- Build Metric, a Melbourne-based construction estimating firm, received over 1,500 enquiries from Australian builders and trade contractors in the six months to July 2026, with monthly enquiries rising from 158 in February to 398 in June.
- Quantity surveying is rated in shortage across every Australian state and territory, with the construction industry requiring 22 per cent more workers by 2028 to meet the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes.
- Hiring a mid-level construction estimator costs approximately $175,000 in the first year when including superannuation, recruitment fees, software licences, and workers compensation, yet most builders cannot keep such a person fully occupied.
- Build Metric provides outsourced quantity takeoffs, cost estimates, and tender documentation at a fixed cost, delivered by Australian estimators working to a 98 per cent accuracy standard — critical given that pricing errors are carried for the life of a fixed-price contract.
- Construction accounted for roughly one in four Australian company insolvencies in the 2025–26 financial year, with 3,472 failures out of 14,152 recorded by ASIC, underscoring the financial risk of errors made at the quoting stage.
MELBOURNE, Australia, 29 July 2026: Build Metric, a South Melbourne construction estimating and quantity surveying firm, received more than 1,500 enquiries from Australian builders and trade contractors in the six months to July 2026. Monthly enquiries rose from 158 in February to 398 in June, over a period in which builders reported they could not fill estimating roles in their own offices.
Quantity surveying is rated in shortage in every Australian state and territory on the 2025 Occupation Shortage List. The construction workforce grew 0.9 per cent in the year to November 2025, while BuildSkills Australia puts the industry's requirement at 22 per cent more workers by 2028 to deliver the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes. Most public attention has gone to the trades. The shortage extends to the office roles that price the work.
The cost of hiring compounds the problem. A mid-level construction estimator commands about $125,000 a year, and closer to $175,000 in the first year once superannuation, recruitment fees, software licences and workers compensation are added. A builder submitting eight to ten tenders a month cannot keep that person fully occupied.
"We are recruiting estimators out of the same pool our clients are, so I know what they are up against," said Brett Kneebone, Director at Build Metric, who oversees operations and delivery across the company's team of Australian estimators. "The harder problem is that most builders cannot fill an estimator's week. They either pay for capacity they only half use, or they underpay and lose that person inside a year."
Build Metric prepares quantity takeoffs, bills of quantities, cost estimates and tender documentation for residential and commercial builders nationally. Builders send through drawings and receive submission-ready pricing at a fixed cost, which removes the salary, recruitment and idle-capacity problem that comes with a single in-house hire. The company's outsourced estimating services are delivered by a team of Australian estimators working to a 98 per cent accuracy standard.
The accuracy standard matters because builders sign fixed-price contracts against those numbers. Construction accounted for 3,472 of the 14,152 Australian company insolvencies recorded in the 2025-26 financial year, according to ASIC, roughly one in four business failures, even after the first annual decline in five years. Errors made at the quoting stage are carried for the life of the job.
Build Metric expects enquiry volume to hold through the second half of 2026 as builders bid into the housing pipeline without the internal capacity to price it.
About us:
About Build Metric
Build Metric provides construction estimating and quantity surveying services to Australian builders and trade contractors. Based in South Melbourne, it works with residential and commercial builders nationally, preparing takeoffs, bills of quantities and tender documentation.
Contact details:
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Peter Cayetuna
Off Page and Media Expert
UNTMD
[email protected]
1300 009 111
