Quantity Surveyors
Home Page Quantity Surveying Careers in Construction Quantity Surveyors Construction Consultants Construction Dispute Resolution	Quantity Surveyors - National Commercial Services UK National Commercial Services specialise in the following areas Quantity Surveyors Careers in Construction Construction Consultants Construction Dispute Resolution Quantity Surveying Quantity Surveyors are concerned with financial management, measurement and accounting on construction projects. They deal with detail and tend to be highly literate and numerate and possess computer and IT skills to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities. They work on their own or within teams of other QS's or multi-disciplined professionals. They can be employed by Contractors, Subcontractors, Trade Specialists, Architects, Consulting Engineers or other companies or organisations involved in the construction process. Quantity Surveyors are trained professionals. Some will start straight from school, some will study further with a university or higher education degree in the subject. Professional qualifications can be gained through a number of institutions recognized throughout the world, examples being the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (Inst.C.E.S.). QSs can work in all levels of the industry, from assistant and trainee through intermediate, project, senior, managing, regional and chief Quantity Surveyor levels to Company Directors. Quantity Surveyors are involved with all financial aspects of construction work and increasingly, in the role of commercial, legal and contractual specialists. In addition to the prime quantity surveying functions, many QSs have an expertise in the research, preparation, submission and negotiation of contractual claims as a part of the general responsibility for financial control and financial well-being of contracts. Quantity Surveyors work in building, civil engineering, water, process, M & E and other areas of the construction industry. They usually operate in two distinct environments. 'Pre-contract' work involves the preparation of documentation to enable work to be put out to tendering contractors on behalf of the Client. Clients include government bodies, public and private authorities, developers and others seeking to undertake construction projects. Quantity Surveyors working in this area are usually employed by Professional Quantity Surveying Practices, Consulting Engineers, Architects or other companies, practices, professionals or individuals retained by the end user to ensure that what is eventually built is what he actually requires. He is likely to work in conjunction with designers and engineers and other construction professionals. The Quantity Surveyor's work includes taking off quantities from drawings prepared by others, analysing, tabulating, formulating the information to facilitate the preparation of bills of quantities, schedule of rates or other documentation chosen to enable the works to be measured and valued. In doing this, the Quantity Surveyor follows guidelines set out under various documents which form part of the contract, including the method of measurement, conditions of contract, contract specification and other particulars. He may be involved in the preparation of preambles or other documents forming part of the contract. Once the documentation is prepared, the contract can be let and the work commenced. The quantity surveyor is then concerned with 'Post-contract' work, for either the Employer or his agents, or the Contractor carrying out the work. He may work on site or remote from site in his Employer's offices. The Quantity Surveyor working on behalf of the Employer may have been involved in the pre-Contract work or he may not. His job is to ensure that the value of work carried out is properly established in accordance with the particular contractual arrangements being used, and to certify appropriate payments to the Contractor. This involves taking receipt of the Contractor's interim applications for payment usually at fortnightly or monthly intervals, checking the Contractor's submissions and calculations and preparing details for certification of payment by the Engineer or the Architect. The principle role of the Quantity Surveyor working for the Contractor is to look after the financial interests of his employer. He will calculate and record the financial value of the work carried out and ensure that the Contractor is paid properly and on time. During the currency of the contract, he will be involved in measurements on site and from drawings in order to establish the true value of work done in the interim period. This is usually itemised within a bill of quantities or schedule of rates prepared in advance as part of the contract documentation. He will consider variations, modified and additional works and evaluate their value for his interim applications for payment. Concurrently, he will be concluding measurement and evaluation wherever possible as part of the final measure, to be submitted later as part of the Contractor's Final Account. In addition to preparing applications for payment, the site-based Quantity Surveyor is also likely to be involved in internal company reporting so that the Contractor's management are kept abreast of the financial status of the project. He is likely to be involved in forecasts and budgets and other reporting systems. Another key role for the modern quantity surveyor working for Contractors, is the procurement, appointment, administration, management and payment of subcontractors. On some projects, the management of subcontract accounts is the Quantity Surveyor's chief responsibility. He may also have responsibility for matters such as insurance claims on behalf of the Contractor or third party claims.
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