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A field journal for UK quantity surveyors

Building your path to success in quantity surveying.

Honest, well-researched writing on careers, contracts and craft — for the surveyors construction left to figure things out alone.

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A quantity surveyor reviewing a RIBA cost plan alongside architectural drawings in a UK design team meeting

RIBA Cost Plan: What Is It and How Is It Prepared?

Every construction budget lives or dies by the RIBA cost plan. This guide explains what a RIBA cost plan is, how it develops stage by stage from Stage 1 through Stage 4, the NRM1 elemental method behind it, and the mistakes that catch out junior QSs.

Date23 Aug 2026CategorySkills & Practice
A quantity surveyor reviewing an NEC4 compensation event notification and programme on site

Compensation Events in NEC Contracts: A QS Guide

Compensation events are how NEC4 contracts change price and time. This guide walks QSs through the clause 60.1 list, the 8-week time bar, quotation timescales, PM assessment and the mistakes that lose entitlement.

Date22 Aug 2026CategoryContracts & Law
Architects and quantity surveyors reviewing RIBA stage drawings and a cost plan around a table

RIBA Work Stages Explained: What QSs Do at Each Stage

The RIBA Plan of Work is the framework every UK construction project runs on, and every QS deliverable maps to it. This guide breaks down all eight stages, 0 to 7, and the specific cost documents, estimates and reports a QS produces at each one.

Date20 Aug 2026CategorySkills & Practice
Quantity surveyor reviewing a payment certificate and retention schedule on site — construction retention UK

Retention in Construction: A QS Guide to How It Works

Retention is one of the most contested mechanisms in UK construction contracts. This guide breaks down how much is withheld, when it's released under JCT and NEC, and how the government's proposed retention ban will change payment practice.

Date18 Aug 2026CategoryContracts & Law

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