Help centre

Guides in the order the job actually runs

28 step-by-step guides, grouped the way a contract runs: you start a project, you value it, you handle change, you finish, you report. Written by the same quantity surveyor who answers the support inbox.

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Getting started

From an empty account to a document you can send.

Your first project From an empty account to your first issued certificate, on one live job. Read the guide Project and contract setup Contract form, contract sum, retention, valuation cycle and the document you issue. Read the guide Reading the dashboard What each figure means, where it comes from, and why the cash position matters most. Read the guide

Valuing and getting paid

The monthly cycle, and the dates that decide what is actually due.

Bill of quantities Entering the priced works, sections, provisional sums and omissions. Read the guide Valuations and certificates Valuing by percentage or fixed sum, previously certified, and issuing the document. Read the guide Statutory payment dates Due date, payment notice, final date for payment and the pay-less deadline. Read the guide Subcontract packages Their own retention, their own cycle, and the gap between money in and out. Read the guide Materials on and off site Valued as part of the interim, and the five conditions for anything stored off site. Read the guide

Change

What was instructed, what it is worth, and what it might yet cost.

Variations Raising a variation, the valuation rule, and certifying it in a valuation. Read the guide Instruction register Numbering, confirming verbal instructions, and finding the ones with no variation. Read the guide Dayworks Three percentage additions, and only agreed sheets reaching the account. Read the guide Risk register A contingency built from named risks rather than a percentage somebody chose. Read the guide

Time and completion

Delay, the certificates at the end, and the money that follows from both.

Extensions of time Naming the relevant event, recording the assessment, and what an award moves. Read the guide Completion and certificates Practical completion, sections, partial possession and liquidated damages. Read the guide Schedule of defects The contractual schedule, and why making good cannot be certified early. Read the guide Loss and expense Head by head, against the event that caused it, with the basis recorded. Read the guide

Closing and reporting

Getting the account agreed and the last of the money released.

Retention Setting the rate, what changes at practical completion, releasing the balance. Read the guide Final account Every adjustment from the contract sum to the final balance due. Read the guide Reports and documents Which document goes to whom, and putting your logo on all of them. Read the guide Cash flow forecast Receipts against payments, and the peak that has to be funded. Read the guide Cost and value One cut-off for both sides, with accruals and provisions prompted. Read the guide

Running the job

The record that makes everything above defensible later.

Programme and milestones A commercial bar chart against the contract dates. Read the guide Tasks, snags and RFIs The day-to-day list, and the questions with dates on them. Read the guide Files, plans and photos Documents, drawings and dated site records against the job. Read the guide Bonds and warranties Security tracked on its expiry date rather than discovered at the end. Read the guide

Your account

Who works in it, who can see it, and what is recorded.

Team, account and billing Logins, seats, your logo, changing plan and getting your data out. Read the guide Clients and guests Inviting someone to a project, the three access levels, and revoking access. Read the guide Audit trail What is recorded automatically, who can see it and how long it is kept. Read the guide

Stuck on something the guides do not cover?

Write to help@qscope.co.uk and a quantity surveyor answers within one working day. You are not explaining retention to a script.

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