Do I need a quantity surveyor to check my builder quote? (UK)
What a chartered quantity surveyor actually does on a domestic project, when the £200–£500 fee is the right call, and when a one-off quote review is overspec for the job.
A quantity surveyor is a chartered construction professional regulated by RICS. On commercial projects they prepare bills of quantities from drawings, price tenders, and value work in progress. On domestic projects the common service is a desk-based review of a builder's quote: read each line against current UK rates, flag what is high, low, or missing, and return a written report. The work is the same craft, applied at a smaller scale.
A one-off QS review typically costs £200 to £500. Our quote check is £14 per project. On large or contested jobs the QS fee is well spent. On an ordinary kitchen, bathroom, or extension quote, the analysis overlaps and the £14 covers it. This page is the honest version of when each one is the right call.
What a chartered QS costs in 2026#
| Service | Typical fee |
|---|---|
| One-off quote review (1–3 page report) | £200–£500 |
| Bill of quantities from architect's drawings | £800–£2,500 |
| Contract administration during build | 1.5–3% of contract value, or £400–£700/day |
Fees scale with the reviewer's time, not the size of the project. A £400 review of a £15,000 kitchen quote costs the same as a £400 review of a £40,000 extension quote, because the document is the same length.
When a chartered QS is the right call#
A QS report earns its fee on:
- Projects above roughly £150,000. A £400 review on a £200,000 contract is 0.2%. Catching a single missed scope item usually pays for it many times over.
- New builds with architect's drawings. Bills of quantities from drawings are slow, technical work, and the consequences of getting them wrong compound through the whole build.
- Structural projects with engineer's output. Steel sizes, slab thicknesses, underpinning detail. The QS reads the engineer's drawings against the builder's pricing as a coherent set, which a desk check against rates alone cannot do.
- Formal tender processes. Multiple builders bidding against the same bill of quantities. The QS prepares the BoQ, levels the bids, and recommends a contractor.
- Live or imminent disputes. A stamped opinion from a chartered professional carries evidential weight in arbitration, adjudication, and small-claims that our quote check does not.
- Lender requirements. Some self-build mortgages release funds in stages against QS sign-off.
In any of these cases, hire a QS. The official directory is RICS Find a Surveyor. Ask two or three firms for fee quotes and confirm scope in writing before instructing.
When the fee is overspec for the job#
For a single domestic quote review on an ordinary trade job (kitchen, bathroom, extension, rewire, new roof, loft conversion), the QS fee is usually 1 to 3% of the work being checked, and the output is a desk review, not a site visit. The reviewer reads the same line items that anyone else with current UK pricing data and trade knowledge would read.
The chartered stamp on the report is the part that scales with regulatory weight. For a homeowner deciding whether to sign a £15,000 quote, the stamp is rarely the thing that changes the decision. The line-by-line analysis is.
What our quote check covers, and what it doesn't#
Check the Quote reads a UK domestic builder quote line by line against current market rates for the postcode, flags items above the fair range, identifies common scope gaps for the trade, and runs a Companies House check on the contractor (insolvency record, director history, registered address, trading status). One free check per account, then £14 per project, regardless of project size.
What it does not do, and what a QS does:
- Physical site visits.
- A chartered, stamped opinion with evidential weight in a dispute.
- A bill of quantities prepared from drawings.
- Contract administration during build (interim valuations, variations, final account).
- Any service requiring a regulated professional's signature.
If any of these matter to your situation, hire a QS. The fee is justified by what it produces, not by what ours can substitute for.
Cost comparison at common project sizes#
| Project | Our quote check | One-off QS report |
|---|---|---|
| £8,000 bathroom refit | £14 | £200–£350 |
| £15,000 kitchen | £14 | £250–£450 |
| £40,000 single-storey extension | £14 | £350–£500 |
| £80,000 loft conversion | £14 | £450–£700 |
| £150,000+ new build, structural, or tender | use both | £500+ |
The flat £14 line reflects that the underlying analysis is the same work on a small quote and a large one. The QS fee scales because the reviewer's time scales, and on larger jobs that time is well spent.
Bottom line#
For an ordinary UK domestic builder quote up to roughly £150,000 in project value, a chartered QS report and our quote check produce overlapping line-by-line analysis. The QS report adds a regulated stamp, which matters in disputes, lender sign-offs, and formal tenders, and is worth its fee whenever any of those apply.
Where none of them apply, our quote check covers the analysis the report would have done, for £14, in a few minutes, with a Companies House check thrown in. For most homeowners with a quote in front of them, that is enough to make the decision. For the rest, the QS fee is money well spent.
For the manual method without either, see how to compare builder quotes.
Got a quote you want checked?
Paste any UK contractor quote and Check the Quote compares every line item against current market rates, flags missing scope, and runs a Companies House check on the contractor. Free on your first project.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a quantity surveyor do on a domestic project?
- A QS is a chartered construction professional regulated by RICS. On domestic work, the common service is a desk-based quote review: read the line items against current UK rates, flag what is high, low, or missing, and send a written report. On larger jobs they also prepare bills of quantities from drawings and administer contracts during build.
- How much does a quantity surveyor cost in the UK in 2026?
- A one-off quote review is typically £200 to £500. A bill of quantities from drawings is £800 to £2,500 for a domestic project. Contract administration during a build is 1.5 to 3% of contract value or £400 to £700 per day. Fees scale with the work the QS does, not with the size of your project.
- When is a QS genuinely worth the fee?
- Projects above roughly £150,000, new builds with formal drawings, structural work with engineer’s output, formal tender processes with multiple builders bidding the same BoQ, live or imminent disputes, and self-build mortgages that require stage sign-off. Below that, the fee is usually 1 to 3% of the work being reviewed, which is hard to justify on an ordinary kitchen or bathroom.
- Is a £14 quote check the same as a QS report?
- No. A QS report carries a chartered surveyor’s stamp, which matters in disputes, lender sign-offs, and formal tenders. A £14 check reads every line item against current UK rates by postcode, flags items above the fair range, identifies common scope gaps, and runs a Companies House check on the contractor. The analysis overlaps; the document and its evidential weight do not.
- How do I find a chartered QS in the UK?
- RICS Find a Surveyor (ricsfirms.com) is the official directory. Filter by quantity surveying and your region, ask for fee quotes from two or three firms, and confirm scope in writing before instructing. Most domestic quote reviews are quoted fixed-fee, not hourly.
Last updated: 11 June 2026