Glossary
Is the method of carrying out a construction project whereby a contractor is appointed at the preconstruction stage and paid on a fee basis, to manage and deliver the project. The fee comprises a percentage for profit and fixed overheads. All construction work is carried out by the sub-contractors, selected and appointed in consultation with the client and his professional advisers.
also known as a Construction Economist, or Cost Manager, is one of a team of professional advisers to the construction industry.
As advisers they estimate and monitor construction costs, from the feasibility stage of a project through to the completion of the construction period. After construction they may be involved with tax depreciation schedules, replacement cost estimation for insurance purposes and, if necessary, mediation and arbitration.
Quantity surveyors are employed predominantly on major building and construction projects as consultants to the owner, in both the public and private sectors. They may also work as academics in the building and construction disciplines and in financial institutions, with developers and as project managers.
Quantity Surveyors work closely with architects, financiers, engineers, contractors, suppliers, project owners, accountants, insurance underwriters, solicitors and Courts and with all levels of government authorities.
Quantity surveyors get their name from the Bill of Quantities, a document which itemises the quantities of materials and labour in a construction project. This is measured from design drawings, to be used by the contractors for tendering and for progress payments, for variations and changes and ultimately for statistics, taxation and valuation.