Industry Trends & Insights
3
mins read
QS Enters Its AI Era
Construction has seen new tools before, but this shift feels different.
New AI tools are starting to shift the day to day responsibilities of quantity surveyors, changing how takeoffs, cost management, and project data are handled across the construction industry.
Team ConInnova
Artificial intelligence has created two very different conversations in construction. One is practical, people are looking at how AI can speed up takeoffs, improve reporting, and reduce the time spent buried in spreadsheets. The other conversation is far more dramatic and usually ends with a claim of how AI is about to replace quantity surveyors altogether, which is mostly a stretch.
The reality is much less dramatic. Quantity surveying has been evolving for years, and AI is simply the latest tool pushing that shift forward. It’s not arriving to replace the profession overnight, it’s mainly exposing which parts of the role were repetitive to begin with, and this where AI is already starting to make an impact.
“ AI is estimated to reduce construction project timelines by an average of 15-20% ”
Part of the reason AI is gaining so much attention in construction is because the industry has historically struggled with productivity compared to sectors like manufacturing and technology. Projects continue to grow in complexity while workflows in many areas still rely heavily on fragmented information, manual processes, and reactive decision-making. That gap is exactly where AI tools are starting to position themselves, not as a complete replacement for construction professionals, but as a way to reduce inefficiencies the industry has carried for decades.
Construction has historically lagged behind other industries in productivity growth (Source: McKinsey & Company)
It’s easy to look at the conflict in Ukraine and feel like it’s worlds away, but the reality is written into the rebar of every high-rise. Russia and Ukraine remain the heavyweights of industrial metals. With production facilities damaged and trade routes restricted, the global supply didn't just dip, it fractured.
When the world loses its primary source of industrial metals, we don't just see a price hike; we see a scramble. NZ developers are now competing on the global stage for a smaller pool of resources. This scarcity has turned steel from a standard commodity into a high-stakes asset, driving up project costs and putting immense financial pressure on contractors who are already operating on the edge.
Automation can process information quickly, but commercial judgement still relies on a QS.
Therefore, despite all the noise around automation, most tools function more as assistants rather than replacements.Platforms like the upcoming CivCost AI are designed to reduce repetitive work and improve visibility, allowing QSs to spend less time producing information and more time interpreting it, which aligns with the direction that the QS role is heading.
“ Construction professionals report a 20% improvement in task completion speed using AI-driven scheduling tools. ”
The QS who adapts well to AI probably won’t be the one competing with software on speed, because software will always win that race. The value will sit with the people who can interpret data properly, communicate clearly, and make informed commercial decisions when conditions change as they always do.
AI is changing the way quantity surveyors work, but it is not removing the need for the profession itself. Plus, quantity surveying has never really been about typing numbers into spreadsheets anyway, it’s about understanding what those numbers mean before the project learns the lesson when the cost overruns show up.
