SMM7 in 2026: Still Used? Where It Lingers in Civil Engineering

Mostly no, but not never. SMM7, the Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works, seventh edition, was superseded by NRM2: the new rules became operative on 1 January 2013 and SMM7 was formally withdrawn on 1 July 2013. You would not start a new building project on it today. But SMM7 has not vanished. Legacy contracts, some long-running frameworks, and certain public-sector procurement documents still reference it, and you occasionally meet a live project whose bill is written to it. This guide answers the question honestly, shows where SMM7 lingers, and explains how to handle a project that quotes it.

If you are new to bills of quantities, start with what a civil engineering Bill of Quantities is; for the transition itself, see how NRM2 replaced SMM7 in 2013, and for the civil-versus-building comparison, CESMM4 against NRM2.

The short answer

SMM7 is superseded. NRM2 (RICS New Rules of Measurement 2, Detailed Measurement for Building Works) replaced it as the UK standard for detailed building measurement, becoming operative on 1 January 2013, with SMM7 withdrawn on 1 July 2013. A new building job should be measured to NRM2.

So if you are starting fresh, the answer is NRM2. The reason SMM7 still matters is that construction contracts are long-lived, and the documents do not update themselves.

Where SMM7 still appears

• Legacy contracts. A scheme let before 2013, or one whose bills were drafted on an older template, can still be running and still quote SMM7. Variations and remeasures on that job stay on SMM7 for consistency.
• Long-running frameworks. Some framework agreements set up pre-2013 carried their measurement basis forward, so call-off contracts under them inherited SMM7 even after the wider market moved on.
• Copied documents. Bills get reused. An estimator working from a template last revised years ago can produce a new-looking SMM7 bill without anyone deciding to use SMM7. Read the preamble: it tells you which method governs.
• Public-sector procurement. Certain authorities and standing documents were slow to migrate, so an SMM7 reference can still surface in a tender pack.

SMM7 versus NRM2: what changed, and why it can move money

NRM2 was not a cosmetic renumbering. It reorganised the work sections, changed what is deemed included in rates, and took a more explicitly rules-based approach to measurement and to the treatment of items like preliminaries and risk. Two consequences for an estimator:

• A rate carried across from an SMM7 bill to an NRM2 bill (or the reverse) can be wrong, because the two methods deem different incidental work into the unit rate. What is included in the SMM7 rate may be a separate measured item under NRM2.
• The descriptions read differently, so an item that looks the same can be measured against different rules.

You can see the surface of this in the coding. Take a manhole's structural excavation (real CivilQuants engine output for a 1500 mm chamber, 3.5 m deep to invert, at the calculator's default geometry; a modelled example for illustration, not a tender, but reproducible):

The quantity is identical: 105.54 m³ either way, the same pit dug at an open batter with 0.5 m of working space each side. What differs is the reference and the wording. SMM7 files the dig under work section D20 with its "commencing from reduced ground level" qualifier; NRM2 files it under work section 5 with its own phrasing of the depth stage. Both methods band excavation by maximum depth in stages, and at this dig both land in the not-exceeding-4 m stage, but each method defines its stages under its own rules, so never assume the bands line up at every depth.

There is an even clearer tell of SMM7's age in the reinforcement: the SMM7 bill describes the bar as hot-rolled high-yield steel to BS 4449 grade 460, the old designation, where the NRM2 bill writes the same bar as BS 4449 grade B500B. Same steel job, but the older method shows its date in the description.

How to handle a project that references SMM7

The rule is simple and it is the same rule that governs every measurement question: measure to what the contract documents specify. If the bill says SMM7, measure to SMM7, even though it is superseded. Do not silently substitute NRM2 because it is current or more familiar; that changes what is deemed included and breaks comparability with the rest of the bill. If you think the reference is a mistake (a copied template rather than a deliberate choice), raise it with the client or the PQS before you price, do not decide unilaterally. The estimator's job is to price what is asked, and to flag ambiguity early rather than resolve it quietly.

A note for civils

SMM7 and NRM2 are both building standards, published by RICS for building works. On pure civil engineering you are usually on CESMM4 or, for highways, MMHW, not SMM7 or NRM2. The building methods become relevant when you are on a developer scheme or a mixed building-and-civils project where the building elements are measured to the building standard and the external and infrastructure works to the civil one. For that civil-versus-building comparison, see CESMM4 against NRM2. The practical takeaway: on a mixed job you can be working across two or three methods at once, so read each section's preamble.

FAQ

Is SMM7 still used in 2026? Rarely, but not never. It is superseded by NRM2, so no new building job should use it, but it still appears in legacy contracts, some pre-2013 frameworks, and copied or slow-to-migrate procurement documents.

When was SMM7 replaced? By NRM2, which became operative on 1 January 2013. SMM7 was formally withdrawn on 1 July 2013.

What replaced SMM7? NRM2 (RICS New Rules of Measurement 2, Detailed Measurement for Building Works), part of the wider NRM suite.

Why do some contracts still reference SMM7? Because contracts and frameworks are long-lived and their documents do not update automatically. A scheme let before 2013, or one drafted from an old template, can still quote SMM7.

Is SMM7 used for civil engineering? Rarely. SMM7 is a building method. Civil engineering is usually measured to CESMM4, or MMHW for highways. SMM7 surfaces on civils only via mixed building-and-civils schemes.

What is the main difference between SMM7 and NRM2? NRM2 reorganised the work sections, changed what is deemed included in rates, and is more explicitly rules-based, including its treatment of preliminaries and risk. A rate cannot be ported between the two without checking what each deems included.

Try it

Need to measure to SMM7 on a legacy job? CivilQuants renders SMM7 alongside CESMM4, NRM2 and MMHW, so the same geometry gives you a bill in whichever method the contract specifies. The manhole is a free assembly, so you can measure it to MMHW with no sign-up; the SMM7 and NRM2 renders unlock with a 7-day pass for £15. Start the pass, then build the worked manhole on the manhole calculator.