Quantity surveyor in Tel Aviv: apartment buildings, additions to existing buildings and tight plots
A quantity surveyor in Tel Aviv, an engineer or a registered building technician like Yaakov Avital, meets almost only apartment buildings and additions to existing buildings: of the 13,792 dwellings whose construction started in the Tel Aviv District in 2024, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), only 291 were in buildings with one or two dwellings, about 2%. The ground has kurkar (a calcareous sandstone), hamra (a red sandy soil) and sand, and fill is very common on urban plots. And the official list of construction waste sites, dated 9 February 2019, has no site at all inside the district. Each of these has its own items in the bill of quantities (BOQ), and that is the subject of this page.
The Tel Aviv District in numbers: apartment buildings and additions
The district includes, among others, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Bnei Brak, Holon, Ramat Gan, Bat Yam, Herzliya, Givatayim and Ramat HaSharon. The 13,792 starts of 2024 are about 11% more than the 12,454 in 2023, but slightly fewer than the 14,287 in 2022.
| Item | Dwellings | Share of starts |
|---|---|---|
| Construction starts, total | 13,792 | |
| of which in buildings with one or two dwellings | 291 | 2% |
| of which in buildings with three or more dwellings | 12,378 | 90% |
| of which additions to existing buildings | 1,126 | 8% |
| Construction completed | 8,414 | |
| Under active construction at year end | 47,454 |
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 refer to the 13,792 starts, rounded. Together the three rows come to three more than the total, and that is how they appear in the table.
Two figures stand out against the other districts: 1,126 dwellings added to existing buildings, and 47,454 dwellings under active construction at the end of 2024. In both, this is the highest number of any district.
Additions to an existing building: what a quantity surveyor in Tel Aviv adds to the BOQ
In an existing building, some quantities become clear only when walls and ceilings are opened up. So the BOQ for an addition includes chapters that a new building does not have:
- a survey of existing conditions before the BOQ, because without it there is no basis for the quantities of dismantling and connection;
- dismantling and demolition, including removal, with quantities that are partly estimated;
- strengthening and connection to the existing structural frame, according to the structural engineer's design, with items for drilling and anchoring;
- protection of residents and property when the building is occupied during the works: hoarding, protected walkways and signage.
The details are on the BOQ for strengthening and added floors and BOQ for demolition and dismantling pages.
Fill, sand and kurkar on an urban plot
Fill is very common on urban plots. One soil (geotechnical) report noted that uncontrolled fill behind walls may settle by several percent of its thickness, and artificial fill is considered ground that is especially sensitive to liquefaction. Along the coast there is sand, and loose sand with shallow groundwater does not suit CFA (continuous flight auger) drilling and calls for temporary casing or bentonite slurry. The coastal plain also has kurkar and hamra, with sand lenses.
A quantity surveyor in Tel Aviv translates this into items: soil replacement, or deepening below the fill, according to the report; controlled backfill behind walls, with compaction tests; and a drilling alternative with temporary casing or bentonite, when the report describes loose sand and water. On a tight plot, shoring and dewatering join them, and those are covered on the BOQ for an underground car park page. And on every plot, the decision belongs to the soil report for that plot.
A tight plot has items that are easy to forget. They include protecting neighbouring buildings and recording their condition before the excavation, traffic arrangements for unloading and for the concrete pump, and removal in small loads when there is no room for a stockpile. Each of these is a cost, and it should appear in the BOQ or in the site overheads, not disappear between the two.
Concrete and waste: no listed waste site inside the district
According to the companies' own websites, checked in October 2026 (a partial list), inside the district Hanson Israel has plants in the Herzliya Pituach industrial zone and in the Holon industrial zone, and Readymix has a plant in Holon.
The list of construction waste sites that comes from the Solid Waste Treatment Division, as published on the website of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and updated to 9 February 2019, does not include a single site inside the Tel Aviv District. It has sites in other districts, for example in Lod and Kafr Bara, as set out on the quantity surveyor in central Israel page, and I have not verified that every site on the list is active and licensed today. Approved landfills for mixed waste may also accept construction waste.
I found no official regional gate fee, and a July 2025 report by Israel's State Comptroller, which dealt with municipal waste, shows how much prices differ: entry fees at landfill sites vary by up to about 300%. So I choose a licensed site, get a current written price from it, and record the distance and the gate fee in the disposal item as a marked assumption. In an addition to an existing building, the demolition waste goes into the same calculation.
Safety and supervision on a tight site
On 16 October 2026, Regulation 2A of the Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), on a safety officer at a construction site, came into force. According to the 2026 summary by the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, the site safety officer reports hazards to the builder, the works manager and the site manager immediately, and no later than 48 hours, and may order dangerous work to stop. It is worth reading the regulation itself, not only the summary.
The safety officer does not replace the works manager. According to the government services website, the Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), 5748-1988, provide that construction is carried out under the works manager's direct and constant management, and that the regional labour inspector is notified of the appointment. When floors are added, a large part of the work is at height. Every worker there needs a valid certificate after training by a work-at-height instructor, or they may not be employed in such work, under the Safety at Work Regulations (Work at Height), 5767-2007, as the Institute explains.
Construction supervision is a separate question, and it has two layers. Design supervision (pikuach elyon) of residential, office, public and commercial buildings is reserved for licensed engineers and licensed architects, except for a simple structure, under the Engineers and Architects Regulations (Licensing and Reserved Activities), 5727-1967, as the Division for the Regulation of Occupations explained on 25 August 2021. Alongside it, a site supervisor acting for the residents or the developer can work in full-time supervision or construction review, and the contract defines that role. And it is worth finding the contractor in the open database of the Registrar of Contractors and making sure the classification fits: the Registration of Contractors for Engineering Construction Works Law, 5729-1969, reserves these works for a registered contractor, within the scope and classification set for them. More on the roles is on the works manager and site safety officer page.
Who I am
I am Yaakov Avital, a certified construction works manager. I completed a course for work safety officers (2021) and a course for work-at-height instructors (2020), and I work from drawings and models all over the country. The service is described on the quantity surveyor for construction projects page.
Frequently asked questions
What is different in a BOQ for an addition to an existing building?
It has chapters that a new building does not have: a survey of existing conditions, dismantling and demolition, strengthening and connection to the existing frame, and protection of the residents. Some of the quantities are marked as estimates, because they become clear only when the building is opened up.
Why does fill matter to a quantity surveyor in Tel Aviv?
Because uncontrolled fill may settle, and artificial fill is especially sensitive to liquefaction. The soil report decides whether the fill is replaced or the work goes deeper below it, and each way changes the quantities of excavation, removal and fill.
Where does construction waste from a plot in the district go?
To a licensed site, which may be outside the district: the list dated 9 February 2019 has no site inside the Tel Aviv District. The distance and the gate fee are recorded in the BOQ as an assumption, based on a current written price from the site.
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.