Choosing a quantity surveyor for your project
Start with the commercial decisions and work you need help with. Then compare the proposed scope, experience, deliverables and fee.
by Jack Butler-Kettle · About 5 min readShare
Before you start
Write down the project stage, decision needed, available information and timing. Identify whether any part is already disputed.
A quantity surveyor helps manage construction costs and the commercial work surrounding the contract. You can appoint one for a defined task or ongoing support.
The useful question is what work they will perform for your project. A job title alone does not define the appointment.
Step-by-step guide
1. Define the work and when support is needed
When should you involve a QS?
Before committing to work, you may need an estimate, tender documents or a comparison of prices. During delivery, payments, changes and forecasts need regular attention.
You can also commission a final account or a review of an existing commercial position. Involving a QS early allows assumptions and missing information to be identified before decisions become commitments.
The RICS explanation of the quantity surveyor role includes cost planning, procurement, tendering and commercial management.
A simple, clearly specified job may need only one defined review rather than a whole-project appointment. Scale the scope to the financial decisions and uncertainties.
Define the work you need
Describe the project, stage, contract and decisions ahead. List the tasks you want someone to undertake, rather than asking only for general QS support.
For example, preparing a monthly payment application differs from checking an application prepared by your team. A desktop valuation also differs from a measured site assessment.
Our quantity surveying services separate pre-contract and post-contract work so you can identify the relevant tasks.
2. Choose the appropriate role and scope
Distinguish QS support from other roles
Building surveying, design, project management and quantity surveying have different responsibilities, although a practice may offer more than one discipline.
An appointed contract administrator or employer's agent has duties under the selected contract. Those duties are not created simply by asking a QS for commercial advice.
Read the CA and EA comparison if your project needs one of these appointments.
If the project already has a dispute
Explain the disputed position and any urgent dates at the outset. Separate the everyday commercial tasks from the work needed to investigate and resolve the disagreement.
Claims and dispute support applies contractual analysis, valuation and evidence to a contested position. The appointment should make that scope clear.
3. Compare proposals and check the provider
Compare proposals on the same basis
Check the deliverables, information assumptions, meeting frequency, site attendance and programme. Identify who prepares, checks, approves and issues each document.
Ask what happens when drawings change or records are incomplete. Compare the included work before comparing the fee.
A proposal should state the fee basis, payment terms and how additional work is agreed. Our QS fees guide explains the main options.
Check the provider as well as the price
Give shortlisted providers the same brief, document list and required outputs. Ask who will do and check the work, their relevant project experience, availability, conflicts and the limits of their appointment. Agree how information will be handled and how you can export the working records.
Where professional status matters to your appointment, verify the relevant firm or individual directly with the claimed body. The RICS firm directory provides one starting point. A directory entry does not establish that a provider is the right fit or has capacity for your project. Ask for evidence of the insurance and responsibilities relevant to the agreed scope.
Compare written proposals against those same criteria and record unresolved questions before appointing. The construction adviser comparison explains how quantity surveying, claims, delay and legal work may fit together. Quantsurv offers QS and claims services; this is a selection framework, not an independent ranking of practices.
4. Agree the appointment and support pattern
You can commission a defined output without appointing a QS for the whole project. Examples include a measured work package, tender comparison or payment application check.
Specify the required decision, document set and deadline. Our fixed-fee QS options describe the deliverables and limits.
For repeated reporting, valuations and commercial administration, Project Partner Retainer provides an agreed monthly scope. Confirm site attendance and capacity rather than assuming either is unlimited.
Before you finish: Confirm the deliverables, exclusions, information required, responsibilities, fee basis and timing in writing before instruction.
Worked example
The facts
A project needs monthly payment assessments and cost reporting. Two proposals quote different fees but describe different work.
What happens
Proposal A includes a desktop check of one application each month. Proposal B also includes a site visit and an updated forecast.
The client lists the required outputs and asks both providers to price that same scope.
Both revised proposals state the information cut-off, attendance, reporting date and treatment of extra work.
What this shows
The comparison now concerns equivalent services. The lower initial fee alone did not identify the better fit.