What are the professional duties of a quantity surveyor?

Professional duties of a quantity surveyor

What are the professional duties of a quantity surveyor

We’d like to explain more to you, hopefully in layman’s terms, because if a question is posed like in this title, a reader expects answers.

There’s 3 parts to the professional duties of a quantity surveyor:

Pre Contract

Working in the public sector

Tender Review

Pre Contract duties (in broad, general terms)  include:

  1. Providing procurement and contractual advice to mitigate risk
  2. Providing ‘Order of Magnitude’ costs for construction projects
  3. Refining, monitoring and controlling costs during design development
  4. Preparing contract documentation including formal contracts

Duties when working in the public sector

Quantity surveying in the public sector has been put to use right from the early years of post colonialism as colonial administrations at the time were handing over control to the new sovereign governments.

Major roles of quantity surveyors in public administration are:

  1. Managing construction projects on behalf of the government to ensure that the project is completed on time and within the budget
  2. Giving expert advice on contractual claims arising out of construction projects
  3. Assessing the cost of reinstatement of buildings damaged by fire, war, looting, natural disasters etc. and negotiating a settlement
  4. Acting as an independent arbitrator in settling disputes

Tender Review

We’ve written before about the importance of meeting tender deadlines and how 4G Consultancy in Milton Keynes can help.

In broad terms, our duties include:

  1. Identifying cost-risks in tender returns
  2. Preparing tender reports
  3. Recommending a preferred tenderer
  4. Estimating tenure of the project
  5. Calculating the overall cost of the project
  6. End of contract strategy for new incumbent

Now when someone asks you what is a quantity surveyor, we hope that you’re now well equipped to answer it and even break it down into 3 parts!

If you’d like to know any more about our experience and services, contact 4G Consultancy today.