only the descriptions.
Many concrete plants, several kinds of waste site
According to the companies' own websites, checked in October 2026 (a partial list): Hanson Israel has plants in the Kiryat Arye industrial zone, in Petah Tikva (Migdal Tzedek), in Rishon LeZion (the Ramat Eliyahu industrial zone), in Ramla and in Netanya (the Poleg industrial zone), and Readymix has plants in Netanya, Kalansawe, Petah Tikva, Rosh HaAyin, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot and Yavne.
The district also has quite a few waste sites. The list that comes from the Solid Waste Treatment Division, published on the website of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and updated to 9 February 2019, shows: landfill and recycling at Kibbutz Na'an; landfill of surplus soil and clean earth only in Tayibe; recycling at a transfer and sorting station in the old industrial zone of Netanya; a transfer station at Kibbutz Hafetz Haim; recycling in Lod; and a transfer and recycling station in Kafr Bara. It is an old list, and I have not verified that every site on it is still active and licensed.
In a building with a basement, the surplus from the excavation is usually a large quantity, and the list includes a site that accepts only soil and clean earth. So it is worth separating surplus soil from mixed construction waste in the BOQ, and recording for each a destination site, a distance and a gate fee as a marked assumption, based on a current written price from the site. As for the price, I found no official publication by region, and Israel's State Comptroller found in a July 2025 report on municipal waste that entry fees at landfill sites differ from one another by up to about 300%. The basement itself is covered on the BOQ for an underground car park page.
Construction supervision and safety on a multi-storey project
| Role | What is set | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Works manager | Direct and constant management of the construction work; notice of the appointment to the regional labour inspector | Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), 5748-1988, according to the government services website |
| Site safety officer | In force from 16 October 2026: a valid certificate of competence, at least two years of experience, reporting hazards immediately and no later than 48 hours, and the authority to order dangerous work to stop | Regulation 2A, according to the summary by the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, 2026 (the full text of the regulation should be checked) |
| Work-at-height instructor | A worker may not be employed at height without the instructor's training and a valid certificate, for two years at most | Safety at Work Regulations (Work at Height), 5767-2007, according to the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene |
| Registered contractor | Only a registered contractor may carry out engineering construction works, within the scope and classification set for them | Registration of Contractors for Engineering Construction Works Law, 5729-1969; Registrar of Contractors, Ministry of Construction and Housing |
| Design supervision (pikuach elyon) | Of residential, office, public and commercial buildings: reserved for licensed engineers and licensed architects, except for a simple structure | Engineers and Architects Regulations (Licensing and Reserved Activities), 5727-1967, according to the Division for the Regulation of Occupations, 25 August 2021 |
The table does not include a site supervisor acting for the client. Full-time supervision or construction review is a different role from design supervision, and its scope is set in the contract with the supervisor, so it is worth writing down exactly what is included. In the contractor's BOQ, the works manager, the safety officer and the safety arrangements are a cost of the contractor, in the general chapter or in the site overheads (preliminaries). At the Registrar of Contractors it is worth checking the classification too, because it sets the scope of work the contractor may carry out. How the safety items look as quantities is shown on the construction site safety items page.
Who is behind the calculation
I am Yaakov Avital. I completed a course for work safety officers (2021), and I have had hands-on experience in construction since 2012, with a main contractor and in a tender department. I develop software for producing and checking bills of quantities from a BIM model, and I work from drawings and models all over the country. The details are on the home page, quantity surveyor for construction projects.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference in the BOQ between dense sand and loose sand?
In government foundation tariffs, dense sand counts as normal ground conditions and loose sand as special conditions. If the report describes loose sand, the foundation items should address it explicitly.
Why separate surplus soil from construction waste?
Because not every site accepts both: the list dated 9 February 2019 shows a site in Tayibe for surplus soil and clean earth only, and I have not verified that it is active today. Separating them in the BOQ makes it possible to price each stream according to its own site.
When does a quantity surveyor in central Israel need the soil report?
As early as possible. Without a report, the foundations, the shoring and the dewatering are written as marked assumptions, and on a multi-storey project these are large items.
Have a project? Tell me briefly what the project is and what already exists. When the project is a good fit, I usually reply with focused questions and a written quote.
Contact me for a quote* Created with AI for marketing, for illustration only. Not reviewed by Yaakov Avital and not professional advice. Every project must be checked on its own by a professional quantity surveyor and an engineer.