What does a quantity surveyor do?
You work out what a building will cost before it exists, and then you defend or challenge every change to that number.
Also called: QS, cost consultant, commercial manager.
A day looks like
- 1You measure quantities off drawings — actual square metres and linear metres, not estimates.
- 2You value the work done this month, which decides what the contractor gets paid.
- 3You assess a variation claim and work out how much of it is genuinely extra.
- 4You tell somebody the project is going to overspend, early, while it can still be fixed.
Hardest part
You are the bearer of bad news by profession. Nobody wants the honest number, everybody wants it later than you can give it, and being right early is not rewarded.
Best part
Finding, in a claim, the one item that is genuinely justified — and paying it, so that the client trusts your no on the other nine.
How you actually become a quantity surveyor
- At schoolMaths and an eye for detail; a quantity surveying degree or a construction apprenticeship.
- TrainingAccredited degree then structured experience to chartered status.
- How longThree or four years of study plus two or three to chartership.
- Your first jobAssistant QS measuring quantities and helping with valuations.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a quantity surveyor actually measure?
- Quantities of work — cubic metres of concrete, square metres of brickwork, linear metres of skirting — taken off drawings and then off the real building, so that pricing and payment are based on measured fact.
- What is a variation?
- A change to the work the contract described. Genuine variations get paid; things the contractor simply found harder than expected usually do not, and telling those apart is most of the job.
- Is it a well-paid career?
- Among the better-paid construction professions, because a good QS directly protects large sums. It also travels well internationally, since the measurement standards are widely used.
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