Quantity surveying services and how fees are set
Six services covering the two halves of the job: measuring and costing on paper, and inspecting and verifying on site.
Choose the service that matches your problem
I need someone on the ground
Site visits, measured surveys, progress verification, interim valuations, snagging and independent reports, anywhere in Nigeria.
Field-based quantity surveyingI am building from abroad
Recurring site attendance, photographic evidence, claim review and payment advice while you are outside the country.
Diaspora project supervisionI need contractors to price the same thing
A measured bill of quantities, trade by trade, suitable for tendering and for controlling variations.
Bill of quantitiesI need to know what materials to buy
Block, cement, sand, granite, timber, roofing and finishes quantities derived from your drawings.
Material schedulesI need to know what it will cost
Elemental cost plans and pre-tender estimates built from measured quantities rather than area rules of thumb.
Cost estimationSomebody has sent me a figure to pay
Independent verification of claims, valuations, payment certificates and property value before money moves.
Verification & valuationHow fees work
We do not publish a flat rate, because a flat rate would be either too high for a bungalow or ruinous for a hospital. Fees follow the work.
| Service | Usual fee basis | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of quantities | Fixed fee per project, set by size, complexity and number of drawings | 5–10 working days |
| Material schedule | Fixed fee per project | 3–7 working days |
| Cost estimate / cost plan | Fixed fee, or included with a BOQ | 3–7 working days |
| Project verification / valuation | Fee per visit, or monthly retainer for ongoing projects | Report within 3 working days of visit |
| Field-based surveying (measured survey, snagging) | Fee per attendance, plus travel quoted separately | By appointment |
| Contract or claim review | Fee per document, or hourly for complex matters | 3–5 working days |
Travel is always shown separately. If a project is outside Greater Abuja you will see the transport, accommodation and time cost as its own line, so you can decide whether a visit is worth it. Grouping several sites into one trip usually reduces the figure.
Related services, and the limits that come with them
Three services we offer alongside quantity surveying, each with a statutory boundary stated openly rather than buried.
Interim valuations & certificates
Monthly or milestone valuations with measured quantities and deductions applied correctly, before you pay.
Interim valuationsSnagging & completion inspection
Every defect itemised with location, photograph and the measured cost of remediation.
SnaggingSurveying & measured surveys
Measured building surveys, condition and defect reports, area schedules and setting-out checks.
Building surveyingProperty & construction valuation
Construction valuation, insurance reinstatement cost and cost to complete. Market valuations must be signed by an ESVARBON-registered valuer.
ValuationOverlapping professions & who signs
Surveys, valuation, building consultancy and remote advisory, with statutory signatures from the registrants who own them.
Overlaps & endorsementsLand & site surveying
Site measurement, levels and cut-and-fill quantities. Survey plans come only from SURCON-registered surveyors.
Land surveyingRead the caveats before you brief us. Property valuation for banks, courts and government is reserved by law to estate surveyors and valuers registered with ESVARBON. Survey plans and boundary determination are reserved to surveyors registered with SURCON. We do the measurement and costing around both, and we will tell you plainly when your job needs a different professional — before you pay us anything.
What every deliverable has in common
Measured, not estimated from area
Quantities come from reading and measuring the drawings, then checking the arithmetic. Area-based rules of thumb are used only where no drawings exist, and are labelled as such.
Priced in the open
Rates, waste allowances and assumptions are stated so a contractor or your own builder can challenge them line by line.
Editable and PDF
You receive a working spreadsheet you can send to tenderers plus a signed PDF for the record.
Dated and signed
Every report carries a date and is the work of a named person, not an anonymous template.
Written for the reader
Owner, contractor, lender and lawyer all get what they need without a decoder.
Independent
We are not selling materials, labour or construction. There is no incentive to inflate quantities.
Not sure which service you need?
Describe the situation in one or two sentences and we will tell you what is actually required, including if the answer is that you do not need us yet.
We read everything sent to info@peterch.org. Replies go out by WhatsApp — include a working number, with country code, in your first message.