Quantity surveyors

On some contracts, mainly connected with general building projects, rather than specifically plant and machinery, a quantity surveyor is appointed to draw up a schedule of items which require pricing, and which the total is the bid figure. 

Interim payments on the contract follow a valuation of the work done. Valuations are normally carried out by the plant engineer, the quantity surveyor, the architect or the consulting engineer and, in the light of recent case law, should be assessed very carefully. 

When we build a house, we only require a certain number of building materials say, bricks, tubes and window panes. The quantity surveyor in charge of the building project decides which materials are needed, and writes a quantity beside each on his order form 10000 bricks, 20 window panes, etc. Similarly, when we have a velocity, we have the units of m and s-1 , and then quantify it, saying something like, The man ran fast, covering a distance of 10 metres per second . By this means, any parameter is defined both qualitatively (in terms of its units) and quantitatively (in terms of a number). With symbols, we would write v = 10 ms-1. 

The quantity surveyor measures the quantities of labour and materials necessary to complete the building work from drawings supplied by the architect. 

The quantification of the work may be regarded as the preserve of a separate profession, the quantity surveyor, but many practitioners in the process plant field operate quite satisfactorily without such assistance. 

Each combination of the two classifications above can be the subject of a specific rate. Needless to say, the complications of calculating and verifying prices and contractors invoices on this basis can be enormous, and it becomes apparent that the optimum degree of price breakdown is a matter of limiting returns. And one of the concerns of engaging specialized quantity surveyors for the job is that the tendency may be to spend too much money on excessively itemized price structures. 

Architects and Quantity Surveyors (QS) playing safe. The calculations done by Architects and QS provide the constmction companies with a bill of quantities to price against. This will be based on measured amounts of products plus a factor to account for part pieces etc. Unless this is reduced then the contactor will provide a similar amount of the product to site, any un-used is normally wasted. Architects and QS will not reduce their safety factor as this could mean additional costs to the... 

Paul then explains that he and his quantity surveyor want to keep open the option of using a cheaper but heavier cladding system - one made from condensed cement fibre board - as an alternative to the more expensive mirrored steel or aluminium options already specified, in case savings need to be made in the build. Adam is quick to point out that he has already done work on this. Paul insists that this won t change the layout but rather only the sizing of steel elements in order to be able to accommodate a heavier alternative if this becomes a budgetary requirement. Adam agrees to work with this. 

Architects are often criticized for designing mainly with aesthetic criteria in mind and for being unaware of the needs of builders, of maintenance, and of costs. Quantity surveyors are sometimes criticized for being too narrowly concerned with the latter. Architects in the USA, West Germany and elsewhere often seem to be much more technically and financially skilled than British ones, and their tasks and skills include many of those of British quantity surveyors. Most construction in Britain, of all kinds, sees very little of the architect, and certainly not in a direct managerial capacity. 

Construction has been a fairly useful source of foreign earnings for Britain in recent years fees earned by consulting engineers, architects and quantity surveyors have all helped. This has been partly due to the post-1973 increase in the incomes of oil producers (as in Saudi Arabia), and the recession at home, which forced construction firms to look overseas (Sargent, 1978). Employment in construction has suffered very badly in the recession the sector is a traditional indicator of booms and slumps, tending to prosper exceptionally well in the fat years and to suffer inordinately in the lean ones. 

Mr. Yung is a senior quantity surveyor in a government department. 

According to Mr. Yung, a senior quantity surveyor of a government department, the PASS used in the Housing Authority consists of two scores a project score and a contractor score. The project score reflects the performance of the contractor on a particular project during the construction stage and maintenance period. The project score includes ... 

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