Building · IPA-04
A frame subcontractor claims blockwork on floors not yet built.
Add a plant-deck “new rate”, scaffolding already in the prelims, and a previous-certificate error to find.
AED 450,000
previous-certificate error
Opens —
Your first QS project, before your first QS job.
You don’t watch QS. You work it. Join a project office as a Graduate QS. Payment applications, variations and claims land in your inbox on a project clock, and the phone rings with a Senior QS who needs an answer. 91 pieces of real commercial work across three UAE projects, marked against the contract and the records.
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07:455G
JW
James Whitfield
Senior QS · calling…
James WhitfieldSenior QS · calling…
This is not a course you watch. It is a project file you have to work through.
91pieces of real commercial work
3UAE projects: a tower, a fit-out and a metro station
200project documents to find, read and cross-check
21variations and claims to value, defend or reject
12monthly valuations, each ending in an IPC
101hours of practice, about 8 a week over 12 weeks
This is the real platform. Not a lecture video.
No slides, no talking head, no multiple choice. A project office with a clock, an inbox, drawings and a workbook to fill in. Tap the dots to see what each part does.
A lecture video
QS Mentor
You do
Watch a QS explain an IPC
Prepare the IPC in the real Excel format
When it’s hard
Pause, rewind, carry on
The contractor chases you and the clock keeps running
Feedback
A quiz at the end
Marked line by line against the contract and the records
Try the work. Seven tasks from the real thing.
Pick up the phone, check a payment application, fill an IPC, recover an advance, value variations, count the days from IPA to payment and measure to NRM 2. Each one is a small piece of what the 91 tasks feel like.
It’s Monday, 07:45. Your phone is ringing.
This is how work arrives in QS Mentor: not as a lesson, but as a person who needs an answer.
What the call is testing
- Securities and advance payments: what to check before money moves.
- Working out the amount from the subcontract terms, not from the application.
- Giving the Senior QS a clear answer, not a guess.
In the full simulator, James rings back, writes to you and expects the note on his desk. Leave it and it gets chased.
Two lines in this payment application don’t hold up.
The subcontractor has claimed for the period. You have the contract rates and the site records. Tap the lines you would query, then mark your work.
| Item | Unit | Rate (AED) | Qty | Claimed (AED) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bulk excavation, basement | m³ | 38 | 2,500 | 95,000 | |
| 2. Blinding concrete | m³ | 310 | 180 | 56,800 | |
| 3. RC suspended slabs | m³ | 865 | 420 | 363,300 | |
| 4. Reinforcement | t | 3,650 | 45 | 164,250 | |
| 5. Basement waterproofing | m² | 55 | 1,900 | 104,500 | |
| Total claimed this period | 783,850 | ||||
Nothing queried yet.
Fill in the IPC face sheet.
The subcontractor applied. You have assessed the work against the records. Complete the yellow cells the way the IPC format works in QS Mentor: gross, retention, advance recovery, net, previous certificates, VAT.
INTERIM PAYMENT CERTIFICATE NO. 2Frame & blockwork subcontract
(a)
Value of work done, assessed to date
2,800,000
(c)
Variations approved to date (VO-02)
200,000
VO-04, 120,000: awaiting approval
not certified
k
Gross value to date
(e)
Less retention at 10%
(g)
Less advance recovery at 20% of gross
m
Net value to date
(l)
Less previously certified
800,000
This IPC, before VAT
VAT at 5%
Amount payable
Fill the yellow cells. All figures in AED.
How much of the advance is left each month?
The subcontractor was paid an advance. Each IPC recovers part of it. Complete the yellow cells month by month, and watch what happens when the balance runs low.
ADVANCE PAYMENT RECOVERY SCHEDULEFrame & blockwork subcontract
Month
Gross valued
Recovered
Balance left
Opening balance
1,200,000
IPC 1
1,000,000
IPC 2
1,500,000
IPC 3
2,000,000
IPC 4
2,500,000
Fill the yellow cells. All figures in AED.
Four instructions. How do you value each?
Same work, same conditions: use the BOQ rate. Close but not the same: adjust a similar item. Nothing like it in the bill: build a star rate from resources.
From IPA to IPC to payment: count the days.
Three dates decide whether you are on time: when the application arrives, when you must certify, and when the money falls due. Work them out on the calendar, then answer the subcontractor.
The terms (this exercise) The IPC is due within 14 calendar days of receiving the IPA. Payment is due 28 calendar days after the IPC is issued. Always check whether your contract counts calendar or working days.
1IPA-05 was received on Monday 3 March. Tap the last day to issue the IPC.
IPA receivedIPC issuedCertification windowPayment period
3On 20 March the subcontractor asks when he will be paid. What do you tell him?
Measure it the way the bill will.
A 250 mm RC slab with a shaft opening. Work out the net concrete and the soffit formwork, then see how it would sit on a dimension sheet.
Deduct the opening in this exercise.
Times
Dimensions (m)
Squared
Description
1
12.00 × 8.00 × 0.25
24.00
RC suspended slab, 250 thick (m³)
1
2.00 × 1.50 × 0.25
−0.75
Deduct shaft opening
23.25
Net concrete, m³
1
12.00 × 8.00
96.00
Formwork to soffit (m²)
1
2.00 × 1.50
−3.00
Deduct shaft opening
93.00
Net soffit formwork, m²
In QS Mentor you measure to POMI, NRM 2 and CESMM4 on dimension sheets and Excel take-offs, and are rated against the answer.
What lands on your desk.
The same problems a working QS handles. Nobody tells you which record to open.
Fit-out · CR-07
The client moves a meeting room after it is built.
Net off the omission, value the night work forced by a new landlord rule, then recover it from the client’s cost manager.
Omit + add
in one change request
Metro · VO-012
A live duct bank stops excavation.
The notice arrives late. Separate time from cost, read the float, then negotiate.
AED 1.8M
claim, with a late notice
Five professional tools, one project file.
Everything is linked. Takeoff quantities feed the estimate, valuations feed the cost report, and agreed changes flow into the final account.
Takeoff
Calibrate PDF and image drawings, measure lengths, areas and counts, and tag each one to a BOQ item.
BOQ & Estimating
Build rates from a resource library: labour outputs, material waste, plant, OH&P and preliminaries.
Valuations
Monthly valuation workbook: claimed vs assessed, retention, advance recovery, reasons for difference and the IPC.
Change control
Variation and claims register with a valuation sheet for each change: BOQ rates, pro-rata, star rates, omissions.
Cost & final account
Month-end accruals, forecast final cost, the project cost report and the subcontract final account.
Three projects. Building first, then fit-out, then metro.
Each one is harder than the last, with its own contract, records and people.
Project 1 · Building construction
Harbour View Residences
A residential tower: raft, RC frame, slab cycle, blockwork, frame subcontract valuations, variations and a late-information claim. Start here.
4 valuations8 changes and claims86 documents4 drawings
Project 2 · Interior fit-out
Lumen Point Tower Fit-out
A fast-moving office fit-out: landlord rules, client change requests, provisional sums, dayworks and handover. The second track.
3 valuations6 changes and claims54 documents4 drawings
Project 3 · Metro and rail infrastructure
Riverside Metro Extension
An underground metro station: D-walls, deep excavation, base slab, utilities, claims and delay. The advanced track.
5 valuations7 changes and claims60 documents6 drawings
A day in the project office.
The project runs on a clock. Leave something open and it gets chased.
Arrive
The office shows what needs you today: red, amber, green. Work arrives through the day: applications, revisions, requests.
Investigate and assess
Nobody tells you which record to open. Find the JMR, the governing revision, the previous certificate, then measure and assess.
Communicate and defend
Write the letter, issue the certificate, answer the Senior QS and the subcontractor’s dispute, and report at the 16:00 meeting.
Consequences
Missed evidence gets challenged, late work gets chased, and weak letters get “please clarify”. Everything you do is on your record.
For graduates, employers and universities.
Graduates and trainees
Months of practical QS work before your first job, with interview practice and a portfolio you can show employers. New to QS? Beginner mode explains every task from the basics, step by step.
Employers
Onboard trainees on real-format work before they touch a live job, and see their actual output: estimates, certificates, variation valuations and cost reports.
Universities and colleges
Give students the software-and-records experience that lectures can’t. A cohort view shows each learner’s progress and where they need support.
Finish all three. Earn a certificate employers can check.
Every certificate carries your name, your results on each UAE project, a unique number and a QR code. Anyone can scan it or enter the number to see that it is genuine.
- Unique number and QR code, verifiable online
- Distinction or Merit when your results earn it
- Add to your LinkedIn profile in one click
- Fair: your first attempt at each task is what counts
SAMPLE
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION · NATHA & CO
This is to certify that
Your Name
has successfully completed the
Graduate Quantity Surveyor Practice Programme
with Distinction
90%Harbour View
87%Lumen Point
86%Riverside Metro
Certificate no. QSM-SAMPLE-0000Verified by QR code
Register your interest.
Tell us who you are and we’ll write to you when QS Mentor opens. Graduates, trainees, employers and universities are all welcome.
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- Questions? Write to hello@qsmentor.com
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One more step.
Your email app should have opened with your details, addressed to hello@qsmentor.com. Press Send to finish.
Be at your desk when it opens.
QS Mentor opens —. Put it in your calendar and send it to the graduate QS who needs a head start.
