Builders sought 398 estimating enquiries in June as tender demand climbed
Australia’s housing pipeline is expanding, but the estimating workforce is not keeping pace. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded 205,249 dwelling approvals in the 2025-26 financial year, up 9.2% on the previous year and the highest volume since 2020-21.
At the same time, South Melbourne-based Build Metric received 398 enquiries from builders and contractors in June 2026, up from 158 in February. The company logged more than 1,500 enquiries in the six months to July 2026.
Build Metric linked that rise to a widening gap between the number of projects going to tender and the number of people qualified to price them. Quantity surveying remains listed as a shortage occupation in every Australian state and territory on the 2025 Occupation Shortage List.
More tenders are going to market than at any point in five years. However, the workforce trained to estimate those jobs is not growing at the same pace.
Surveyors Australia warns of 2029 shortfall
Surveyors Australia’s 2026 workforce assessment found the sector needs at least 1,500 new professionals each year to meet baseline demand. It also projected a compounding shortfall of more than 2,000 a year by 2029.
Luke Rose, owner of Build Metric, said many builders are taking more work to tender than their internal teams can price. He said the problem is not only hiring staff, but also keeping an estimator fully occupied each week.
“We recruit estimators from the same pool our clients do, so I see exactly what they are up against,” Rose said.
Rose said many builders cannot fill an estimator’s working week. As a result, they either overpay for capacity they do not use or lose staff within a year, making outsourced estimating a practical option for some firms.
The pressure carries financial risk because fixed-price contracts leave little room to recover from pricing mistakes after signing. Build Metric said construction accounts for roughly one in four business failures in Australia, largely due to fixed-price contracts.
Accurate estimating at tender stage is therefore becoming more important as the housing pipeline grows. With residential approvals at a five-year high and quantity surveying shortages recorded nationwide, builders face more pressure to price work accurately before contracts are locked in.
