In Saudi Arabia, construction is booming like never before, fueled by ambitious Vision 2030 projects such as NEOM and New Murabba. The industry is expected to surpass a market value of $78.60 billion in 2025, reflecting rapid growth and enormous opportunities.
If you are handling construction projects, knowing about BOM construction can make a real difference in managing materials, controlling costs, and keeping work on schedule.
In this blog, you’ll learn what a Bill of Materials (BOM) in construction is, its key components, the types of BOM, and how to create one for your projects. We’ll also cover its benefits, along with common challenges and practical solutions.
A BOM in construction is a comprehensive and organized list of all materials, components, and assemblies required to complete a construction project. It specifies the type, quantity, and description of each item, serving as a detailed reference for planning, procurement, and execution.
Before you can create an effective BOM for your project, you should be familiar with the critical components it contains.
A clear and well-organized BOM construction makes managing your materials easier, saves time, and keeps your project on track. Each component plays a role in helping you plan efficiently, control costs, and avoid surprises on-site.
Also read: Construction Management Planning: A Complete Guide
Once your BOM includes all the essential details, you can choose the type that best fits your project’s design, procurement, and site needs.
Knowing the different types of BOM construction helps you manage materials and workflows more effectively, whether you are planning, procuring, or building on-site. Each type serves a specific purpose, making it easier for your team to stay organized and aligned with project goals.
Engineers prepare the EBOM during the design phase and list all parts, materials, and assemblies exactly as shown in the design plans. Think of it as a technical blueprint, showing how the project should be built. It usually comes from CAD or design software and includes quantities, specifications, and material types. A precise EBOM ensures your construction teams understand exactly what is required to meet design and quality standards.
The MBOM focuses on how materials and components are assembled during manufacturing or prefabrication. It organizes items according to assembly stages and workflow, making it easier to manage on-site assembly or modular construction. Unlike the EBOM, the MBOM structures components for practical use rather than technical design, helping you optimize efficiency and reduce errors.
The CBOM is used directly at the construction site and covers all materials needed to complete the structure from foundation to finishing. It helps your procurement team order the right quantities at the right time, preventing delays and overspending. In Saudi Arabia’s construction sector, a well-prepared CBOM ensures projects follow schedules and adapt to real site conditions.
The Service BOM lists materials and parts needed for ongoing maintenance, repairs, or future upgrades after construction is complete. It includes spare parts and supports preventive maintenance planning, helping you comply with local regulations and adapt to the climate conditions common in the region.
While more typical in product manufacturing, a Sales BOM can be useful if your construction business offers packaged solutions or custom builds. It presents the finished product or service from a sales perspective, helping your estimating and sales teams provide accurate quotes and avoid miscommunication with clients.
Each BOM type plays a unique role in your construction process, but handling them separately can lead to confusion and delays. With HAL ERP, you can centralize all your BOMs in one place, streamline procurement, and gain complete visibility across teams.
With the types of BOM clear, it’s time to see how you can put this knowledge into action by creating a detailed BOM for your project.
Creating a BOM construction for your project is essential to ensure all materials are planned, procured, and tracked efficiently. Following clear steps helps you avoid delays, control costs, and keep your team coordinated.
Step 1: Gather Project Documents
Start by collecting all key project documents, including blueprints, architectural drawings, and technical specifications. These provide a complete view of the materials and components your project requires.
Step 2: Break the Project into Phases
Divide your project into stages such as foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, and finishing. This approach organizes materials according to when and where they are needed on-site.
Step 3: List Materials for Each Phase
For each stage, create a detailed list of all required materials. Consult your plans and coordinate with engineers or contractors to ensure nothing is overlooked.
Step 4: Detail Each Material
Include clear information for every item: type, quantity, size, quality, and any unique codes or identifiers. This prevents confusion during ordering and helps you track inventory accurately.
Step 5: Identify Suppliers and Costs
List reliable local suppliers in Saudi Arabia along with prices, delivery times, and available discounts. This helps you manage your budget and ensures smooth procurement.
Step 6: Review the BOM with Your Team
Share the draft BOM with project managers, engineers, and procurement staff. Their feedback helps catch errors and ensures the BOM aligns with project requirements.
Step 7: Include Extra Materials for Contingencies
Add buffer quantities to cover waste, unexpected changes, or onsite adjustments. This common practice prevents delays and ensures smooth progress.
Step 8: Organize the BOM Clearly
Arrange the BOM by phases or material categories. A clear structure makes it easy for your team to understand, use, and reference throughout the project.
Step 9: Update Continuously
As the project progresses, keep the BOM updated to reflect changes or substitutions. Sharing updates keeps everyone informed and ensures smooth coordination.
Also read: Cost Planning in Construction: Explore Key Benefits & Types
With a well-structured BOM ready, you can now see how it directly impacts project efficiency, cost control, and team coordination.
Using a BOM construction in your projects brings clear advantages that help you manage resources, control costs, and keep work on schedule. Each benefit directly supports smoother, more efficient project execution.
A BOM gives you a complete overview of materials and timelines, making planning much easier.
A detailed BOM helps you estimate costs based on actual material needs.
Your procurement team can rely on the BOM as a clear guide for purchasing.
The BOM helps maintain high construction standards and compliance.
A BOM acts as a shared reference point for your entire project team.
An accurate BOM minimizes errors and helps you plan for challenges.
A BOM supports more sustainable and efficient material management.
On comparable projects, improved material-control practices and off-site prefabrication have driven material waste reductions of 80% in case studies. Conservative planning targets of 30% waste reduction are realistic when BOMs, modular construction, and ERP-driven procurement are aligned.
Also read: Construction Risk Management: Steps to Reduce and Mitigate
While the benefits of a well-structured BOM are clear, managing it effectively comes with its own set of challenges you should be aware of.
Managing a BOM in construction isn’t always easy, especially when you’re dealing with complex projects in Saudi Arabia. From incomplete data to coordination gaps, small errors can slow down your entire workflow. Here are some common challenges you might face and practical ways to solve them.
If your BOM has missing or incorrect details, you’ll likely face material shortages, delays, or cost overruns. This usually happens when there’s poor communication among your teams.
How You Can Fix It:
When your team doesn’t have access to real-time BOM updates, mistakes in material orders and site work can easily occur.
How You Can Fix It:
If your BOM system isn’t connected with procurement or project tools, managing updates becomes slow and error-prone.
How You Can Fix It:
Design revisions and scope adjustments are part of almost every construction project. But without a clear system, these changes can throw your BOM off track.
How You Can Fix It:
If you don’t track your materials properly, you may end up with shortages, wastage, or unnecessary storage costs.
How You Can Fix It:
When you manage large-scale projects, tracking thousands of materials manually can quickly become overwhelming.
How You Can Fix It:
When different teams or suppliers use inconsistent naming formats, confusion and duplication are bound to happen.
How You Can Fix It:
Addressing these BOM management issues is crucial, and the following case study shows how practical solutions make a difference.
This case study highlights how Orchid Clinics transformed their healthcare operations by integrating HAL with Practo to streamline workflows, improve patient care, and enhance operational efficiency. They needed a single platform to manage scheduling, finance, HR, and inventory while giving their staff more time to focus on patients.
With HAL Simplify integrated with Practo, Orchid Clinics achieved:
The success seen at Orchid Clinics shows how HAL streamlines workflows, a solution that construction companies can leverage for BOM management.
Managing construction projects can often feel overwhelming, from tracking budgets and materials to keeping every team aligned. That’s where HAL makes a real difference. Designed with Saudi businesses in mind, HAL is an easy-to-use, all-in-one ERP system that helps you automate daily tasks, manage every phase of your project, and access real-time insights on a single platform.
Why HAL ERP Stands Out:
To put things in perspective, let’s see how HAL ERP compares with the BOM tools most contractors currently use: Excel and SAP.
Managing a Bill of Materials in Saudi construction requires more than spreadsheets or generic global ERPs. As projects become larger, multi-site, and more time-sensitive under Vision 2030, contractors need a BOM system that is fast to deploy, locally compliant, and tightly integrated with procurement, project costing, and inventory.
Here’s a clear, technical comparison of HAL ERP, Excel, and SAP, showing how each method performs in real Saudi construction environments.
Feature / Requirement (KSA Construction)
Now that you’ve explored everything about BOM construction, it’s clear how critical a well-structured Bill of Materials is for keeping your projects on track, reducing costs, and avoiding delays. From accurate planning and budgeting to streamlined procurement and improved team coordination, a proper BOM ensures every aspect of your construction project runs smoothly.
To make this process even easier, HAL can help you simplify BOM management, automate repetitive tasks, and provide real-time insights on one unified platform. Its local expertise and user-friendly interface make it perfect for Saudi construction businesses looking to enhance efficiency and compliance.
See how HAL ERP can transform your construction projects too. Explore real success stories and book your free demo today to experience smarter, faster, and more efficient project management.
1. How does a BOM improve coordination between site teams and procurement in construction projects?
A BOM acts as a single source of truth for all teams. Site engineers know exactly what materials are required, while procurement teams get clear specs and quantities. This reduces back-and-forth communication, prevents incorrect orders, and ensures materials arrive on schedule.
2. Is a BOM useful for both small and large construction projects?
Yes. For small projects, a BOM keeps material planning simple and organized. For large Saudi construction projects, such as multi-tower developments or infrastructure works, it becomes essential to manage thousands of components, prevent waste, and track supplier performance.
3. What happens if a BOM is not updated during design or scope changes?
Outdated BOMs lead to wrong orders, excess materials, delays, and budget overruns. In regulated markets like Saudi Arabia, this can also result in compliance issues. Regular updates ensure your project stays aligned with the latest drawings and approved materials.
4. Can a BOM help improve supplier performance and material delivery timelines?
Absolutely. A BOM provides suppliers with accurate quantities, specs, and delivery schedules. This transparency helps reduce lead time issues, improves accuracy in shipments, and strengthens long-term supplier relationships—especially when working with multiple vendors across Saudi cities.
5. How does using an ERP system like HAL enhance BOM management?
HAL ERP automates BOM creation, tracks revisions, links materials to ongoing projects, and syncs with inventory and procurement modules. This eliminates manual errors, provides real-time visibility, ensures ZATCA compliance, and supports multi-site coordination needed for Vision 2030 projects.
