Material requisition form for construction: fields, approvals and a filled example

What a material requisition form is

A material requisition form is the written request from a site (or a department) for material it needs, sent to whoever buys or holds stock. On construction sites it's also called a material request, a site requisition, an indent or, in some apps, a demand. It says what is needed, how much, for which part of the work, and the date it must be on site.

'Material requisition' is used for two different requests, and a good form handles both:

1. 1A request to buy.
   The material isn't on site or in the central store, so it has to be purchased. The requisition goes for approval, then to quotes and a purchase order.
2. 2A request to issue from the store.
   The material is already in stock. The requisition, sometimes called a material issue slip or store requisition, tells the storekeeper to hand it over and charge it to the right work.

The useful habit is to treat every requisition as a request to issue first and to buy only what the store can't supply. That one check stops the most common waste in site buying: ordering cement that is already sitting under a tarpaulin at the back of the site.

Where the requisition fits in site buying

The requisition is the first of seven checkpoints between a site needing material and the supplier being paid. The full path is covered in the construction material tracking guide. In short:

1. 1Requisition.
   The site writes down what it needs and by when.
2. 2Store check.
   What can be issued from stock?
3. 3Approval.
   For what has to be bought, by someone with the authority for that amount.
4. 4Quotations.
   From more than one supplier for anything significant (how to compare supplier quotations).
5. 5Purchase order.
   The binding order to the chosen supplier (construction purchase order template).
6. 6Receiving.
   Counted against the order on site.
7. 7Bill and payment.
   Matched against the order and what was received (three-way match).

The requisition is internal, and nothing is owed to anyone because of it. That's why it's the right place to stop a bad purchase: changing a requisition costs nothing, while cancelling a purchase order may not be free.

What to include on a material requisition form

A filled example

Here is a real-looking requisition for the first-floor slab of a two-storey house. All quantities and rates are sample figures, not market prices or a quantity take-off for any specific slab.

• The store check saved buying 46 bags of cement, 0.3 t of steel and 10 kg of wire. At the sample rates that's about $437 + $234 + $16 = $687 of material that's already paid for and sitting on site.
• The value to buy is $2,561. The company rule is that the project manager approves up to $1,500, so this one goes to the owner.
• The phase budget for material had $3,400 left and will have $839 after this. The owner can see the slab is within budget, and that very little is left for the rest of the phase.
• The slab pour is on Saturday and material is needed by Thursday 7 am. If the steel supplier's lead time is two days, the order has to go out by Monday evening, so the approval can't wait until Wednesday.

Without the store column, this site would have bought $3,248 of material instead of $2,561, and the 46 bags in the store would have aged until someone found them. Download the free material requisition form (Excel): it works out issue, buy, value, budget left and who approves, and has a register for numbering every request.

Who approves a material requisition

Approvals protect cash, but each one also adds a delay. Set them up so routine requests move fast and unusual ones get a second look:

• Set limits by amount, in writing. For example, the project manager approves requisitions up to a set value per request and the owner approves anything above it. Choose numbers that send roughly the top fifth of requests by value to the owner, and adjust after a month.
• Give the approver five questions, not a feeling: Is it for work in the current plan? Does the quantity match the drawings or BOQ? Has the store been checked? Is there budget left in the phase? Is the date realistic for the supplier?
• Agree a response time, for example the same working day. An approval that takes three days turns every requisition into an emergency.
• Allow emergencies, then regularise them. If a pour is at risk, the site can buy against a phone approval, but the requisition is written up within 24 hours with the same fields. If this happens every week, the planning is the problem, not the form.
• Don't let a requisition be split to stay under the limit. Two requests for 70 bags on the same day are one request for 140.
• Keep duties separate. The person who requests, the person who approves and the person who pays shouldn't be the same person. Segregation of duties is a basic internal control (GAO Green Book). On a small team, the owner can approve and pay while the site requests and receives.

How to manage multiple construction sites covers setting approval limits across several projects.

Material requisition vs purchase order (and indent, and issue slip)

A purchase order is a document a buyer issues to a seller to show the intention to buy specific goods at agreed prices and terms. It becomes a contract once the supplier accepts it (Designing Buildings Wiki). The requisition comes before it and doesn't bind anyone. One requisition can become several orders (steel from one supplier, cement from another), and one order can cover several requisitions from the same site.

Common mistakes with material requisitions

• Vague specifications. 'Steel 12 mm' without the grade, or 'cement' without the type, invites substitution. Write the spec the drawing calls for.
• No date needed. Every request becomes 'urgent', which means 'whenever'. Write the day and time.
• Ignoring the store. Ordering what's already on site, or already on order from a colleague's requisition last week.
• Round guesses. 'Get 200 bags' when the work needs 140 leaves 60 bags to harden or walk away. Quantities should come from the drawings or BOQ, plus a stated waste allowance.
• Wrong unit. Requesting steel as bars when the supplier bills by the tonne makes the later bill check much harder. Use the billing unit and note the conversion.
• Verbal requisitions. A phone call is fine for speed, but it isn't a record. Write it the same day.
• No phase. Material bought 'for the site' can't be compared with the budget for any piece of work.

Paper book, spreadsheet or software

A numbered carbon book works for a single site: one copy for the site, one for the office. Photograph each page the day it's written, or the office won't see it until Friday.

A spreadsheet adds the arithmetic (stock, shortfall, value, approver) and a register of every requisition with its status. It needs one person to keep the register current, and approvals still happen by phone.

Software is worth it once requests come from several sites, approvals need a record, and the stock check should happen automatically. In Aaghaz360, a site engineer raises a demand from a phone with the project, phase and date needed. The demand suggests materials for the phase and checks what's already in stock and what the budget allows. Approvals follow limits by amount that the owner sets in one screen, and approved demands go on to supplier quotations by private link. Projects that don't need approvals can skip that step. When stock is issued from a site store, it's charged to the phase at that moment. To see a demand go from site to approval to quotes with your own materials, book a walkthrough.