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Quantity Surveying - Introduction

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69 views

Quantity Surveying - Introduction

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1 General lntroduction

HISTORICAL BACKCROUNO OF QUANTITY SURVEYINC

The quantity surveying profession has largely developed over the last century,
but has now grown to such an extent that it forms the second largest sector
or specialism in the membership of the Royal lnstitution of Chartered
Surveyors, aided by the amalgamation with the former Institute of Quantity
Surveyors (IQS) in 1983. Quantity surveyors are employed in private practices,
public offices and by contractors, and they undertake a great diversity of
work, as described by the author in Quantity Surveying Practice.
In more recent times, quantity surveyors are engaged increasingly in the
financial management of contracts and ensuring that clients secure value for
money and that the completed projects provide substantial added value to
the client's property asset. In addition to being construction cost consultants
as described in Building Economics, quantity surveyors are playing an increas-
ingly important role in project management, value management and facilities
management, as described in Quantity Surveying Practice. Furthermore, they
are sometimes engaged as lead consultants for large projects, where they are
responsible for the delivery of ali professional services from inception to
completion.
The earliest quantity surveying firm of which records are available is a
Reading firm which was operating in 1785. There is little doubt that other firms
were in existence at this time and a number of Scottish quantity surveyors
met in 1802 and produced the first method of measurement. Up to the
middle of the nineteenth century it was the practice to measure and value
the building work after it had been completed and bills of quantities were
not prepared.
The need for quantity surveyors became evident as building work increased
in volume and building clients became dissatisfied with the method adopted
for settling the cost of the work.
In the seventeenth century the architect was responsible for the erection of
buildings, as well as their design, and he employed a number of master crafts-
men who performed the work in each trade. Drawings were of a very sketchy
nature and much of the work was ordered during the course of the job. On
completion each master craftsman submitted an account for the materials
used and labour employed on the work.

I. H. Seeley and R. Winfield, Building Quantities Explained


© Ivor H. Seeley and Roger Winfield 1999
2 Building Quantities Explained

It later became the practice for many of the master craftsmen to engage
' surveyors' or 'measurers' to prepare these accounts. One of the major
problems was to reconcile the amount of material listed on invoices with the
quantity measured on completion of the work. Some of the craftsmen's
surveyors made extravagant claims for waste of material in executing the work
on the site and the architects also engaged surveyors to contest these claims.
General contractors became established during the period of the industrial
revolution and they submitted inclusive estimates covering the work of ali
trades. Furthermore they engaged surveyors to prepare bills of quantities on
which their estimates were based. As competitive tendering became more
common the general contractors began to combine to appoint a single
surveyor to prepare a bill of quantities, which ali the contractors priced.
In addition, the architect on behalf of the building owner usually appointed a
second surveyor, who collaborated with the surveyor for the contractors in
preparing the bill of quantities, which was used for tendering purposes.
In later years it became the practice to employ one surveyor only who
prepared an accurate bill of quantities and measured any variations that
arose during the progress of the project. This was the origin of the
independent and impartial quantity surveyor as he operates today.
An excellent account of the development of quantity surveying in the UK
between 1936 and 1986 is provided by Nisbet (1989).

FUNCTIONS OF 8/LL OF QUANTITIES

Frequently, one of the principal activities of the client' s quantity surveyor is


the preparation of bills of quantities, although he does also perform a number
of other functions which will be described later in this chapter. Consideration
will now be given to the main purposes of a bill of quantities:

(1) First and foremost it enables ali contractors tendering for a contract to
price on exactly the same information.
(2) It limits the risk element borne by the contractor to the rates he enters in
the bill and thereby results in more realistic and competitive tenders.
(3) It prompts the client and design team to finalise most project particulars
before the bill is prepared, and ideally based on full production drawing
and project specification.
(4) After being priced it provides a satisfactory basis for the valuation of
variations and adjustments to the final account.
(5) Priced bills also provide a useful basis for the valuation of certified stage
payments throughout a contract.
(6) It gives an itemised list of the component parts of the building, with a full
description and the quantity of each part, and could form an approximate

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