Quantity Surveying, or QS, or cost management, is at the very heart of McBains' approach and ethos. One of our founders effectively invented it.

He realised that we’re all in business to make money, that we could and should control and budget, and, if your costs are managed and controlled, then profits and retained bank funds benefit accordingly.

Today – whether it’s the smallest and potentially most vulnerable, but crucial, supplier, or the multi-national corporation or government project - the impact of quantity surveying is one of those goes-almost-without-saying considerations. It's a fixture.

But we’ve been round the houses – and a number of other types of construction projects – on cost management, and the benefit of our acquired and absorbed expertise and experience is that we push quantity surveying to the fore, and continually develop the better way to meet the financial and cost control management needs of investors, developers and occupiers alike.

So, what do we offer? Well, there’s the obvious – quantity surveying and procurement, project monitoring. But there's perhaps a few areas that don’t always enjoy the benefit of the limelight: risk management (including highly-educational workshops), Value Engineering Services such as “what if” analysis, earned value analysis, litigation and investigation support services – including dispute resolution, expert witness and arbitration, and insurance valuations and claims - plus capital allowance and other revenue advice, cost-in-use analysis, lifecycle costing, sinking fund analysis and allocation.

What in some circles are costs may be consigned to the contingencies column we consider to be crucial inclusions. After all, nobody likes awkward surprises.

We think of everything. We find it's the better way.