Cost Management (The QS’s Role)
The control and allocation of monies on construction projects is generally the responsibility of the professional quantity surveyor. Areas of service offered by the QS are:
Preliminary Cost Advice
From the first concept, quantity surveyors
• give essential, practical advice on the cost of a project
• advise on feasibility and economics of construction projects, forms of contracts and methods of construction
• prepare cash flow analyses.
Cost Planning
The prime objectives of cost planning are: to build a project which is economical within design parameters, optimising value for money; to control cost within the agreed budget; and to achieve a balance of expenditure between the various functional elements of the project.
Procurement
On completion of the cost plan, the project moves into the construction stage, which generally begins with some form of competitive tendering if the building owner's interests are to be fully protected. There are many forms of contractual arrangement, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. One role the quantity surveyor undertakes is to identify the form of contract which best suits the building owner's requirement; for example, cost reimbursement; lump sum traditional tendering; negotiated construction management; package deal and methods of fast tracking. Professionally prepared schedules of quantities are an effective cost saving device. They relieve each tenderer of the onus and therefore the cost of compiling their own, a cost which could otherwise be passed on to the client in the tender price. Schedules can frequently provide a greater spread of sub-contract prices, resulting in cost savings to the client. Schedules also provide the necessary feedback to monitor cost over-runs and form the basis for processing progress claims, variations to the contract and ultimately the final account. This documentation process is the last but vital part of the pre-contract cost control service, in itself, it produces significant savings for the client.
Post Contract Administration
The monitoring and reporting of actual cost outlays, unexpended monies, variations and regular plotting of costs versus targets ensures that an up-to-date position can be known at all times. To many clients a major under-run in time can be as problematical as a major over-run. Only by regular monitoring can such events be properly identified and avoided.
Other Services
Quantity surveyors have diversified their activities into other related areas such as: project coordination, project management, project planning, insurance valuations, research and statistics, specified schedules, design-build evaluation, analysis for taxation purposes, arbitration advice, market research and analysis on new products and systems, computer software development and marketing, data collection and dissemination.