An Excel workbook for false ceilings, lighting and electrical work: a blank BOQ with the usual lines already listed room by room, the same format filled in for living, dining and two bedrooms, a fifteen-point reference covering board, framing, access panels, wiring and circuits, and a checklist of questions for your contractor. Free, usable with any firm, and the download link asks for nothing.
The same eleven columns as the whole-home BOQ pack and the other trade sheets, so a line copied between them lands in the same place.
Covered area in square feet, whether the faces of drops and coves are counted in it, profile lights and cove strips in running feet, and electrical work counted point by point, room by room.
Eighteen lines: ceilings for living, dining, bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms and balcony, coves, access panels, profile lights, cove strips, downlights, ceiling paint, lighting and power points, appliance points, data points, distribution board changes and testing.
The same format filled to the level of detail that counts as specified, on a 10 ft slab height. An illustrative layout, not a client's project; the point is the wording of each line.
What each line must name, the vague wording it replaces, and the failure that vagueness causes — board in dry and wet areas, framing, perimeter fixing, drop, joints, access panels, cove, profile lights, paint, wiring, conduits, circuits and the distribution board.
Questions grouped by when to ask them: before the ceiling is closed, when material arrives, during framing, at handover, and about money. Printable, with tick boxes.
A false ceiling hides its own specification. Once the boards are up, nobody can see the framing, the wire or the joints — which is exactly where a lower quote finds its savings. Five things account for most of the difference, and the template has a line or a column for each.
The area, and what is in it. Ceilings are quoted per square foot of covered area, but the vertical faces of drops and coves can be counted in that area or as running feet. The same ceiling measures differently either way, so the basis has to be written down.
The framing nobody will see. The template asks for the GI section brand and zinc coating, ceiling sections at no more than 4 ft, perimeter angles fixed at 2 ft or less, and hangers to the slab — and the checklist says to measure the spacing before boarding.
The board in the wrong room. Gypsum board to IS 2095 (Part 1) suits living rooms and bedrooms. Standard gypsum must never go into open balconies or wet bathrooms; those take moisture-resistant board, PVC or BWP to IS 710.
Lighting outside the rate. Profile lights and cove strips are priced per running foot and sit outside the square-foot ceiling rate. A quote that does not list them has either left them out or folded them in, and you cannot tell which.
Electrical work as a lump sum. The space above the ceiling stays closed for years. The template asks for FR-LSH wire in rigid conduit, joints only inside junction boxes, lighting split across breakers, and every point counted room by room — so a lump sum becomes a list you can check.
| Element | What the line must name | The vague version to refuse |
|---|---|---|
| Framing | GI brand, section, zinc coating; 4 ft max spacing; hangers to slab | "GI frame" |
| Wet-area board | Moisture-resistant board, PVC or BWP named per room | Same board as the living room |
| Access panels | Location and size at every AC drain, geyser and junction | Not mentioned |
| Profile lights | Channel, diffuser, strip, driver; length in rft; priced separately | Included in the ceiling rate |
| Wiring | FR-LSH, brand, cross-section per circuit type | "Branded wire" |
| Measurement basis | Covered area; cove faces in or out; points room by room | A lump sum |
The full sheet carries fifteen elements, including dry-area board, perimeter fixing, drop and clear height, joints, cove, paint, conduits, circuits and GST.
A direct link. No form, no email, no phone number — a download is not an enquiry, and nobody will call you for taking the file.
The same columns are used by the kitchen BOQ and the wardrobe and furniture BOQ, so all three can sit in one comparison.
Put every quote on one basis. Check whether each quote counts cove and drop faces in the area, and re-measure to one basis before comparing rates. Then pull profile lights and cove strips out of any quote that folded them in.
Copy each quote into the format. A line a firm cannot fill in — the framing brand, the zinc coating, the wire grade, the number of access panels — is not a detail they forgot. It is a decision left open, and in a ceiling it is closed behind a board.
Count the points. Ask every firm for electrical points listed room by room. Two lump sums cannot be compared; two point counts can, and the difference usually shows where one quote assumed more than the other.
For what a ceiling costs once it is specified, see false ceiling cost per sq ft, which carries its basis and date. Before the drop is fixed, four false ceiling mistakes covers drop height, wardrobe doors and AC placement, and electrical planning mistakes covers sockets, switches and router position.
Per square foot of covered area. The BOQ should also say whether the vertical faces of drops and coves are counted in that area or as running feet, because the same ceiling measures differently either way. Profile lights and cove strips are quoted per running foot, separately from the ceiling rate.
Usually not. Profile lighting — the aluminium channel, diffuser, LED strip and driver — is priced per running foot outside the square-foot ceiling rate. If a quote does not list it as its own line, ask whether it is included before comparing totals.
The GI section brand, the section and its zinc coating, ceiling sections spaced no more than 4 ft apart, perimeter angles fixed to the wall at 2 ft or less, and hangers to the slab. Framing spacing is invisible once the boards go up, which is why it has to be written down and checked before boarding.
Because the two are built together. Wiring, conduit, junctions and AC drain routes have to be finished and tested before the ceiling is closed, and the space above it stays closed for years. Quoting them on one sheet, point by point, keeps the sequence and the fire-safety specification in one place.
So the sheet can compare two or three contractors against one fixed specification without our numbers anchoring it. False ceiling cost bands are published on the site with their basis and date attached, which a spreadsheet passed around on its own cannot carry.
No. The download link on this page is direct and asks for nothing. A download is not treated as an enquiry, and nobody will call you for taking the file.