QSME sign-up is a step-by-step flow. You pick a path first, then your role or trade, then create your account.
You hire others to do the work
You’re a service provider, paid for your work
Main Contractor gets both layouts — Manage Work and Find Work. All other roles get one layout. You can switch later where your account allows it.
Roles & Layouts Reference
QSME has two layouts (the experience you get) and a few roles (your identity). You pick a layout first, then a role. What you actually do — carpentry, roofing, etc. — is your trade, chosen separately (it's not a role).
You run the project as the client — create projects, post tenders, review proposals, hire contractors, and track costs.
You want to get paid — browse public tenders, submit proposals, win contracts, and deliver work.
| Role | Layout | What they can do |
|---|---|---|
| Client | Manage Work | Create projects, build the SOQ, post tenders, review proposals, hire, and manage budgets and documents. Covers clients, property owners and developers. |
| Consultant / QS | Manage Work | All Manage Work tools — build the SOQ, run tenders, and track costs on behalf of clients, and generate QS reports (cost plans, progress claims, drawdown certificates) on a paid plan. A verified NZIQS enrolment adds the badge, not the ability. |
| Main Contractor | Find Work + Manage Work | Both layouts: run your own projects and tenders, and also browse and bid on other tenders. |
| Service Provider | Find Work | Browse public tenders, submit proposals, and manage awarded work. Pick your trades at sign-up. |
Access on a project
Your role is who you are. What you can do inside someone else's project is the access they gave you — and it can put you in the Manage Work layout even if you signed up to find work.
| Access | Can do | Sees the money? |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including deleting the project. | Yes |
| Manage | Everything except deleting it — edit the SOQ, run tenders, upload documents, record payments. | Yes |
| Investor | Read the project and its figures. Changes nothing. | Yes |
| View | Read the project. | No |
| Bid | Read what they were invited to price, and bid on it. | No |
A project being public does not change this: contract totals, milestones and what has been paid are for the owner, managers and investors only.
Super Admin is a system role for platform staff, not a sign-up option. Picked the wrong role? You can switch later where your account allows it.