Quantity surveyor fees

This article is all about Quantity surveyor fees

Introduction

A Quantity surveyor can work on behalf of a Client or a building contractor.

This article refers to specifically the averages fees charged by a quantity surveyor to a Client. You can read more about the history of quantity surveyors here.

Quantity surveyor full project service

The full project service by a quantity surveyor includes:

Preparation

• Prepare and maintain order of cost estimates, cost plans, pre-tender estimates 
• Advise design team on impact of design development on cost

Pre-construction

• liaise with professional team
• advise on procurement strategy
• liaise with client’s legal advisors on contract matters
• prepare tender documents
• define prospective tenderers
• obtain tenders/check tends/prepare recommendation for client
• maintain and develop cost plan

Construction

• visit the site
• prepare interim valuations
• advise on the cost of variations
• agree the cost of claims
• advise on contractual matters

Supplementary services may include:

• preparation of mechanical and electrical tender documentation
• preparation of cost analyses
• advice on insurance claims
• facilitate value management exercises
• prepare life cycle calculations/sustainability
• capital allowance advice/VAT
• attend adjudication/mediation proceedings

Fee guide:

The median cost for quantity surveying services is 2.2%

Lower quartile (not complicated projects) cost 1.9%

Upper quartile (complicated/sophisticated projects) 3.4%

The level of fees above, are expressed as a percentage of the contract value of £4,000,000 for a new build project and do not include VAT.

So for a project with a contract value of £4,000,000 a quantity surveyor might charge around £88,000.

Of course, 2.2% is a low value for a project worth £100,000, it works out as £2.2k so a quantity surveyor will probably charge more for those small projects. Otherwise, there is no incentive to get involved, especially with the post contract management as even small projects can generate a huge amount of emails and take up a lot of time.

How to appoint a quantity surveyor?

The RICS publishes several standard forms of consultants appointment suitable for minor or large projects.

There is also a full schedule of the services that the quantity surveyor provides on the website. This is a useful document for explaining exactly what services the quantity surveyor can provide, is providing and is not providing.

Its important for the quantity surveyor to outline exactly what they have included in their fee proposal. If a fee proposal for a £1,000,000 project is 2.5% then that works out as £25,000. That is an attractive fee for a quantity surveyor if it includes just early cost advice, tendering the project, contract management and then post-contract a monthly site meeting and valuation. But if that fee includes for a monthly site meeting and valuation plus another monthly meeting PLUS the expectation that the Quantity Surveyor will be copied into the day to day emails etc then it becomes increasingly unattractive.

The Quantity Surveyor, like every consultant must set clear boundaries as to what their fee includes and what it does not.