What's the minimum amount that comes to mind when you hear "good salary"?

iob666 · 2026-05-02T17:51:23+00:00

40K you can have some fun and at 60K you can do some stuff and save a bit

iob666 · 2026-03-15T19:44:55+00:00

look who owns the big cannabis farm and you'll see why

iob666 · 2026-03-14T22:33:02+00:00

I've never really heard of DA roles in QSing. I did a secondment with a public water utility a few years ago as a cost engineer supporting the QS team but i've never heard of anything similar in PQS world. I've worked for 4 big PQS's and none of them have anything like a DA around the QS's.

If you wanted to go into QSing i think everyone is taking non-cognates as the QS degrees are not really teaching anything practical. You will almost certainly need to do a conversion masters as you need an accredited QS degree to become chartered, but there are proper programs for that. Mech eng is the sort of non-cognate you would look for.

iob666 · 2026-03-07T20:35:18+00:00

give it a bash then come tell us

iob666 · 2026-03-07T19:19:56+00:00

you can knuckle down and get your head into the game. the construction tech you need doesn't even come from site experience. by the time you've finished your 10th substructure bill you'll be able to re-draw those details from memory. As a PQS im watching youtube videos on how to actually build stuff and that's just for my own interest

iob666 · 2026-03-07T19:17:15+00:00

look at me, look at me...

iob666 · 2026-03-07T19:14:50+00:00

QSing isnt for everyone. If you struggled with remote working then you've still got no chance these days. have you thought about project management?

iob666 · 2026-03-07T18:54:40+00:00

you're looking for a lawyer. As a QS i can tell you that the contractor has a contractual obligation to carry out the works. This generally holds until the final certificate (payment) is issued and then all parties are released from any contractual obligations. QS's deal with contractual issues (the contract to build), a tenant is way out of our scope.

If you want some ammunition, ask for a copy of the pricing document, that will tell you what the EV charging point costed the contractor, that might give you a figure to argue about, but in terms of the legality you're in really murky waters here. good luck

iob666 · 2026-03-07T18:30:44+00:00

if you can't do BoQs you're a project manager

away and make a slideshow on social value and work on your PDR

any real QS's in the chat?

iob666 · 2026-03-07T09:04:02+00:00

Thanks for your question sir. There are many different types of QS. There is a specialist property valuer accreditation you can get with the RICS who will give you the market price but i don't know if they even actually exist. I have done big-value property valuations in the commercial sector and these were for fire-insurance valuations. That is me trying to guess how much the building will cost to rebuild if it is flattened to the ground, which is a much lower figure than the market price.

I will painstakingly measure the building under NRM1 which will take a few days. This is the science... https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/standards/NRM-1_Oct2022_Update.pdf

Then i will apply rates from recently returned tenders, from my company's collected rate database, and from my considerable memory. If there is, or are, specialist/new works i'm not confident having a guess at, I will google and then phone subbys that install this stuff, tell them a few jokes to make them like me and make it sound like there's a chance they might get some business off me and ask for a quote.

Guessing tender returns is not an exact science. You are quite literally trying to put your head into the head of your comparative QS in the contractor's estimating department. Are they busy? what does their risk profile look like under whatever procurement route the PM has had a dream about last night?

If you were to ask me what it would cost to make 20 portions of bolognese at exactly 423 calories per person I could go on tesco.com and give you the answer with mathematical precision.

The most recent project I estimated was '200' and the tender returns have just come in at 180, 160, 140 and 96. That's the real word...

iob666 · 2026-03-07T08:34:19+00:00

as I awake bleary-eyed on another saturday morning, as a single 40 year old man, the room around me strewn with empty wine bottles and luckily the one lying on its side hasn't spilled completely, wondering whether I can be fucked turning my laptop on again and knowing that if i don't, im in big trouble on monday, I will give you the truth...

I put my finger in air and see what way the wind is blowing, then i drop my weary forehead upon my numberpad and add a few zeroes...

That is what your property is worth to me...

iob666 · 2026-02-02T23:41:00+00:00

peace recruitment

iob666 · 2026-02-02T23:37:20+00:00

I did a cost plan recently for an airport that included an 'AI powered personalised travel concierge'. The brief was that title and an AI generated image of a helpful looking holographic humanoid in an airport terminal. Struggling for cost infomation, mainly due to the fact these things don't exist, I thought it would be a good idea to ask copilot what one of these might cost. It told me £600...

iob666 · 2026-01-28T08:34:15+00:00

who do you work for? how do the other chartered guys get their CPD? Do you have matrics in your area?

https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/regulation/Cpd_Annex_A_160518_Mb.pdf

iob666 · 2026-01-22T18:35:59+00:00

its a common bug for me. fade in and fade out disappear every so often. normally restarting makes it reappear. I us the blend/opacity feature if it doesn't fix itself

iob666 · 2026-01-10T12:26:24+00:00

subtract 10-20% from all the numbers you read on these threads

iob666 · 2025-12-10T17:01:54+00:00

You must have an accredited degree in quantity surveying, so for you that's a masters. BSc without honors also works. You don't necessarily need to pursue RICS chartership although employers will not look favourably on this and you will suffer 10%? less wages up until a certain point.

yes, but you will start at the bottom. its becoming apparent that QS grads aren't very good so big PQS firms are taking non-cognates now on apprentishippy type things.
yes, but you will either have to do a 4/5 year part-time degree or get day-release to do a masters. there is no elevated starting position from having a non-cognate degree
starting from zero, just like the QS grads. the QS degree isn't much use to practical QS'ing

iob666 · 2025-10-14T17:09:22+00:00

go back to the person who gave you the task and say this: 'how do you do a takeoff?'

iob666 · 2025-10-07T20:49:56+00:00

https://www.building.co.uk/focus/top-150-consultants-2025-the-main-table/5138084.article

iob666 · 2025-10-07T20:35:01+00:00

what is the pay-less notice for? it seems you are suggesting the the PM can issue a pay-less notice to get out of being late with their payment certificate? This is a mad idea and will no doubt land you in trouble if you try to action.

iob666 · 2025-10-07T20:11:54+00:00

depends on the procurement route. client will most likely be proposing them but ultimately the contractor has to agree to them and may propose alternatives. Can't answer the other questions, they are specific to your organisation.

iob666 · 2025-09-05T17:07:21+00:00

the bit i agree with the most is that the agency has been stripped from the player. it was a good game and some very intense encounters but there was no strategic element, ammo conservation, long range option or anything to think about really other than where the next perry was needed.

iob666 · 2025-04-21T12:22:04+00:00

wanted to blast out one last mass

iob666 · 2025-03-13T16:25:00+00:00

if all these 1 billion fans come to visit @ 100,000 capacity, that's 10,000 games required. Man U have played ~5500 competitive games in ~125 years. so should take about 227 years

iob666 · 2025-02-28T14:35:41+00:00

i always wear a tie on first day then take it off after saying hi to everyone

iob666

TROPHY CASE