Quantity Surveying Services

Quantity surveying for the contractor's side of the table.

CALIM provides an outsourced quantity surveying function to SME contractors and subcontractors in construction, EPC, oil and gas and energy. We measure for the contractor, not for the employer. The work is bought by commercial managers, by contracts managers, by owners, and by QS teams that are short a pair of hands at month end. Your valuation is only as good as the measure behind it, so the service exists to produce three things every cycle. An agreed measure, a rate that can be substantiated, and a valuation that survives certification. Delivery is remote across Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with attendance on site where the measure has to be walked.

Quantity surveying, contract administration and commercial management are three different jobs.

Quantity surveying owns the number. It answers what was built, what that work is worth under the contract, and what it cost you to build. The deliverables are the take-off, the rate build-up, the interim valuation, the cost value reconciliation and the final account measure. Every one of them ends in a figure that somebody on the other side has to check.

Contract administration owns the entitlement. It answers whether the work was properly instructed, whether the notice went out inside the window, and whether the record exists to prove it. The unit of work is the obligation and the deadline rather than the quantity. If your presenting problem is that notices are going out late or time bars are being missed, that is a different service and it sits on the [outsourced contract management](/outsourced-contract-management/) page.

Commercial management owns the position. It decides which of the other two to press, when to settle, and what the job will finish at. It is a judgement role held by a senior person across a portfolio rather than a document produced every month. If what you need is that whole function rather than the measurement output, [commercial management for SME contractors](/commercial-management-sme/) is the page for it.

Most SME contractors need all three and most buy them as a single undifferentiated lump. CALIM runs them as separate workstreams, so you can buy the measurement output on its own and keep the rest in house.

What the quantity surveying service covers.

The scope is organised around the QS work cycle rather than the project phase, because the cycle is what repeats. Six areas, and each one produces a document your team already recognises by name.

Measurement and quantities. Take-off from drawings and models, remeasure against the bill, and checking measured work against the method of measurement named in the preambles. Where a quantity is contested we agree the measure with the engineer or the certifier and record what was agreed and on what basis.

Rates and pricing. Rate build-up from first principles where no rate exists, star rates for items outside the bill, and re-rating where a quantity has moved far enough to change the rate. Dayworks are priced and substantiated against signed sheets. Preliminaries are split into fixed and time related, so the [time related element is recoverable](/insights/which-preliminaries-and-time-related-overheads-can-you-recover/) when the period extends.

Interim valuation. The monthly application built from work done to date, materials on and off site, advance payment recovery, retention and escalation where the contract carries a price adjustment mechanism. When a [certificate comes back short](/insights/your-interim-payment-was-certified-short-heres-what-to-do/), the response is built against the certified line items rather than against the headline total.

Cost control and reporting. Cost value reconciliation against the valuation, committed cost from placed orders, cost to complete, and the margin fade that shows up once cost starts running ahead of value. The monthly cost report is written so your directors can read it without a translation.

Subcontract commercial. Tender levelling so packages are compared on the same scope, checking downstream applications for over-measure before you certify them, contra charges, and [subcontract final accounts](/guides/subcontract-risk-and-drafting/). This is where a main contractor's margin leaves the job quietly.

Final account. Agreeing the measure of the works as built, closing the [variation account](/variation-management/), reconciling provisional sums against what was actually instructed, and applying for [retention release](/contract-close-out/) at each defined milestone.

A rate is worth what you can substantiate.

A valuation that carries its own reasoning is a different document from one that carries only a number. Each significant line shows the clause it is valued under, the instruction that generated the work, and the contemporary record that proves the quantity.

That matters because of what causes a short certificate. A certifier who cannot verify a quantity from the papers in front of them will not certify it, and a deduction is the safe answer for them. The argument you think you are having about the rate is usually an argument about the evidence.

The measurement here is produced by a contracts and claims practice, so the file that supports the application in month four is the same file that supports the final account. A rate agreed once is not reopened two years later because nobody wrote down why it was agreed. CALIM measures work it may later have to defend, whether that ends in a [claim](/fidic-claims-management/) or in [formal proceedings](/dispute-resolution-support/), and the file is built to that standard from the first cycle.

Measurement standards and the forms we work to.

The measure is produced to the method of measurement your contract names. POMI, NRM2 and CESMM4 all appear on GCC bills, and legacy standards still turn up where a bill has been carried forward from an older form. The practical rule is that the preambles govern where the standard method and the bill disagree, and a bespoke bill can amend the standard method without announcing it. That is where most measurement arguments start.

The job also changes with the contract type. Remeasurable work is measured and valued as built, so the quantity risk sits with the employer and your exposure sits in the rates. Lump sum work is valued against a schedule of values or an agreed contract breakdown, which is a different exercise with different arguments. Reimbursable work is valued against audited cost, where disallowed cost is the live risk rather than the measure. The trade-off between the three is set out in [fixed price against remeasurement against cost reimbursable](/insights/fixed-price-vs-remeasurement-vs-cost-reimbursable-choosing-your-risk/).

Under the FIDIC Red Book the measurement and valuation provisions sit in Clause 12, and work varied under Clause 13 is valued back through them. The Yellow and Silver Books are lump sum forms with no equivalent measurement regime, which is why a [variation on those forms is priced rather than measured](/insights/handling-variations-on-lump-sum-and-lstk-contracts-without-eroding-your-margin/). NEC is different again, assessing [compensation events](/insights/what-is-a-compensation-event-under-nec-and-how-to-manage-one/) on defined cost plus fee rather than on bill rates. The [guide to FIDIC and NEC contract forms](/guides/fidic-and-nec-contract-forms/) covers how the three regimes compare.

How the engagement runs.

The engagement runs on two rhythms. The first is a fixed monthly cycle keyed to the application date written into your contract, covering measure, valuation, application and cost report. The dates are yours, not ours, and the cycle does not move because we are busy.

The second is event driven work between cycles. A new instruction that needs pricing, a rate to build, a tender package to level, or a certificate to challenge inside the response window.

CALIM works inside your files and your cost system rather than asking you to migrate to ours. The output is issued as your document under your letterhead, because your certifier should be reading your application and not a consultant's report about it. Delivery is remote across Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with attendance at measurement and final account meetings where the measure has to be walked on site.

For MEP packages CALIM works with MEP Measure Ltd, the specialist MEP quantity surveying practice listed as an associate on the [team page](/team/).

Why the QS function is the one contractors under-resource.

QS demand is not flat across a year. It peaks at tender, again at month end, and again at final account, and it goes quiet in the weeks between. A permanent hire has to be sized for the peak, so the cost carries straight through the troughs. That shape is what makes the seat hard to justify on the way in and hard to refill on the way out.

Rebuilding it is slow. CALIM's published analysis of [an in-house commercial team against outsourced contract administration](/insights/should-an-sme-contractor-build-an-in-house-commercial-team-or-outsource-contract-administration/) puts recruitment of a senior QS or contracts manager in Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the UAE at four to seven months from brief to offer acceptance. The same analysis puts the fully loaded cost of that hire at 45 to 60 percent above basic salary. The applications still have to go in through those months.

The exposure while the seat is empty is specific rather than general. CALIM's published estimate of [contractor revenue leakage](/insights/the-revenue-you-do-not-know-you-are-losing-why-no-challenges-is-the-most-expensive-assumption/) places around 30 percent of that leakage in understated payment applications, missed escalation entitlements, provisional sums that were never reconciled and retention that was never formally applied for. That is the QS bucket precisely, and none of it announces itself at the time. It appears at final account, when the evidence is cold.

Questions contractors ask before buying a QS function.

What does a contractor's quantity surveyor actually do?

A contractor's quantity surveyor produces the numbers the contract runs on. That means the take-off and the remeasure, the rate build-up for work that has no rate in the bill, and the monthly interim valuation and application. It also means the cost value reconciliation that tells you whether the job is earning what it is spending, and the final account measure at the end. The employer's cost consultant does a similar job facing the other way. The two roles use the same techniques to reach opposite conclusions, which is why the side of the table matters.

What is the difference between quantity surveying, contract administration and commercial management?

Quantity surveying owns the number, meaning what was built, what it is worth under the contract and what it cost to build. Contract administration owns the entitlement, meaning the instruction, the notice, the time bar and the contemporary record that supports them. Commercial management owns the position, meaning which of the two to press, when to settle and what the job will finish at. Most SME contractors need all three. CALIM runs them as separate workstreams so you can buy the one you are short of. Measurement and valuation sit on this page, notices and obligations sit on [outsourced contract management](/outsourced-contract-management/), and the whole function sits on [commercial management for SME contractors](/commercial-management-sme/).

Can a quantity surveyor work remotely on a project in Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the UAE?

Yes, for most of the cycle. Take-off, remeasure against the bill, rate build-up, valuation, cost reporting and final account preparation are document driven. They are produced from your drawings, your bill and your site records. What genuinely needs a person on site is the joint measure of work that cannot be verified from the papers, and the final account meeting where the measure is walked. CALIM works remotely across Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and attends for those. A monthly valuation cycle does not need a permanent desk to run properly.

Which method of measurement do you measure to?

Whichever one your contract names. POMI, NRM2 and CESMM4 all appear on GCC bills, and legacy standards still turn up where a bill has been carried forward from an older form. The named standard is only the starting point. The preambles govern where the bill and the standard method disagree, and a bespoke bill can amend the standard method without announcing it. The first thing we do on a new engagement is read the preambles against the bill and tell you where the two do not line up, because that gap is where the measure gets argued later.

How do you build a rate for work that is not in the bill of quantities?

By working outwards from what the contract already agrees. The first test is whether an existing bill rate applies to work of similar character executed under similar conditions. If it does not, the next test is whether a bill rate can be used as a basis and adjusted for the difference in conditions or quantity. If neither works, the rate is built from first principles as a star rate. That means labour, plant, material, waste, subcontract cost and the tendered mark-up, evidenced by quotations, timesheets and delivery records. The build-up is issued with its reasoning attached rather than as a single figure, because a rate that cannot be traced is a rate that gets cut.

Do you take over the QS function or work alongside our own quantity surveyor?

Either, and both are common. Where you already have a QS, CALIM takes the parts of the cycle that overload them. That is usually the measurement, the rate build-ups and the cost report, which leaves your QS holding the relationship with the certifier. Where there is no QS in place, CALIM runs the whole cycle and reports to your commercial manager or your directors. In both cases the work stays inside your files and your cost system, and the output is issued as your document under your letterhead.

Can you take on a final account measure on a project that has already completed?

Yes, and it is regular work. A completed project with an unagreed final account usually carries three problems at once. The measure was never closed, the variation account still holds items that are unpriced or unagreed, and the provisional sums were never reconciled against what was actually instructed. CALIM reconstructs the measure from the drawings, the site records and the correspondence, prices what remains open, and packages the account for negotiation. The real constraint is evidence rather than time. What was never recorded cannot be measured back into existence, so the earlier the file is picked up the more of it survives.

Agree the measure while it is still checkable.

Send us a live valuation cycle and the bill it is measured against. CALIM will tell you where the measure is exposed, which rates cannot be substantiated from the file as it stands, and what the record needs before the next application goes in.

Send us a valuation cycle See how we work \u2192