The authors establish square function estimates for integral operators on uniformly rectifiable sets by proving a local $T(b)$ theorem and applying it to show that such estimates are stable under the so-called big pieces functor. More generally, they consider integral operators associated with Ahlfors-David regular sets of arbitrary codimension in ambient quasi-metric spaces. The local $T(b)$ theorem is then used to establish an inductive scheme in which square function estimates on so-called big pieces of an Ahlfors-David regular set are proved to be sufficient for square function estimates...