Building Cost Information Service
{{for | the Boston Community Information System | Boston Community Information System }}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = BCIS
| logo =
| foundation = 1961
| location = Friars House, Coventry, England,
United Kingdom
| key_people = James Fiske
Director
| homepage = bcis.co.uk
}}
The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) provides cost and price data for the UK construction industry. Founded as part of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), it is now a standalone company.
History
BCIS was set up in 1961 to provide the profession with cost information in elemental format and to promote the use of elements and of elemental cost planning. The BCIS "Standard Form of Cost Analysis" (SFCA) remained an industry staple, largely unchanged, until the late 2000s. In 2012 the "New Rules of Measurement" for cost management throughout the construction process were accompanied by a modernised version of the SFCA.{{cite web|last1=Earl|first1=Stuart|title=The RICS' new rules of measurement|url=http://www.building.co.uk/the-rics-new-rules-of-measurement/5033890.article|website=Building|access-date=17 May 2017|language=en|date=23 March 2012}}
In 2022, the BCIS was spun out of RICS.{{Cite web |title=BCIS secures backing from LDC |url=https://ldc.co.uk/news/bcis-secures-backing-from-ldc/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=LDC |language=en-GB}}
Costing data
The BCIS approach is the most popular costing method employed by quantity surveyors in the UK.{{cite journal|last1=Soutos|first1=Michail|last2=Lowe|first2=David J.|title=Elemental cost estimating: current UK practice and procedure|journal=Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction|date=2 August 2011|volume=16|issue=2|pages=147–162|doi=10.1108/13664381111153123|url=https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:126423&datastreamId=POST-PEER-REVIEW-NON-PUBLISHERS.PDF}}
BCIS manages the Price Adjustment Formulae Indices (PAFI) series, which provides price adjustment indices for building, civil engineering and highways maintenance costs, which can be used to inform inflationary adjustment clauses in contracts. BCIS material refers to the terms "NEDO", "Baxter" and "Osborne" as erroneously applied to these indices.BCIS, [https://bcis.co.uk/insight/fluctuations/ Index linked inflation adjustment clauses in contracts], published on 12 April 2022, accessed on 14 April 2025