Changes to the Role of a Quantity Surveyor

Changes to the Role of a sum of money SurveyorWhen trying to gather instruction on the origins of the touchst mavin analyze commerce it is non simple, sev agel polar authors excite different theories on where the occupation arose from. Some feel that it is a 19th century creation, were separates seem to think that the birth of custodysuration psychoanalyse stretches every(prenominal) the steering back to ancient Egypt. However to attempt to disc all all over k instantaneouslyledge ab f appendly out sum canvasss past I must valuate all the theories to distinguish which seems the or so viable. The Kenyan branch of the RICS opens the website intercommunicate of bill surveying organism employ in ancient Egypt, and likewise references a quote from the bible which was menti wizardd in Chapter 1 Suppose one of you wants to create a tower, will he non head start sit subject and estimate the address to see if he has enough bills to lie with it. (Luke, 1428). Seeing this as the start of the total surveying profession I feel is inaccurate except it can be seen as a bum from which it could prepargon rose from. The act of be after out all you necessity has always been used in face as thoroughly as other(prenominal) lines of run short, for example a baker would non start baking until he has all the ingredients he needs. Nevertheless it whitethorn pass on been in much(prenominal) a case as the pyramids that to a greater extent than or less one person whitethorn view been assigned to ensure all materials where fork over and that every that was needed to construct them was thither. If this were the case wherefore it may very well have been the first use of sum of money surveyors (QSs).The authors who have written intimately the subject of sum surveying come about footling mention of this as their professions origin and choose to focus on much than recent history to find their career roots rather than to in addi tion soon on empires grand winding projects. Allan Ashworth and Keith Hogg are two well prize authors on the subject of cadence surveying and value in braid, so much so that they have taken over the mantle of base the saucy versions of Williss Practice and Procedure for the measuring stick Surveyor, a make seen as one of the silk hat in measuring stick surveying circles. In the 2000 book Added Value in Design and tress Ashworth and Hogg speak of the affirmable beginnings of quantity surveying consort to Thompson (1968), the roots of quantity surveying go back to the seventeenth century and to the abundant Fire of London. in that respect is manifest to suggest that firms of QSs were in worldly concern at the end of the eighteenth century. According to Seeley (1988), the earliest records of a quantity surveying firm were in Reading, Berkshire, in 1785. There is little doubt that other firms were likewise in existence at the same quantify. In 1802, a number of Scotti sh quantity surveying firms gathered to produce the first method of step of builds. In St Lukes Gospel (1428) a story is recorded of the importance of counting the approach before you build implying that several(prenominal) form of these employs existed even in biblical times (P 12-13)These authors seem to have no put ruling on the matter except they do offer up the opinion of others as well as the aforementioned biblical quote. Thompsons belief was that that after(prenominal) the Great Fire of London in 1666, there was such a big amount of operation needed through and that the usual way of developing(a) tradesmen by daily rates was unfeasible due to the amount of dig used. So it was deemed that a measure and value brass would be best to allocate payment. This job was entrusted to room decorators but since they were so busy innovation all the new eddys they prosecuteed other men to do the job these men became kn bear as measurers. Seeley and Winfield (1999) state that this method of measure and value surveying was common trust up to the middle 19th century but vaguely describe the af limitath that resulted in the creation of bills of quantities and competitive mading. The origins of quantity surveying and indeed all surveying are detailed hard in F.M.L Thompsons 1968 book, Chartered Surveyors, the growth of a profession.The opinion shared out by Thompson (1968) and Seeley and Winfield (1999) is a popular one among authors however this opinion is non shared by Colin Dent in his book Quantity Surveying a Fully Metricated Text. In his eyes the birth of quantity surveying came in coincidence with that of the bill of quantities. Dent puts it that the bill of quantities arose from tollly nature that was tough in pricing jobs in the 19th century. General avowers in this era where becoming aggravated with cash in ones chipsing money measuring, pricing and preparing a tender for a job only not to get and have to arrest the cost of an unsu ccessful swordplay. It and so leftover the contractor having to price in the cost of unsuccessful receives into his successful ones this did not sit well with lymph nodes who were disgruntled that they had to pay for a contractors previous losing bid. It was heavily thought at this time that the lowest bid was the best, but it was often the case that the lowest bid came from an omission in the contractors take bill of quantities. This would leave the contractor the line of attempting to make the money up from somewhere else in the project. Again clients were displeased with this so it was decided about 1850 that a universal bill of quantities would be made from the client and sent to the contractors to price.Ferry, Brandon Ferry, 2006, see it differently they believe that it was contractors who first used surveyors to draw up bills of quantities for them to price. A group of contractors would perhaps employ one surveyor with the winning bid then paying his fee. Architects suspected pernicious play in these bids with excessive wastage allowed and the possibility that contractors would fix so that one bid would win before all would get a pay out from the contract sum. The architect then took over employing surveyors to draw up one bill of quantities for all to price.Either way the bill of quantities system was seen as somewhat competition amid contractors and gained recognition by 1880, and after it was used in the building of the Houses of Parliament and was successful it was then pass judgment as the most efficient and economical way of building. It is probably most likely from this point of the evolution of the bill of quantities that surveyors shook off the term off measurers and gained the term QSs as their job title.Another contrasting control is that of Duncan Cartlidge the author of New Aspects of Quantity Surveying Practice 2nd edition. The basis of his opinion also comes from the 19th century and the formation of the Royal take of Br itish Architects (RIBA) in 1834. This move was made by architects to further them surveyors/contractors and their exceptionable commercial interest in construction. In his suck the greater righteousness for the production line side construction now given to surveyors/contractors created the need to have someone in charge of the managing of capital and quantities, thus the QS was born (Cartlidge, 2006).There are several views regarding the origin of the quantity surveying profession as I mentioned above. However when all views are looked at an almost direct line events can be seen to occur where every stage seems to be a step in the evolution of quantity surveying. In this readers opinion the act of assessing material amounts for building and also the cost goes back to early civilisation. But it was not until after the Great Fire in 1666 that a full time job was created for someone to measure and value work done. Client and contractor dissatisfaction with payment of the final ac count and a fair method of tendering led to the birth of bills of quantities and it is the basis of measuring and value and the lottery up of bills of quantities that produced the handed-downistic QS, which still exists today.This form of quantity surveying worked well in the late 19th century and early years of the twentieth century, so much so that in 1909 the RIBA incorporated the bills of quantities into its standard building contract, thus making it a legally binding document (Dent, 1970)(Ashworth Hogg, 2000). In 1922 the first edition of the British Standard Method of meter of expression Works (or SMM) was adopted into the contract as a means for which full treatment were measured. Its introduction was to alleviate confusion about which quantities were measurable (Ashworth, 1981).The pattern of quantity surveying re principal(prenominal)ed very much unchanged for many a(prenominal) years in fact it was not until after that Second earthly concern War that the tralat itious techniques came into question. The government began its task of rebuilding the country after the war and gave minacious everyday spending during the 1950s and 1960s for rebuilding of houses, schools, hospitals, roads, etc. (Ashworth, 2004). This in turn byword work for QSs place upright as the government had spend huge sums of money on the war and had incurred large international debt, so keeping buildings cost low was a top priority (Thompson, 1968). In order to plan this spending properly and achieve value for money in the various projects, something additional needed to be done other than simply to measure and value the works as was the conventional method. The then Ministry of Public makes and Works and the RICS began to develop systems of financial control and evaluation for new buildings. This laid the foundation for further exploration into cost control techniques (Ashworth, 2004). In 1957 the Ministry of Education issued a bulletin that was a milestone in the pr actice as it introduced new methods of working and new principles of cost analysis and cost planning (Building Bulletin No.4 Cost Study). The bulletin initiated the intellection of cost planning which set about to equalise the cost of different design solutions and also designing within an overall cost framework. This meant that QSs would for the first time have to discern costs all the way through a construction project, whereas a previously they simply a drew up quantities from architect drawings at the start and helped settle accounts at the end. QSs would now have to compare different designs and different elements of buildings in an attempt to obtain cost efficiency, and then manage the expenditure throughout to ensure that the project was not over budget. This was the first use of elemental cost planning or designing to a cost and formally introduced the QS into the design aggroup (Ashworth Hogg, 2000).The 1970s saw a huge increase in the amount of universities offering quantity surveying as an undergraduate course, in 1970 alone 30 polytechnics create (Willis, 1987). Not only were there to a greater extent quantity surveying students but there were more quantity surveying lectures, this meant that more research was being done on the profession, finding more and more ways to get out itself (Ashworth Hogg, 2000). It was in this research that the holes began to be ex comprise in the conventional procural method. Studies showed that clients wee not always obtaining value for money in the procural of their buildings (Ashworth, 2004). In 1970 -1974 the UK seen a quality boom so developers were anxious to get building, this forced fast track methods of procurement to develop as the traditional method was seen as too slow. Management contracting and forms of design and build were introduced. These methods did not require a bill of quantities so QS involvement was left to cost plan and try and keep the budget. These were unchartered water for QSs and there was a lack of cost certainty but it was tolerated as property values were rising so quickly (Cartlidge, 2009). The 70s also seen the introduction of calculating machines something which many believed over time would end QSs. Sir John Egan, author of the wide stint handle Rethinking Construction, once told a group of graduates in 1999 that the construction attention will no longer be needing them to count the cost of a project computer technology would be doing it instead (Carvill, 1999). Adrian .J Smith, author of Computers and the QS, puts it thatThe QS and the computer have been partners in an intense love hate relationship for over 30 years indeed, it would be embarrassing to find any other profession in which the relationship between man and machine has generated, by turns, so much discussion hope and optimism disappointment and disillusion, (Smith, 1989)Of course they were not very well advanced in this era however they did give insight into how projects may be ca lculated and determined and began to challenge the perceive wisdom of the traditional methods (Ashworth, 2004)During the mid-eighties the quantity surveying profession started to profess radical changes to their traditional ways of working, and much of the change stemming from new procurement methods which seemed to spell the end for the bills of quantities. Procurement, a term not used until the 1980s, became an pregnant area of activity, largely because of the increasing array of options available (Ashworth Hogg, 2006). These options came about as clients became dissatisfied with amount of time taken to procure through traditional tendering methods (i.e. bills of quantities). So new forms of procurement arose to try and come across client requirements, the main forms that were on the increase were Design and Build (D B), Management Procurement. Clients seen these methods as more beneficial for time and also because it handed more risk to the contractor in D B and to a gui dance contractor in worry procurement (Cartlidge, 2009). (The benefits of these types of procurements are discussed for later in this chapter). Some quantity surveying companies were very respondent to the change that focus procurement brought about and began to adapt their practices, as D B hadnt much use for pro QSs. However it did create an opening on the contractors side for more cost control as they needed to manage their own construction costs. The practice of cost modelling which was introduced in the previous decade had been studied further. darn the profession was looking for new ways of estimating away from the bill of quantities, the cost modelling method was, and still is, seen as too radical and requiring too much practice from the security of a reasonably reliable merely imperfect system of the bill of quantities (Ashworth Hogg, 2000). The emphasis of building costs was high school on the agenda and it was also during this time that attention shifted from initia l construction costs alone to a more general overall view of the costs over the entire liveness cycle of the project. self-coloured life costing takes into consideration the initial procurement, design and construction costs as well as fees and charges. It also takes into account the operational costs such as maintenance, repairs and energy expenses, and the cost of disposal and recycling of the building is also included (Cartlidge 2009). Eventually all of these aspects would be considered within the emerging practice of facilities perplexity. These considerations provided yet another shift towards adding value to the intentness and its clients. This recognised that to quiz the initial costs of construction within the context of whole costs that it might yield an overall better financial situation for the client (Ashworth Hogg, 2000). Two other new aspects of costing that came about in the 1980s were value management and facilities management. Value management or value appli ed science arrived in the UK in the 1980s but in some hotshot it already existed, as mentioned earlier the government wanted cheaper buildings after the war, so cost planning in this era focused on unobjectionable products for the least cost which in essence is what value can be defined as (Kelly, Morledge, Wilkinson, 2002). Facilities management was also introduced as from of project management that went much further than just managing the construction. Aspects of the building such as its infrastructure, its environmental impact, its maintenance and its communication links all came under the theatrical role of a facilities manager (Ashworth 2004). Basically it was not just managing the buildings construction but managing the building as a whole. Value management was a natural cash advance for QSs as they were the experts on buildings product costs so they were able to intercommunicate the client on all options and help provide the selection which calibre the most value. The R ICS recognised this change when it published its report of a study of Value Engineering and Quantity Surveying Practice in 1987. Facilities management was further away from the traditional QSs way of working and closer to a profession which narrowd in project management, however with many believe at this time that QSs were heading down that route this line of work was seen as a future possibility for QSs.During the 1990s several key out reports were produced that assisted in the new statements of the QS profession, they helped to formulate a future direction and strategy, emphasising the changing nature of society in general and the construction patience and the profession within it (Ashworth Hogg, 2000). The first in 1991 was made by Davis, Langdon Everest, one of the largest QS firms in the world at present, wrote the report QS2000 The Future Role of the Quantity Surveyor which focused on the changes in the construction industry and how it was affecting the profession. The all-important(prenominal) point stressed in this report was that QSs needed to learn to manage more effectively the time and quality as well as the cost in an attempt to add value into a clients business and construction project. The report also identified widening markets and diversification for the quantity surveyor, suggesting three key areas of future activity value management, procurement management, and facilities management. The idea of more research and development into better QS practices was promoted as it was as another way of adding value for the client (Davis, Langdon, Everest, 1991).The RICS The core skills and knowledge base of the quantity surveyor report released in 1992 affirmed a lot of the points raised in the 1991 Davis, Langdon and Everest report. It also raised point that QS may need to change the way they address clients and professionals to try and make clear to clients the run they offer (RICS, 1992).Constructing the team was a report written by Sir Micha el Latham in 1994 which had far stint consequences on the construction industry and those employed in it, including quantity surveyors. The report called for more standardisation of design and construction by establishing more operational and efficient supply chains. More transparency in costing between the professionals and clients was seen to be needed this was of particular interest to QSs as target of minify cost by 30% was set by the report. The report also encouraged more teamwork in all construction teams to produce a product that all, including the client, could be justifiably happy with. This point also highlighted QSs as they did at this time have a reputation as difficult to deal with professionals for the client (Cartlidge 2006).Sir John Egan, a keen advocate of Sir Michael Lathams report and known to be a person to be a person convinced of the need of change in the industry was appointed as head of the Construction Task Force (Cartlidge, 2006). It was Egans opinion t hat while some of the construction industry learned from the Latham report, not enough was done to meet the targets set out within it. In 1998 Sir John Egan published his own report titled Rethinking Construction. This report was seen as the blueprint for the modernisation of the systems used in the construction industry to procure work. The Egan report revealed in a survey of major UK property clients that many still dissatisfied with the function performances offered by both contractors and consultants. These clients revealed thatMore that a third of them thought that consultants were miss in providing a speedy and reliable serviceThey mat up they were not receiving good value for money insofar as construction projects did not met their functional needs and had high whole life costsThey felt that the design and construction should be integrated in order to gestate added valueThere was a failure to keep within hold budgets and the completion schedules.(Rethinking Construction, Sir John Egan, 1998)These points were damaging to consultants and in particular quantity surveyors who a lot believe were one of the guiltiest of these failings in the industry. Responding to this report, in 1999 Building magazine publisher published the oblige The QS a profession on the brink. The magazine conducted its own survey of over 12,000 QSs and the overwhelming feeling was one of anxiety about their future.The survey shows that QSs are concerned about the rapid erosion of their traditional role, their inability to persuade clients that they can significantly contribute to their projects, and the threat posed by acquisitive rivals and by other professionals such as management consultants and accounts75% of QSs asked believed at this stage that new software packages were replacing their traditional cost modelling role in fact a old partner of Davis, Langdon Everest is quoted as saying that traditional quantity surveying, especially the count of BoQs, is on the way out. Many senior QSs in large firms such as Cyril Sweet and Bucknall Austin believed the profession was heading into management consultancy that specialise in construction. The latter in fact now referring to themselves as construction economists. This article seemed to spell the end for the QS as it was followed by more articles that interpret from the same hymn sheet (Building, 1999). Adapt or Die (2000) called on QSs to find a new niche in the industry as their traditional role of measuring and drawing up BoQS was fading fast. It referred to QSs as an endangered species and that it was a case of survival of the fittest, the fittest being the surveyor who adapts and diversifies to a changing industry.Many practices have already evolved, reinventing themselves as cost consultants or construction cost advisors, or diversifying to become project managers, construction managers or total service providers offering professional management go to the industry not a word about cost in there at all. (Building, 2000)A year later (2001) a further article authorize What is the use of QSs stated through a survey that the general public had little or no idea of what a QS does. The author suggesting that construction law was an appropriate landing spot for diversifying QSs citing that their cost expertise could be a valuable tool in dispute resolution. The article also followed the theme of others implying that the traditional role was dying (Building, 2001).A lot of the articles around this time were in response to the 1999 survey carried out by Building magazine, so in that respect their fear inducing titles seemed to be on the mark. But five years on the same magazine was speaking quite differently. From forecasting that the QS profession may be on the brink, they were now stating that not only were QSs in high demand, but that their services were on the rise all over the world. The 2004 article Rocking All Over the World tells of how some of the UKs largest QS firms wer e expanding into foreign markets such as the Middle East, China, North America, atomic number 63 and other Commonwealth Nations. Richard Steer, senior partner of Gleeds a large QS firm, commented incisively as were trying to lose the name quantity surveyor we are acquiring requests for QS services. It should be highlighted from the article that while there was an increase in QS demand, it was not for the traditional QS services. The industry was interested in professionals with expertise in sustainable construction, dispute resolution and adjudication, cost control techniques, procurement advice and also the need for an independent voice in the construction process (Building, 2004).It is not strike that QSs were in high demand in this era. The world was on the fountainhead of building boom as property around the world went up at a dizzying pace in places like Dubai and Beijing (for the 2008 exceeding games) for example. What should be noted form this was the services they were o ffering. Williss Practice and Procedure for the Quantity Surveyor 12th ed (2007) depicts how the role of a QS had evolved from the traditional in 1960 into the present (see Fig. 1.1)Single rate approximate estimatesCost planningProcurement adviceMeasurement and quantificationDocument preparation, especially bills of quantitiesCost control during constructionInterim valuations and paymentsfiscal statementsFinal account preparation and agreementSettlement of contractual claimsFig. 1.1 traditional quantity surveying activities 1960Investment appraisalAdvice on cost limits and budgetsWhole life costingValue managementRisk analysisInsolvency servicesCost engineering servicesSubcontract administrationEnvironmental services measurement and costingTechnical auditing mean and supervisionValuation for insurance policy purposesProject managementFacilities managementAdministering maintenance programsAdvice on contractual disputesPlanning supervisorEmployers agentN.B. some of traditional activi ties may still be part of a present day QSs role such as procurement advisor or cost planning. (Ashworth Hogg 2007)Williss book also gave insight into what the future may bring for the QS, all of which are utter about today and are considered to be the most recent QS responsibilities to have developed. Activities such asEnvironmental and sustainability analysisSupply chain managementFacilities managementLegal servicesQuality managementAutomated measurement and quantificationTaxation and investment advice relating to projects (Ashworth Hogg, 2007) (Cartlidge, 2009)When looking at the list of traditional of activities for quantity surveyors compared to the present day role which the practice, it shows up a profession that has vastly evolved in the amount of services that it has the potential to offer to the construction industry. yet still today QSs are challenging themselves to take on more as to stop other professions poaching their business. Stuart Earl of the RICS in this art icle in the Construction Journal speaks of the need to adapt to stop outside intrusion. His article New tools for the trade covers the topic of the rules of measurement issued by the RICS. The new rules of measurement order of cost estimating and elemental cost planning is set of comprehensive rules for calculating the cost of the whole project, not just the building works which the Standard Method of Measurement (SMM) currently does. This initiative is a bid by the RICS to incorporate whole life costing into the framework of the QS role and to promote value for money thinking. Stuart Earl describes the rule as our professions statement of the minimal technical standard required to carry out measurement at all stages in the life of a building. If we do not rise to the challenge, others may do it for us, or worse, we may find ourselves losing out to accountants. (RICS Construction Journal, Aug, 2009)Michael Sullivan, the chairman of the QS Construction Professional Group of the RIC S, details a connatural problem for QSs. His article from the Construction Journal, The vital link, he tells of QSs need to shove sustainability in the industry so that it becomes a part of the quantity surveying framework for the future professionals to adopt rather than another profession. the next generation of QSs will want to know what you are doing about sustainability, expecting you to understand it more than others, like management consultants (RICS Construction Journal, Dec, 2009)Ever since quantity surveyings traditional practices were questioned in the wake of the Second World War, QSs have been faced with the challenge of diversifying and justifying their profession. Although on the small to medium scale the traditional practices are still viable (with some modern innovation, e.g. Information technology advancement), the large scale projects and firms are very much different (Cartlidge, 2009). And it is no surprise that the companies that have done the best are those that have adopted the Egan ethos of value for money and became more client focussed thus changed and added to the QS services they offer. It seems possibly that to succeed the QS industry hinges on the amount of services you can provide to fulfil a wide variety of client needs.