QS · Cost control
Quantity surveying and cost consultancy
A budget that is never checked is a guess that gets more expensive every month. Our quantity surveying team measures, prices and reconciles the works so the number you approved is the number you pay.
Where construction budgets actually fail
Overruns are rarely one large surprise. They are the accumulation of unpriced variations, quantities that were estimated rather than measured, rate escalations nobody flagged, and materials that were delivered but never reconciled against consumption.
None of these are visible on a monthly certificate unless somebody is measuring independently. That is the quantity surveyor's job: to know, at any point, what has actually been built, what it actually cost, and where that diverges from what was approved.
Our scope
- Detailed estimates and bill of quantities preparation
- Rate analysis and market rate comparison
- Budget validation before commitment
- Cash flow forecasting linked to the construction programme
- Interim valuation and running account bill certification
- Variation and change order pricing
- Material reconciliation against theoretical consumption
- Cost variance reporting each cycle
- Final account settlement
Value engineering
Value engineering is not cost cutting. Cutting removes scope; value engineering finds a cheaper route to the same performance — an alternative structural system, a different façade build-up, a rationalised MEP layout, a specification that meets the same standard at a lower rate.
The exercise is worth most before tender, when alternatives can still be priced competitively. We run it across structure, façade, MEP and finishes, and report the saving against any change in performance or maintenance liability so the trade-off is explicit.
Independent measurement
Where a contractor's bills are disputed, we re-measure the works from drawings and site records and produce an independent valuation. On government-routed projects this documentation matters as much as the number — the working must survive audit.
How an estimate is built
An estimate is only as good as what it is measured from. We work from drawings and specifications rather than area rates wherever the design allows it, because a rate per square foot hides exactly the items that overrun: substructure in poor ground, external development, services coordination and the finishes schedule.
Where the design is not yet far enough along for measurement, the estimate is issued with its assumptions listed and priced separately, so you can see which parts of the number are measured and which are still judgement. As the design develops those assumptions are replaced one by one and the movement is reported, rather than absorbed quietly into a revised total.
Common questions
Questions we are asked about this.
What is the difference between an estimate and a BOQ?
An estimate is an approximate cost, usually built from rates per square foot or historical comparisons, and is used to test feasibility. A bill of quantities is a measured schedule of every item of work, priced item by item, and forms part of the contract. Estimates inform decisions; a BOQ is what contractors bid against.
Can you audit a contractor's bill we have already received?
Yes. We re-measure from the drawings and site records, check rates against the contract and current market, and report the difference with supporting calculations. This is one of the more common single-scope appointments we take.
Do you work on residential projects?
Yes, including individual houses and apartment developments. For smaller residential work we usually offer a fixed fee rather than a percentage.
Can you validate an estimate someone else produced?
Yes, and it is a common first appointment. We remeasure the significant items, test the rates against current market pricing, and report the difference with reasons rather than a single corrected figure.
What causes most cost overruns you see?
Scope that was never priced, rather than prices that moved. Late design decisions, unmeasured external works and services coordination account for far more overrun than material inflation does.