Estimator: Job Profile and Role

Despite the current economic market, new buildings spring up like the proverbial mushrooms. Have you ever wondered who is responsible for getting a construction project off the ground? Spoiler alarm: it is not only the labourers and construction managers or architects. Successfully starting and finishing a building project is also down to its estimator.

In the following blog, we explore this profession in detail. Maybe it is your perfect fit – and we are sure that with the information on annual salaries, required qualifications and skills, you will soon come to an educated decision. If you are still unsure, our insights into the day in the life of an estimator and our three tips for thriving will further help you to decide on your future career.

Short Summary

• As an estimator, you are in charge of a project’s cost estimation and cost control, thus, ensuring that said project stays within the projected budget.
• As an estimator, you are tasked with resource assessment which includes estimating the cost for resources and the availability of manpower. 
• As an estimator, you are responsible for conducting a thorough risk assessment, thus, eliminating potential pitfalls, such as exploding costs due to market fluctuations.

Job description

Your job description as an estimator in the UK covers a range of different tasks and responsibilities. Above all, you are in charge of controlling the budget and costs of a construction project, always ensuring that the first is being met and the second do not explode. You are also responsible for having all the relevant information about a building project. This gives you the necessary “tools” to start bidding for a project against your competition. Once you have been granted the job, you take on further tasks, including risk assessment, project monitoring, timescale estimation, and the support of buying activities, to name but a few.

Responsibilities

• Cost Control
• Quantification
• Bid Preparation
• Cost Estimation
• Risk Assessment
• Value Engineering
• Project Monitoring
• Resource Assessment
• Timescale Estimation
• Buying Activities Support

Different types of Estimators

• Cost Estimator
• Electrical Estimator
• Structural Estimator
• Quantity Surveyor/QS
• Facilities Management Estimator

Salary

As a full-time employed estimator in the UK, you can expect an annual salary starting at ￡27,000. The more experience you have, the higher your wages, which will then likely amount to ￡46,000 per year. Work experience and taking on more responsibilities are not the only salary-affecting factors. You always need to keep in mind that your location and your employer have a say in how much you earn as well. Currently, the Greater London Area actually pays above average wages which amount to ￡51,000.

Working Hours

On average, you will work between 37 and 40 hours a week. Typically, these take place between 8 or 9 a.m. in the morning, with you finishing work between 5 and 6 p.m. Please take on board that some of that time will be spent in an office, while some of it will take place on-site. Depending on a project’s progress, you should also factor in overtime which can stretch into the evenings and weekends (but should be an irregular occurrence). Travelling to a building site and to meetings can further accumulate your weekly workload.

Employers

After you have finished your chosen education, you can start looking for your first job (naturally, you can also look for work if you feel like stepping up the career ladder or as a career jumper). Estimators in the UK are likely to find employment in the following sectors: with engineering companies, consultancy businesses, interior design firms, architectural firms, maintenance companies, and construction/property development companies. These are but a few examples and options where you can look for job vacancies.

Qualifications

There are no set entry and educational requirements to start your career as an estimator. However, you will benefit from both finishing your secondary education and, consequently, some form of higher education, namely, a university course, an HND, or an apprenticeship. Keep in mind that these options do come with entry requirements in the form of four to five GCSEs at pass grades 9 to 4 (A* to C). Here, you should have the according grades in subjects like English, maths, science, technology, and IT. Universities also accept the equivalent A levels which you sit over the course of two years. 

Skills

Great communication and attention to detail are only two competencies that will help you perform an excellent job as an estimator. Before we take a closer look at three more skills that will benefit you, we want to note the following. Always carefully check each job advertisement’s skills section. Although we are sure that the following competencies are valued by most employers, their respective expectations may differ.

Mathematical/Numerical Knowledge

Since you are in charge of calculating and (re-)evaluating a building project’s costs, you naturally should have above-average mathematical/numerical knowledge. Juggling numbers and finding ways to save costs will be your second nature in this profession. Therefore, an interest in maths during your time at school will benefit you enormously when starting your education and consequently working as an estimator.

Building/Construction Knowledge

Needless to say, building and construction knowledge should accompany your mathematical prowess. After all, you will closely be working with construction managers and labourers as well as being on-site to oversee building progress. Knowing what is what on a construction site is essential to estimate costs, go into bidding for a contract, and for adjusting budget if and when needed.

Business Management Skills

This brings us to our third beneficial competency for an estimator: business management skills. They are more or less a combination of different skills, including time management, cost management and documentation. Whether you work for a company or as a self-employed estimator: this particular skill will not only benefit you greatly, it can also set you apart from your competition and, thus, make you a valuable asset in a building project.

The Top 3 of Skills Expected of an Estimator

Recent studies have shown that there are three skills that are an absolute “must-have” for any future estimator. According to the studies’ results, the following competencies frequently appear in job descriptions: estimating at number 1 with a whopping 32.03 %, communication skills at number 2 with 10.54 %, and technical knowledge/skills at number 3 with 8.77 %. 

Career Path

Being an estimator is only one of the steps on your career ladder. Depending on your ambition and drive, you can advance to more senior roles that come with higher salaries and more responsibilities. Keep in mind that to be promoted to one of the following positions requires further training and a high level of dedication to your job. If you have what it takes, these roles can be within your grasp: consultancy work as an estimator, quantity surveying, supply chain management, contracts manager, or quality assurance inspector.

Educational Background

The most common approach to become an estimator in the UK is to enrol for an appropriate university course or to start and finish an advanced or degree apprenticeship. Both educational approaches take between three and four years to complete. Apprenticeships come with the advantage of gaining some first practical experience, while internships during university studies can provide the same. To give you an idea of appropriate fields of study and apprenticeships, here are some options.

University Course

You can look into earning an undergraduate/Bachelor’s degree in one of the following fields:

• Construction Management
• Structural Engineering
• Quantity Surveying
• Building Surveying
• Civil Engineering

A Bachelor’s degree can further set you up for doing your Master’s degree in the same subjects.

Apprenticeships

There are a number of apprenticeships you can complete to become an estimator. Some of the options are:

• A Project Controls Technician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
• A Project Controls Professional Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship
• A Construction Quantity Surveyor Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship

If you want to look into doing an HND (Higher National Diploma), the options can range from construction management to quantity surveying and civil engineering, to name but a few.

Entry Level

Every career starts with the first baby steps which are done in an entry-level position. For the job of an estimator, this tends to be the position of an assistant or trainee estimator. Within the first year in your job, you will learn all there is to know about cost estimation, risk assessment, contract bidding and more. Ideally, you are taken under a mentor’s wing, aka a more senior colleague who has been working in this profession for several years. During your entry-level job, you should not shy away from seeking feedback and completing further training. Your dedication to the job goes a long way towards fast-tracking your career and to getting promoted in a shorter time frame.

Continuous Learning

If you want to prosper in your job as an estimator, you must invest time and effort into earning further qualifications. One of the most prestigious institutions offering accredited qualifications and certifications is the  Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Besides interesting and career-advancing training, you can also become a Chartered Quantity Surveyor (MRICS) through this body. The RICS also offers great networking opportunities and news and updates on current legal matters and regulations. 

Moreover, we recommend that you work on your software skills, no matter how versed you already are in using building information modelling software (BMI) and more. Staying updated and on an expert level helps you to perform well and to become more interesting to current and/or future employers.

A Day in the Life of an Estimator

Our previous information has sort of given you the theoretical tools to become an estimator in the UK. We are fairly certain that you are also curious to find out which daily and regular tasks you will perform in this job. Not wanting to keep you in suspense any longer, here’s three typical tasks in the life of an estimator.

Cost Estimation

Cost estimation will be one of the most important tasks in your job – after all, your job is also called cost estimator for a reason. This particular tasks includes everything from drafting and handling cost spreadsheets (get familiar with Excel!) to calculating all costs that are associated with ongoing and future building projects. Speaking of Excel: this program is also perfect for categorising the accruing costs into labour, equipment, materials, and more.

Bids Soliciting

Before you are granted a construction project, you tend to go into a bit of a bidding war with the competition. This kind of bidding will be a vital part of your job description. But bidding or bids are not only associated with winning a contract. Construction work tends to involve a whole range of people like architects, plasterers, electricians, and plumbers. They are hired as so-called subcontractors and need the necessary paperwork/contracts. As an estimator, it is your responsibility to send out so-called bid requests to said subcontractors and to evaluate the proposed wages and costs.

Estimate Finalisation

You have already drafted a first cost estimation and a preliminary risk assessment and resources assessment. These first projections should ideally be the framework of a construction project. However, as is the nature of this particular beast, adjustments to these first drafts are the norm. Therefore, estimate finalisations are another regular task of an estimator. Here, you reevaluate the information you already have and adjust it according to feedback and all other information you have gathered in the meantime.

Tips for Thriving as an Estimator

Regardless of your personal ambitions when it comes to climbing the career ladder, we think it is always a great idea to invest in thriving in your job. In this section, we take a look at three surefire ways that will help you thrive as an estimator in the UK:

• Be adaptable
• Ethical conduct
• Master your trade

Be Adaptable

Your (daily) task number 3 may have already given you a hint on our first tip for thriving in your estimator’s job. Yes, you will have to be adaptable – to be precise, to all changes that may come your way or the way of an ongoing building project. Costs can inflate, workforce may have to be replaced or increased, which tends to mean increasing costs. As a brilliant estimator, you will find ways to stay within the projected budget – because you have the adaptability to react to all changes, be it costs, timetables, or weather forces technically out of your control.

Ethical Conduct

Working in cost estimation means that you are a numerical whizz who knows exactly how to seal the best deals with a minimum of spending. If you want to thrive in your job, you should always adhere to ethical standards – no matter how tempting it may be to inflate costs or cut monetary corners. This way, you will come across as both highly professional and trustworthy. And these two attributes will go a long way towards climbing to the top of the estimator career ladder.

Master Your Trade

We have already mentioned that you will benefit from building and construction knowledge. This competency is one of the pillars your future career rests upon. If you want to thrive, you should always look into deepening your construction understanding – be it construction methods, costs, or the latest tools that make construction work even more effective. Knowing and mastering this trade will also contribute to your standing with construction workers, managers, and subcontractors.

Frequently Asked Questions