A new role
for the
quantity surveyor
QUANTITY surveyors have been in existence for over 120 years and there are indeed some firms as old as that still practising to-day. But it is wrong to think of quantity surveying as an aged profession. It has, in fact, em- erged recently from the technical role it played in the 19th and early part of the 20th century.
There are some people, however, particularly those not intimately con- nected with the building industry, who are unaware of this changing role.
What, then, is the modern role of the profession? Basically, the quantity surveyor is the client's adviser on building cost. In this capacity the profession is equipping itself to advise and regulate not only the initial capital cost of building but the economics of construction, including running, main- tenance and replacement costs or costs
in use.
Normally, quantity surveyors are appointed by a building client to look after his interests in the formulation and financial administration of his contract; similarly, contractors have on their own staff quantity surveyors to look after their interest.
Cash flow
The profession has a particularly important role to play with clients building for investment, where the return on capital is a direct objective of building. Here the profession makes use of discounted cash flow techniques to achieve optimum results.
Modern building is a complicated
menced, detailed cost planning will follow so that the available finance can be sensibly allocated to the building in line with the accepted budget pro- posals. If this is not so, the excessive cost absorbed by one element of the building may inhibit the choice of final finishings; it is easier to reduce the standard of finishings than to retract on service or structural deci- sions in the later stages of design.
The quantity surveyor, in order to advise on this aspect of construction, necessarily works very closely with architects and engineers who jointly are engaged to serve the best interests of their clients, and while some archi- tects and engineers in the past have looked with suspicion upon the activi ties of this new engagement, the more
By A.T. Brett-Jones, FRICS progressive architects accept the quantity surveyor in this role as essen- tial in modern building.
process and even after a contractor has been selected there is need for consi- derable negotiation between the parties. This occurs both before the contract is signed and during the progress of the work involving mea- surement and valuation, and it is important for the client that his inter- ests should be properly looked after.
Furthermore, this applies whether the building contract be carried out as a result of competitive tendering, negotiation or by means of a package deal.
The quantity surveyor has for some time been concerned with the record- ing of the financial effect of design decisions after they have been made but he has now moved into the field of forecasting the financial effect of alter- native design solutions ahead of de- sign. This service brings him into close contact with both the other members of the design team and with the client.
The careful cost planning of con- struction from inception until com- pletion is of vital importance. To be able to offer proper advice, the sur- veyor must understand the client's objectives. The preparation of alterna- tive cost budgets at the very earliest stage in the concept of a scheme will present the client with the options open to him before detailed design is embarked upon. Such exercises are invaluable when considering the pur- chase of a site or the outline planning application for a development.
Once the decision to build has been taken and planning and design com-
Cost control is a continuous pro- cess commencing with the original setting up of an acceptable financial budget through the planning and de- sign stages to the finalisation of con- struction.
The process is one of checking and rechecking the financial effect of de- sign decisions and changes in the ori ginal plan of works in order to achieve ever more accurate results in line with the client's requirements as the design solutions crystallise first in outline and then in detail.
The process, however, must ensure flexibility. Modern buildings, even in isolation, are complex in themselves; large central area developments, in- dustrial plants and factories and pro- grammes for the construction of hos- pitals, universities and new towns are much more complicated and any sys- tem of cost control must allow for changes during the development of a scheme.
Cost blame
These changes, normally called variations on building constracts, are often blamed for the high cost of building. There is no doubt that they can materially affect the financial out- come of a contract and many of these variations arise from a particular whim or fancy of an individual and may be avoided with adequate pre-planning.
Nevertheless, the building process is a long one and clients' requirements change during this time. Furthermore, we must always accept that clients may simply have second thoughts which are better thoughts, and any system that cannot accommodate these must be very wasteful. Nothing
Far East BUILDER, December 1969
27