Bridging the Quantity Surveyor Gap: Building Capacity for the Next Decade.
Published October 2025
Across the UK construction industry, a persistent shortage of experienced Quantity Surveyors (QSs) is constraining output and slowing delivery. Recent data suggests that more than half of active construction projects are now affected by limited QS availability, a shortage that is quietly reshaping how projects are planned, procured, and delivered.
For a sector already grappling with inflation, skills gaps, and increasing regulatory complexity, this isn’t a marginal issue. The QS shortage is now one of the biggest single factors affecting productivity, risk management, and client confidence.
The State of Play
Quantity Surveyors sit at the heart of every successful project. They provide the commercial intelligence that turns design ambition into viable, deliverable reality. Yet the supply of experienced QS professionals simply isn’t keeping pace with demand.
Several forces are converging:
• An ageing workforce, with too few new entrants replacing those leaving the profession.
• Expanding project complexity, driven by sustainability requirements, modular delivery, and significantly altered and bespoke standard forms of contract that lead to project delays and inconsistent delivery.
• Intensifying market demand, as infrastructure, housing, and public-sector projects all compete for limited talent.
• Post-pandemic attrition, with some quantity surveyors leaving the industry altogether.
The result is a tightening bottleneck at the very point where accurate cost control, value engineering, and commercial assurance are most needed. Delays, rising costs, and inconsistent data quality, poor procurement are becoming familiar symptoms across projects of all sizes.
Why It Matters
This is not just a capacity problem, it’s a strategic one. Without adequate QS input, projects face greater commercial uncertainty, weaker governance, and reduced agility in responding to change. Clients and contractors alike are finding it harder to maintain cost certainty, protect margins, and deliver on programme.
At a time when investors and public bodies are demanding transparency and value, the QS shortage risks undermining the sector’s ability to demonstrate both. Quantity Surveying is the connective tissue that links designed intent with commercial reality and without enough of it, the whole system strains.
Rethinking the Response
At Adeo, we see the shortage not simply as a challenge, but as a catalyst for innovation. Traditional models of resourcing and delivery are no longer sufficient. The future of cost consultancy must be smarter, more agile, and more collaborative.
Our approach is built around four key principles:
1. Technology as an enabler, not a replacement
Digital cost modelling, AI-driven benchmarking, and automated measurement tools can significantly extend QS capacity. When harnessed intelligently, these tools free skilled professionals to focus on analysis, insight, and strategic value — the areas that truly drive project outcomes.
2. Flexible resourcing models
The era of rigid, one-size-fits-all teams is over. Adeo builds project-specific resourcing strategies that blend in-house expertise with trusted associates and partner organisations. This flexibility enables us to scale quickly and deliver the right capability, precisely when and where it’s needed.
3. Accelerated development of emerging talent
We’re investing heavily in mentoring, structured career pathways, and early exposure to live projects. By upskilling and empowering the next generation of QS professionals, Adeo helps to bridge the experience gap while ensuring consistent quality for clients.
4. Early-stage collaboration
Many capacity issues are amplified by late engagement. By working with clients and design teams from the earliest stages, we can lock in cost certainty, improve scope definition, and reduce downstream risk — all with smaller, leaner teams.
A Sector-Wide Imperative
This challenge extends far beyond any single consultancy. The construction sector as a whole must view QS capacity as a strategic enabler — not a back-office function. Investment in digital transformation, training, and cross-industry collaboration will be critical to sustaining output and competitiveness.
Clients, too, have a role to play. Early engagement, realistic programming, and a shared commitment to data quality can help ensure that limited QS resource delivers maximum impact.
Leading by Example
Adeo was founded on a belief that cost consultancy should be progressive, data-led, and client-focused. In a market where the QS shortage is reshaping expectations, we’re proving that lean, high-performing teams can still deliver exceptional certainty and value.
By combining human expertise with digital intelligence and collaborative delivery, Adeo is helping clients navigate a challenging market with confidence and control.
Building Capacity Together
The quantity surveyor gap won’t close overnight. But with innovation, partnership, and investment in people, the industry can adapt — and thrive.
At Adeo, we’re ready to lead that conversation. Because building the future of construction means building the capacity to deliver it.
Adeo Global Consulting
Adding Value, Driving Change
