(f) Estimates, materials supplied through Government Supplies Department, cost statistics and Architectural Office Library.
4.11 The Branch is responsible for the preparation of estimates, bills of quantities, contract documents, valuations for interim payments and final accounts for all Architectural Office projects. It is also responsible for arranging contracts and checking accounts for the maintenance of Government buildings and British Armed Forces buildings, including checking the measurement of all Works Orders exceeding $1,600 in value.
4.12 The Branch is staffed by 43 Quantity Surveyors and professional assistants; supporting technical staff is engaged on preparation of contract documents for minor works, 'working-up', site measurement, checking accounts and similar duties.
4.13 The number of professional staff on the present establishment is insufficient to deal with the current building programme but further posts have not been recommended due to the extreme difficulty in recruiting staff at this level. The situation is further aggravated by the increasing number and complexity of claims submitted by contractors and it has been necessary to employ the services of five private firms of quantity surveyors for some 25% of the output of the Branch for the year under review.
4.14 During the year under review 210 contracts were placed to a total value of $184 million and some 7,817 accounts were checked for work executed under the Maintenance Contracts to a total value of $40.73 million.
4.15 Building costs continued to rise throughout the year and the total increase was about 15% over the previous year. This, it will be noted, is half the rate of increase reported for the previous year, which trend is accounted for by the following principal factors:
(a) The continuing decrease in the cost of mild steel reinforcement.
(b) The apparent zenith reached by wage demands.
(c) A slackening in the demands on the building industry from the private sector, thus increasing competition for public contracts.
(d) An improvement in the labour position in the building industry.
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