r/quantitysurveying

I’ve 8 years experience working in consultancy. My experience has been very stop start in terms of being moved around projects, waiting for new projects to start up etc I’ve not been on a long term scheme. The issue is I feel so behind in terms of my experience to where I should be and where others are with the same years of experience as myself. I’m proactive in trying to get myself better development but it’s a struggle. Has anyone else struggled with similar in a consultancy setting? I’m thinking what’s the best direction for me to go, as I feel like I’ve completely stalled in progressing. It’s also a bit embarrassing when people with less experience have so much more knowledge on things as they’ve landed on a good project which has aided their development

Hi,

I recently started working for a NZ subcontractor and I've been figuring out a way to present my markups better for the client and the team. While I'd like the markups to be equally informative for the client, myself (in case the project returns), and the foreman, I know that sometimes less is more.

I'm thinking of the following options but please feel free to suggest on how you do yours. I believe a put-together markups help win projects and I want to win bids for my company.

Option A. Limit the pages and where blow up detail is necessary, just include a screenshot of the detail and attach on the demarcation page.

Option B. Keep pages as clean as possible - only legends and take-off demarcations. Other details leave in separate pages and highlight necessary information allowed/excluded.

Option C. Limit pages and only present demarcations. Details on references to be kept in my own copy to be shared with the team but not with the client.

Keen to getting insights from different QS perspectives - client QS, MC/SC QS, and QS's everywhere especially NZ/AU/UK as they probably have the same preferences. Thanks heaps!

Which of these 3 Tier 1 would you work for and what’s the progression like if anyone worked there previously would appreciate.

Costain

Balfours

M Group

Any advice would be appreciated…..

Good evening, I was just wanting to get people’s thoughts on studying quantity surveying at Sheffield Hallam, I initially wanted to study via a degree apprenticeship, and gathered work experience towards getting one, but have been unsuccessful with applications and was considering going to study it at uni, just wanted to hear people’s thoughts, I have chosen shu since it’s the nearest to me

I’m currently a contractors QS with 7 years’ experience (not chartered) and I’m considering moving into a PQS/consultancy role. I’m trying to get a realistic idea of what kind of salary range I could command for a role in Central London with that type of experience.

Any insight would be appreciated.

I’m at a crossroads and looking for honest advice from people already in the industry.
I’m weighing up a 3-year degree in Quantity Surveying & Commercial Management as my route to financial stability and eventually relocating abroad. The career prospects and salary ceiling are what’s attracting me — but I want to know if the reality matches the promise.
A few things I’d love input on:
Is the job market actually strong right now or is it oversaturated?
What’s a realistic starting salary post-grad vs. experienced?
Is 3 years the right path or are there faster routes in (apprenticeships, AAT, RICS assessment)?
How portable is a UK surveying qualification internationally?
I’m not a school leaver — I’m someone making a deliberate, calculated decision later in life and I want to go in with eyes open.
Any surveyors willing to share their honest experience would be massively appreciated.

Hi all,

We manage a range of frameworks across different clients but are usually all set up under NEC4.

We have so many spreadsheets which we cross reference and it feels extremely unproductive and the amount of manual input is wild.

The amount of orders we have also are in the hundreds so manual management of each one is difficult. They can range from 1k to £1.5m.

I'm trying to build a business case to our directors that would propose a CMS which could act a bit like an internal version of FastDraft etc, where we could have a live order value, subcontractor section, forecast section which could manually be tweaked as the project progresses, a paid Vs certified area and a programme area with a document section too.

I was wondering if anyone has this type of thing at their workplace and would like to know it's name and if it is beneficial, how you use it etc, with any pros and cons. So I can try to get something in place for our company .

Thanks in advance.

I know this post has probably been made about 100+ times in the forum but hey! Here we go!

I am a QS with just over 5 years experience, currently at Project QS level. I do not see myself doing this long term, I am completely bored of sitting in the office writing emails and punching digits into a spreadsheet. I need to be out and about if I stand any chance of seeing the time pass faster.

Anyone got any recommendations of a job I could pivot to with my experience? Also, best actions to get there?

Note - I’m an MEP QS and have been since the beginning.

QS here working in a large consultancy but work is so slow, not a great amount of work going on and a lot of the time I’m doing nothing … anyone else like this on consultancy side?

We've all lost money from scope gaps before. Wondering if anyone has any howlers that you or someone you've worked with has made that has led to a project losing money

Has anyone had any issues with progression whilst working for a consultancy? I’m QS level & finding myself a hell of a lot of the time with nothing to do, which is stalling my progression

I am a 44-year-old British guy who has been working overseas as a humanities teacher for the last 15 years. Looking to return to the UK, but not a chance I will go back to teaching there. I have been looking at possible career changes, and Building Surveyor or QS is one that appeals to me for several reasons:

In demand

Involves a high degree of independence and multi-tasking

Reasonable salary

I am aware that there are courses onto which I can enroll and potentially gain employment within a year, but have a concern regarding my employability as someone with exactly zero experience in the construction industry.

My question, in short, is how realistic do you think a career change is to QS for someone in my position?

Thanks in advance for any help with this

Interested to hear of the best recruiting firms you have dealt with in your careers and any to avoid.

Currently evaluating my options - and been inundated with messages on Linkedin by every Tom, Dick and Harry going.

For context I am a chartered QS with 4 years post grad experience at a tier 1 MC working across both JCT and NEC projects.

I know these questions get asked a lot but I’m 24 and I’m graduating this year I’ve got 2 offers from Atkins realis and Costain. I may be very naive, but my goal is to move abroad to the gulf at 29/30 or whenever the opportunity arrives and save some money for a few years and I heard consultancy experience and chartership are very important for that. But i also know that being contractor side especially with someone like Costain is also incredibly valuable in the early stages of my career and I fear if I lock myself into consultancy straight away I just won’t be as great of a qs in general especially within the UK. Any advice, how would you go about it in my position?

I’ve been in the construction industry for about 5 years now. First year labouring, then I got into working with tower cranes (Earning up to 50k a year) I do like my job I find it to be pretty cool or whatever but in the past year or so I’ve come to lose interest in it and quite frankly somewhat hate (on-site) Construction culture. Anyways being still relatively young I thought there was still time for a change in career through an apprenticeship that had more future potential in earning and better quality of life, and QS has peaked my interest recently. Thought I’d ask for advice on how to go on about it but the thing is I’m also engaged and looking to get married some time next year, and while I’m happy with taking a hit and even the Mrs is quite happy and supportive about it i don’t know if it’s a great idea with how expensive things are getting in London.

Thanks

(33M) – Hi,hope u all good! I’m looking for a bit of a reality check on my situation. I’m 33, originally from SL, and moved to the UK in early 2024. I’ve got a bit of a “bumpy” CV—I finished my degree back in 2015 but didn’t get “proper” QS experience right away. I did some audit work and fit-out take-offs in Qatar, then had a 2-year gap before moving to London. When I got here, I was just happy to get my foot in the door. I took an Assistant role but on a Trainee salary of £25k because I didn’t have UK experience yet. My mindset was: “Just learn the ropes, get the experience, and the money will follow.” 18 months later, they’ve bumped me up to £32k.( Including my car allowance)I’m grateful for the raise, but looking around London, it feels like most Assistants are on £40k–£50k. I’d love your honest thoughts on a few things:

Am I being underpaid for London? I now have 1.5 years of solid UK experience under my belt.

Does it look “bad” to be an Assistant at 33? I sometimes feel like I’m behind where I should be.

Should I stick it out here for another year to show loyalty, or is it time to move on and find a role that pays closer to the market rate?

Ive just finished my final exam of my quantity surveying degree. Ive been looking for jobs over the last few months and a friend of mine who is a site surveyor has asked me if id like to join the company they work for as a trainee project manager. Should I take the opportunity and do project management or should i reject the offer and keep looking for a trainee qs role. Will me doing project management reduce my chances of becoming a qs. I’ve read that it’s quite difficult moving from pm to qs.

2nd year Quantity Surveying student here and I'm honestly starting to spiral a bit.

I applied to as many placement years as I could and still haven't secured anything. Almost everyone in my cohort has something lined up and I'm just... not one of them. It's demoralising to say the least.

My biggest fear now is that if I can't even land a placement, how am I supposed to get a graduate scheme when I finish? I've read so many stories about graduates struggling to find work and I'm terrified I'm going to be one of them.

Has anyone been in this position and come out the other side? What would you do differently, or what actually helped? I'm open to any advice at this point.