On a construction project, the cost is decided long before the invoices arrive. It is decided by how the work is measured, how it is priced and how changes are recorded. That is what a quantity surveyor does, and it is why a QS is worth appointing whether you are a homeowner doing one project or a business doing several.
NU Projects runs its QS services in house, led by our own quantity surveyor. The same team prices the work, controls it during the build and reports on it, which is what makes a turnkey design and build contract possible. Here is what that buys you.
1. Cost management and control
The main reason to employ a QS is to keep the cost where you agreed it would be. That runs from the first estimate through to monitoring the spend each month, so the budget stays on track and surprises are caught while they are still small.
2. Accurate estimating
Our design and build service includes the estimate. Measuring properly means you get a cost projection you can plan around, rather than a headline number that moves once the drawings are finished.
3. A programme that holds
Time and money are the same problem on a building site. The QS schedules and sequences the work so that trades are not waiting on each other, which is most of what keeps a project inside its agreed dates.
4. Detailed project planning
A plan that covers resource allocation, procurement lead times and the risks worth allowing for is what separates a project that runs from one that reacts. The QS builds it.
5. Risk assessment
Every build carries risk, from a cost overrun to something found behind the plaster. The QS identifies those risks before work starts and prices the response, rather than discovering them mid-build.
6. Legal and regulatory compliance
Construction regulation is not simple. Part of the QS role is making sure the project meets the requirements that apply to it, so it is not stopped or penalised later.
7. Clear communication
The QS sits between the client, the designers and the site, and keeps one version of the cost in front of all three. That is usually where projects go wrong, and it is cheap to fix.
8. Quality control
Quality is checked while the work is still accessible, not reconstructed once the finishes are on. The QS records what was inspected and what was found.
9. Work priced to your project
Every project is different, so the service is shaped to it. What the QS covers on a single flat refurbishment is not what it covers on a whole house with a basement.
Getting a number for your own project
If you want an early construction figure before you speak to anyone, the NU Build Cost Calculator prices the work by type and specification on our own rates. For a project-specific cost plan, tell us about the job or call 020 7731 6841. Our 12-stage process shows where the cost plan sits in the sequence.
Published 28 July 2023. Written by the NU Projects studio, edited since for house style and accuracy.