Quantity surveyor in southern Israel: building in the Negev and on the southern coastal plain, and what it changes in the quantities
A quantity surveyor in southern Israel, an engineer or a registered building technician like Yaakov Avital, works in a district that stretches from Ashdod to Eilat, and two things there change the bill of quantities (BOQ): the ground, which in the Negev includes loess and sand, and the distance from the site to the concrete plant and to the waste site. In 2024 construction started on 13,044 dwellings in the Southern District, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), about 27% more than in 2023. Below: what each of these means for the BOQ, and what to check in supervision and safety.
The Southern District in CBS figures
The cities of the district include Ashdod, Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon, Rahat, Kiryat Gat, Eilat, Netivot, Ofakim, Dimona, Sderot, Arad and Kiryat Malakhi. The 13,044 starts in 2024 came after 10,272 in 2023, and they are almost the same as the 13,069 in 2022.
| Item | Dwellings | Share of starts |
|---|---|---|
| Construction starts, total | 13,044 | |
| of which in buildings with one or two dwellings | 1,779 | 14% |
| of which in buildings with three or more dwellings | 10,848 | 83% |
| of which additions to existing buildings | 417 | 3% |
| Construction completed | 10,537 | |
| Under active construction at year end | 31,484 |
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 are calculated on the 13,044 starts and rounded to a whole percent.
Of the starts, 83% were in buildings with three or more dwellings, and 14% in buildings with one or two dwellings: 1,779 dwellings, the second-largest number of any district after the north. Alongside contractor BOQs for apartment buildings in the cities, the district also has a considerable amount of private-house building, and the BOQ for a house has a different structure.
Loess and sand: what a quantity surveyor in southern Israel puts into the BOQ
Loess soils in the Negev are usually prone to collapse when wetted, and a planning appendix in the south noted that the low strength of loess needs to be addressed in excavation. The main sand fields are along the Mediterranean coast, in the north-western Negev and in the southern Arava, and the southern coastal plain has kurkar (a calcareous sandstone), hamra (a red sandy soil) and sand.
- Protection from wetting: in loess, water near the foundations is a risk, so the BOQ is checked for drainage items, falls around the building and the sealing of pipework, not only for the foundations.
- Controlled fill and compaction: when the report requires layers to be replaced or compacted, items come in for excavation, controlled fill in m³ and compaction tests.
- Excavation slopes or shoring: because of the low strength, the report sets how to excavate, and in the BOQ that is an item with a quantity, not a note.
- Sand: the stability of the excavation and borehole walls is a question for the report, and support items come in accordingly.
Which of these items is needed, and in what quantity, is decided only by the soil (geotechnical) report for the plot. Calculating earthworks volumes is covered on the earthworks quantities page, and the soils themselves on the soil types in Israel page.
Distances: concrete, surplus soil and waste
According to the companies' own websites, checked in October 2026 (a partial list): Hanson Israel has plants in Ashdod, Kiryat Malakhi, Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Dimona, Eilat and Mitzpe Ramon, and Readymix has plants in places including Kiryat Gat, Netivot, Ofakim, Arad, Tlalim and Sapir.
The website of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality published a list of construction waste sites that comes from the Solid Waste Treatment Division and is updated to 9 February 2019. For the Southern District it shows: landfill and recycling near HaEshel junction, on Road 25; landfill in Hevel Eilot and in Arad; two recycling sites in the northern industrial zone of Ashdod; recycling and a transfer and sorting station at Moshav Shuva; and reception and recycling in Be'er Sheva. It has not been verified since then that every site is active and licensed.
In a district like this, the distance from the plot to the plant and to the site varies a great deal, so a quantity surveyor in southern Israel records it in the BOQ: in the concrete item, what the delivery includes; in the disposal item, the chosen site, the distance to it and the gate fee, as a marked assumption. Here too I found no official gate fee by region, and according to a July 2025 report by Israel's State Comptroller on municipal waste, entry fees at landfill sites differ from one another by up to about 300%; I ask the site itself for the price in writing.
Distance is a quantity too. When the distance to the site is written in the BOQ as an assumption, all the contractors price the same thing, and their bids can be compared. When it is not written, each one assumes a different distance, and the difference looks like a difference in price.
Supervision and safety when the site is far away
When the site is far from the contractor's office or from the client's home, it matters who is actually there. The answer, under the Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), 5748-1988, as presented on the government services website, is the works manager: construction is carried out under the works manager's direct and constant management, and the regional labour inspector is notified of the appointment. On a remote site it also matters who may stop the work: according to the 2026 summary by the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Regulation 2A, which came into force on 16 October 2026, gives a safety officer at a construction site the authority to order dangerous work to stop. The full text is worth checking before you rely on the summary. And according to the Institute, a worker at height needs training by a work-at-height instructor and a valid certificate, for two years at most, under the Safety at Work Regulations (Work at Height), 5767-2007.
Construction supervision on behalf of the client is a matter for the contract. Under the Engineers and Architects Regulations (Licensing and Reserved Activities), 5727-1967, as explained in a document of the Division for the Regulation of Occupations dated 25 August 2021, design supervision (pikuach elyon) of residential buildings is reserved for licensed engineers and licensed architects, except for a simple structure, and full-time supervision or construction review are different roles. When the site is far away, it is worth also writing the frequency of visits into the contract with such a site supervisor. And before anything else, the contractor: the Registrar of Contractors at the Ministry of Construction and Housing has an open database, where you can see whether a contractor is registered and in which classification. Under the Registration of Contractors for Engineering Construction Works Law, 5729-1969, only a registered contractor may carry out engineering construction works, and even then only within their scope and classification. The safety items in the BOQ are covered on the site safety items page.
Training and experience
I am Yaakov Avital. I have had hands-on experience in construction since 2012, with a main contractor and in a tender department, and I am a registered building technician listed in Israel's register of certified technicians. I completed a course for expert witnesses in court, I hold professional liability insurance, and I work from drawings and models all over the country, from the Negev to the Galilee. The service itself is described on the quantity surveyor for construction projects page, and questions for choosing a quantity surveyor are collected on the recommended quantity surveyor page.
Frequently asked questions
Why does loess matter to a quantity surveyor in southern Israel?
Because loess soils are usually prone to collapse when wetted, and their low strength needs to be addressed in excavation. Hence the items for drainage, controlled fill and shoring or excavation slopes, according to what the soil report sets.
Does the distance to the waste site go into the BOQ?
Yes, as a marked assumption in the disposal item, together with the gate fee based on a current written price from the site. That way all the contractors price the same distance.
Is building in the district growing?
According to the preliminary CBS data, construction started on 13,044 dwellings in the district in 2024, about 27% more than in 2023 and almost the same as in 2022. Preliminary data may be revised.
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.