Executive Summary
Recruiting Today is a specialist UK construction recruitment agency supplying vetted Site Managers, Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors to Tier 1 contractors, regional developers, housebuilders, civil engineering firms and cost consultancies. With CSCS-card-verified candidates, SMSTS-certified site leaders, RICS-qualified commercial professionals and a 48-hour shortlist guarantee, our build-sector recruitment service handles permanent placements, freelance contracts, day-rate positions and executive search across residential, commercial, civil and industrial construction projects nationwide — including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
What Is a Construction Recruitment Agency?
Quick Answer: A construction recruitment agency is a specialist staffing firm that sources, screens and supplies qualified building-sector professionals — such as site managers, project managers and quantity surveyors — to contractors, developers and consultancies on permanent, contract or temporary terms, verifying trade certifications, health & safety credentials and project experience before placement.
The UK construction industry is navigating its most complex labour market in decades. With the Construction Industry Training Board forecasting that the sector will need 251,500 new workers by 2028 to meet output demand, and with high-profile schemes such as HS2, Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C, Lower Thames Crossing and the 1.5 million new homes housing target all competing for talent, the margin for hiring error has never been thinner. Recruiting Today was built for this environment.
As a dedicated construction recruitment agency UK partner, we operate across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, placing leadership and commercial professionals into live projects ranging from three-storey residential developments in the Midlands to multi-billion-pound civil infrastructure programmes on the strategic road network. Our focus is narrow by design: we specialise in the three roles that most directly influence project profitability, programme delivery and site safety — Site Managers, Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors.
Whether you are a Tier 1 main contractor mobilising a new commercial scheme, a regional housebuilder ramping up completions, or a quantity surveying practice expanding into public-sector frameworks, this guide explains how our build-sector recruitment services work, who we place, how we vet and what outcomes our clients typically achieve.
Core Recruitment Specialisms
Recruiting Today concentrates on three commercially critical disciplines within the UK build sector. Each has its own dedicated consultant team, candidate database and vetting protocol — because a quantity surveyor placement cannot be handled the same way as a site manager placement.
Site Managers Recruitment
Site Managers are the operational backbone of any live construction project — responsible for day-to-day site control, subcontractor coordination, programme adherence, quality assurance and, critically, health and safety compliance under CDM 2015 regulations. We recruit site managers with demonstrable experience across residential housing schemes, commercial fit-outs, mixed-use developments and heavy civils.
Typical certifications we verify: SMSTS (Site Management Safety Training Scheme), CSCS Black/Gold Card, First Aid at Work, NEBOSH Construction Certificate, Temporary Works Coordinator, Fire Marshal, and Asbestos Awareness. Candidates placed range from Assistant Site Managers through Senior Site Managers to Contracts Managers overseeing multi-site portfolios.
Project Managers Recruitment
Construction Project Managers own end-to-end delivery: from pre-construction planning and stakeholder alignment through procurement, programme management, risk mitigation and handover. Recruiting Today places construction project managers into Tier 1 contractors, Tier 2 regional firms, client-side developer teams, and specialist consultancies working across BREEAM-rated commercial schemes, Passivhaus residential projects and DfT-funded highways contracts.
Our Project Manager candidates typically bring:
- APM PMQ, PRINCE2 Practitioner, MCIOB or MRICS professional accreditation
- Proven track record of delivering projects from £500k to £250M+ in value
- NEC3/NEC4, JCT and FIDIC contract administration experience
- Earned Value Management (EVM) and Primavera P6 / Asta Powerproject proficiency
- BIM Level 2 delivery and ISO 19650 information management knowledge
- Demonstrable stakeholder coordination across clients, consultants and supply chain
Quantity Surveyors Recruitment
Quantity Surveyors (QS) are the commercial guardians of construction projects, managing cost plans, tender evaluations, interim valuations, variations, final accounts and contractual risk. We recruit across the full QS career ladder: Assistant QS, Graduate QS, Project QS, Senior QS, Managing QS, Commercial Manager and Commercial Director — as well as specialist freelance day-rate contractors in high demand during project peaks.
Our quantity surveyor recruitment agency service covers both contractor-side and consultancy-side placements, including PQS (Professional Quantity Surveying) practices, cost management firms and client-side commercial teams. All MRICS-route candidates are validated against Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors APC requirements before shortlist.
Freelance QS demand remains particularly strong in 2026, with day rates ranging from £350 to £650+ depending on project complexity, sector and geography. See our salary benchmark table below for current market ranges.
Industries We Serve Across the UK Build Sector
Recruiting Today provides construction staffing solutions to four core market verticals. Each has distinct regulatory requirements, commercial structures and talent profiles — and our consultants specialise accordingly.
Our civil engineering recruitment UK desk has been particularly active supporting contractors on the AMP8 water investment cycle and the 2026 highways framework renewals, while our commercial construction hiring team has placed senior talent on several major London office refurbishment schemes and logistics shed roll-outs in the East Midlands Golden Triangle.
Recruitment Solutions Offered
Every client brief is different. Some need a career-long Contracts Manager to anchor a new regional office; others need a freelance QS mobilised to site by Monday morning. Recruiting Today structures its building sector recruitment services around four delivery modes.
Permanent Staffing
Retained and contingent search for long-term, direct-employment hires across all three specialisms. Average time-to-offer: 18 working days.
Temporary & Contract
Day-rate, PAYE and umbrella contractors for project-based demand, CIS-compliant, IR35-reviewed and insured.
Executive Search
Confidential headhunting for Commercial Directors, Operations Directors and MD-level construction leadership roles.
Rapid Mobilisation
24-to-72-hour cover for sickness absence, emergency site issues or immediate programme acceleration.
Candidate Screening & Vetting Process
The single most common complaint hiring managers share about generalist agencies is poor-quality shortlists. Our vetting protocol is designed to eliminate that risk — every candidate submitted to a client has already passed a five-stage process.
Our 5-Stage Vetting Protocol
- Skills & Competency Assessment — Role-specific technical interview benchmarked against JCT/NEC contract knowledge, programme management software fluency, CVR preparation ability and applicable regulatory frameworks.
- Reference & Employment History Checks — Minimum two former line-manager references, employment gap verification, and project-reference cross-checks.
- Certification Verification — Live validation of CSCS, SMSTS, SSSTS, NVQ Levels 3–7, CITB cards, RICS APC status, CIOB membership and NEBOSH qualifications via issuing bodies.
- Health & Safety Compliance Screening — Asbestos awareness, manual handling, CDM 2015 familiarity, working-at-height and PPE competence review.
- Right-to-Work & Regulatory Checks — Home Office share-code verification, IR35 status determination, CIS registration and insurance validation where applicable.
Live Temporary Construction & Support Jobs Across the UK
Below is a snapshot of current temporary and contract vacancies within the Recruiting Today network. Hourly rates are indicative market ranges for April 2026; confirmed rates depend on location, shift pattern and certification level.
Client Case Studies: Real Outcomes From the UK Build Sector
Mobilising a 480-Home Manchester Residential Scheme in 3 Weeks
The Client: A leading Tier 1 main contractor with a £1.4bn UK turnover, awarded a large-scale residential-led regeneration scheme in Greater Manchester.
The Challenge: Contract signature moved forward by six weeks following a successful design-and-build tender. The client needed a full commercial and site leadership team — 1 Senior Project Manager, 2 Site Managers, 1 Senior QS and 2 Assistant QS — mobilised to site within 21 days, with the previous incumbent PM recruiter unable to deliver shortlists in time.
Our Solution: Recruiting Today deployed its rapid mobilisation protocol. Within 72 hours of brief, a dedicated project team screened 94 candidates from our pre-vetted database, delivered 18 CV shortlists across the six roles, and managed a three-day assessment-centre process at the client's regional office. All certifications were pre-verified, eliminating offer-stage surprises.
- All 6 positions filled and mobilised within 19 working days
- 100% offer-acceptance rate — no drop-outs between offer and start
- Project commenced on original programme date, avoiding £142,000 in projected standing-time costs
- All 6 hires still employed with the contractor 18 months post-placement
Rebuilding a Commercial Team for a Midlands Housebuilder After Team Departure
The Client: A well-established regional housebuilder completing 600 homes per year across the East Midlands, operating 12 live sites.
The Challenge: A competitor acquisition poached the client's entire senior commercial team — Commercial Manager, 2 Senior QS and 1 Managing QS — over a four-week period. With active month-end valuations, CVR reporting due and three new site starts imminent, the client faced a genuine commercial emergency.
Our Solution: We deployed a blended solution: an interim Commercial Manager (day-rate contractor) mobilised within six working days to stabilise CVR reporting and valuations, followed by a retained executive search campaign to identify a permanent Commercial Manager and two MRICS-qualified Senior QS. The interim remained in situ during the 10-week permanent search and was seconded to support handover.
- Zero missed CVR submissions during transition period
- Permanent Commercial Manager placed within 11 weeks of retainer
- Both Senior QS placements completed within 14 weeks, 4 weeks ahead of retained target
- Client reported a £680,000 margin recovery on two schemes where interim QS identified under-claimed variations
What Clients Say About the Recruiting Today Team
"The Recruiting Today team understand construction in a way most agencies simply don't. When we needed three Senior Site Managers for our Birmingham commercial programme, they delivered SMSTS-verified shortlists inside a week — every single one was interview-ready. That's rare."
Operations Director, Midlands Main Contractor
"I've used a lot of construction recruitment agencies over a 22-year career. Recruiting Today is the first one that asked the right questions at brief stage — NEC contract experience, JCT exposure, sector-specific nuances. The QS they placed has genuinely transformed our commercial function."
Commercial Director, Yorkshire Housebuilder
"We lost a Project Manager to illness three weeks before a major scheme start date. Recruiting Today had an interim PM on site within 72 hours — fully inducted, NEC4 experienced, and respected by our client from day one. They saved the programme."
Contracts Manager, South-East Civils Contractor
"As a QS I've been placed by Recruiting Today three times across six years — on each occasion into a role that actually matched my skills, my day rate expectations and my chartership ambitions. They treat candidates as professionals, not CVs. I recommend them to every peer."
Senior Quantity Surveyor, Freelance Contractor
2026 UK Construction Salary Benchmark Data
Based on Recruiting Today's internal placement data from Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, combined with published RICS, CIOB and Building Magazine market reports, the table below summarises current base-salary and day-rate ranges for our three core disciplines.
Source: Recruiting Today placement database (Q1 2026), supplemented by published industry benchmarks. Figures exclude car allowance, bonus and benefits package.
Permanent vs Temporary Construction Hiring: Which Is Right for You?
⭐ Key Takeaway for Hiring Managers
The most effective UK construction recruitment agencies specialise narrowly, vet aggressively and understand contract law, programme management and trade certification at a technical level. Recruiting Today combines sector-specific consultant teams, a 5-stage candidate vetting protocol and rapid mobilisation capability to deliver Site Managers, Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors on permanent, contract or interim terms — with a verified 92% offer-acceptance rate and an average 18-day time-to-offer for permanent placements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly can Recruiting Today provide a shortlist?
For permanent site manager, project manager and quantity surveyor roles, our typical shortlist turnaround is 48 to 96 hours from brief. For temporary and emergency cover, suitable CVs are often with the client within four to eight working hours. Every shortlisted candidate is pre-vetted against role-specific technical and compliance criteria.
Do you handle IR35 status determinations for freelance quantity surveyors?
Yes. Every contract engagement is assessed against HMRC's CEST criteria and documented in a Status Determination Statement issued to both the end client and the intermediary. We operate alongside CIS, PAYE and fully compliant umbrella arrangements, and we work with leading IR35 specialist legal advisors to maintain compliance across changing HMRC guidance.
Which UK regions do you cover for construction recruitment?
Recruiting Today operates nationwide across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our strongest active-placement volumes are in London, the South-East, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, Bristol/South-West, Glasgow and Edinburgh — though our consultant teams support clients wherever live projects require leadership or commercial talent.
What certifications do you verify for site-based hires?
We verify CSCS cards at every grade, SMSTS and SSSTS site supervision certificates, NEBOSH Construction Certificates, Temporary Works Coordinator qualifications, CITB-recognised NVQ Levels 3 to 7, First Aid at Work, Asbestos Awareness, Fire Marshal, and MRICS/MCIOB/APM professional accreditations. All certificates are checked against issuing-body databases where available.
Do you offer retained executive search for director-level construction roles?
Yes. For Commercial Directors, Operations Directors, Regional Managing Directors and similar senior leadership hires, we operate on a retained executive search basis with a phased milestone structure. Confidentiality protocols, market mapping, psychometric assessment and structured reference deep-dives are standard components of the retained service.
What's the difference between a main contractor QS and a PQS?
A contractor's Quantity Surveyor manages commercial delivery on live projects — subcontractor procurement, interim valuations, variations, final accounts and CVR reporting. A Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS) works client-side for a consultancy, producing cost plans, bills of quantities, tender evaluations and employer's agent services. Both routes are MRICS-accredited; we recruit across both disciplines.
How does Recruiting Today charge for services?
For permanent placements, we operate on a percentage-of-basic-salary model with industry-standard rebate periods. For contract and temporary staffing, a margin is applied to the agreed charge-out rate. Retained executive search engagements use a staged fee structure aligned to milestone deliverables. Full written terms are provided before any engagement.
Conclusion: Your Specialist Partner for UK Construction Talent
Hiring mistakes in the UK build sector are expensive — in standing time, commercial leakage and programme slippage. Generalist agencies that treat a Site Manager brief like any other white-collar vacancy are part of the problem; specialist agencies that understand JCT contracts, CDM 2015, RICS APC pathways and NEC4 Option B valuations are part of the solution.
Recruiting Today was structured to be that solution. Our construction workforce agency UK service model — three dedicated specialist desks, a five-stage vetting protocol, 24-to-72-hour emergency mobilisation capability, and a UK-wide footprint — is calibrated specifically for the cadence of modern construction delivery.
Whether you are looking to fill a Senior Site Manager vacancy on a Birmingham commercial scheme, mobilise an interim QS for CVR coverage in Edinburgh, or run a confidential retained search for a Managing Director to lead a new regional office, we would welcome the conversation.
Ready to Discuss Your Construction Hiring Needs?
Speak to a Recruiting Today consultant today for an expert shortlist within 48 hours.
Get a Shortlist »