Quantity Surveying Practice

Frontmatter

1. The Construction Industry

Abstract

It will be helpful to the reader to start by examining the structure, size and scope of the construction industry and its significance in the national economy. Other matters deserving attention include the effect of government action on the work of the industry, clients’ needs, statutory provisions, changing techniques, productivity, constructability, quality assurance, safety aspects, relevant official bodies and sources and use of technical information.

Ivor H. Seeley

2. The Building Team and the Design Process

Abstract

This chapter extends the general background to the quantity surveyor’s work by describing the various members of the building team and their interrelationships, the part played by the relevant professional bodies, the design process and the quantity surveyor’s role within it.

Ivor H. Seeley

3. Construction Procurement Systems

Abstract

It is vital that clients make the correct choice of building procurement method in an increasingly complex situation, with a wide range of objective criteria and procurement systems, as described in this chapter. Quantity surveyors have an important role to perform in building procurement selection and need to market and develop their skills.

Ivor H. Seeley

4. Contract Arrangements

Abstract

The general procedure adopted by most quantity surveying offices up to the stage of inviting tenders was described in chapter 2. The present chapter examines tendering procedures in more detail and then describes the normal arrangements for the evaluation of tenders. This is followed by an examination of general contractual arrangements, and the nature and form of the various standard forms of contract and subcontract.

Ivor H. Seeley

5. Contract Administration

Abstract

This chapter deals with some important aspects of contract administration, including the issue of architect’s instructions, supervision, coordination, programming and progressing, valuations and payments.

Ivor H. Seeley

6. Variations and Final Accounts

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the adjustment of preliminaries and prime cost and provisional sums, the valuation of daywork, variations and extras, the preparation of financial statements for the employer and final account procedure.

Ivor H. Seeley

7. Claims and Insolvencies

Abstract

The construction industry covers a complex field of activity involving many operative skills and conditions which vary considerably from one project to another. Site and climatic conditions, market conditions, project characteristics and available resources are some of the variables, each of which can have a significant effect on the operation of the contract. In the 1990–95 recession contract prices were pared to the bone with the result that even relatively minor changes to projects frequently gave rise to the submission of claims, which often caused substantial increases in the eventual costs, as evidenced in the Channel Tunnel and Canary Wharf.

Ivor H. Seeley

8. Cost Control of Construction Projects

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the control of the cost of projects by the design team throughout both the design and constructional processes and the methods by which the contractor monitors and regulates the cost of construction on site. The quantity surveyor has an important role in all these processes.

Ivor H. Seeley

9. Value Management

Abstract

This chapter aims to show the various approaches to value management, the advantages to be obtained, a comparison with cost planning/cost management and a comprehensive case study. Readers requiring a more comprehensive study of this subject are referred to Norton and McElligott (1995).

Ivor H. Seeley

10. Development, Redevelopment and Environmental Aspects

Abstract

This chapter examines the quantity surveyor’s role in development, redevelopment, environmental and conservation work, as these become increasingly important issues.

Ivor H. Seeley

11. Engineering Work

Abstract

A RICS report in 1971 concluded that because of the limitations of quantity surveyors with regard to engineering services, coupled with the opinions of services engineers, the employer does not always receive adequate financial advice. Mechanical and electrical services represent a substantial proportion of the cost of most construction contracts. That such a large proportion of the total contract should be let on the basis of outline drawings and specification identified the key area of incompatibility with current requirements for preplanning and effective cost control.

Ivor H. Seeley

12. Project Management

Abstract

Waterhouse (1995) has aptly described how confusion often arises, particularly in the minds of clients, as to the precise meaning of project management. For many years the contractor’s site agent has often been referred to as the project manager as he manages the project on site on behalf of the contractor. Clients may also appoint a professional to coordinate some of the stages of the project and this person could more properly be called a project coordinator, whereas the project manager, as understood by the Association of Project Managers (APM) and the RICS, is a single person or organisation that manages the complete process.

Ivor H. Seeley

13. Other Quantity Surveying Activities

Abstract

In the 1980s and 1990s, many quantity surveyors were providing services outside their normal functions. Some of these are considered sufficiently important to devote whole chapters to the specialisms, such as value management in chapter 9 and project management in chapter 12. A wide and diverse range of other activities in which the quantity surveyor may be engaged are detailed in this chapter, ranging from construction management to the settlement of construction disputes.

Ivor H. Seeley

14. Quantity Surveying Services in Europe and Overseas

Abstract

As long ago as 1979 the RICS published the Principles of Measurement (International) for Works of Construction to provide guidance on the preparation of bills of quantities, with adaptations as necessary, for use overseas where existing rules are inappropriate or where no rules exist. This constituted an important service provided by quantity surveyors who recognised the need to provide a sound basis for the financial control and management of building contracts to keep pace with the substantial expansion of construction throughout the world, much of it in hitherto undeveloped areas.

Ivor H. Seeley

15. Quantity Surveying Organisation and Practice

Abstract

It is essential that an office is well organised so that work is dealt with in a satisfactory and logical manner. At the start of a new project, all architect’s drawings should be stamped with the office stamp and date of receipt, listed and carefully examined by all staff concerned with the measurement and cost planning work. Figured dimensions on the drawings should be checked and any omitted dimensions calculated and inserted on the drawings. It will assist the subsequent measurement if walls and partitions are coloured in different colours according to type and thickness for ease of identification. It is also good policy to insert on the general location drawings, normally drawn to a scale of 1:100, a list of component details. Any queries on the drawings or supporting documentation should be entered on query sheets for subsequent clarification by the architect. Where reference is made to materials, components or proprietary systems with which the quantity surveyor is unfamiliar, he should obtain full particulars from the manufacturer.

Ivor H. Seeley

16. Professional Ethics, Standards and Conduct

Abstract

Apart from the requirements of the RICS Rules of Conduct, all members have a moral duty of care when dealing with clients and their affairs and to exercise the utmost honesty and integrity in all their dealings. Clients can rightly expect that professional men and women will possess a reasonable measure of competence and skill in their particular calling and will use these qualities to the benefit of the client.

Ivor H. Seeley

17. Marketing of Professional Services

Abstract

Before considering the nature of marketing and how it can be used to best advantage, it was felt desirable to examine clients’ needs, as it is now generally believed that provision of chartered surveyors’ services are best market demand led. Hence there is an increasing need to identify what clients want and how the quantity surveyor can best satisfy those needs effectively and efficiently. In most cases this data will form one of the major criteria to be examined before a marketing strategy is formulated.

Ivor H. Seeley

18. Education, Training, Professional Development and Research

Abstract

A RICS Report in 1980 recognised the importance of recruitment in realistic numbers and of the right quality, despite the competing claims of other professions; while a RICS QS Report in 1983 highlighted the effect of market forces and the limited control of numbers which can be exercised by the RICS, being subject to the variations in national and local educational policies.

Ivor H. Seeley

19. Future Developments and Trends

Abstract

Clark (1987) in his RICS presidential address emphasised that the scope for the chartered surveyor to extend his skills, to broaden his services to his clients, and to enlarge his contribution to society has never been greater. Extracts from the promotional literature of three quantity surveying practices are now taken to illustrate the diversity of approaches that are being adopted when offering their services to potential clients, efficiently and quickly and in full understanding of client needs.

• As the construction industry has become more competitive in price, and contractually aggressive and innovative in its approach, it is necessary for quantity surveyors to provide a group of services that can quickly and efficiently react to ever changing needs, and to provide a cost effective and commercially viable solution for clients.
• Every successful construction project relies on the essential component of effective budgetary control. This is the central discipline of the professional quantity surveyor, and one which demands accuracy, speed, a thorough understanding of design and construction techniques and an appreciation of the client’s requirements. This core discipline has been developed by combining the human contributions of skill, experience and professionalism with the accuracy and time saving potential of advanced technology, involving total commitment from inception through to completion and commissioning.
• Quality of quantity surveying service entails meeting clients’ needs, efficiently and effectively, consistently and reliably, through internal quality management systems enhanced by full quality assurance documentation prepared in accordance with the requirements of BS 5750.

Ivor H. Seeley

Backmatter