The Journey of A Quantity Surveyor
By Mike Cox
I have been working for a Quantity Surveyor (QS) for nearly 40 years and it is something I truly enjoy. My career path may have been a little different to those people today in that I started work at 16 after leaving school, when an opportunity at a local UK QS private practice became available and I was successful with my application, although at the time I was not fully aware what the role would fully entail.
The practice called Cameron Middleton and Lees had a main office in Oldham near Manchester, UK and approximately 40 staff, and was what I would call very traditional with trainees starting work in the library (reading over and checking for errors in typed documents) and the print room (printing and binding documents at a time before photocopiers arrived), before later assisting the senior staff. Academically, trainees attended college one day per week whilst working the other 4 days in the office - this arrangement was common at the time and gave you great work experience.
Over my career I have worked in private practice, local and central government and I have also undertaken roles as a consultant, and even worked on the dark side for a main contractor and a residential developer.
In terms of highlights, there have been the usual challenges in terms of delivering demanding and difficult projects and I was also able to become a partner in the practice where it all began for me as a trainee, but I would have to say being able to start and grow my own cost management company which I ran for a little over 10 years and the opportunity much later in my career to come and work in Australia have to be up there without a doubt.
Since moving to Australia 7 years ago I been fortunate to work with some great individuals and on some exciting projects and I am the Victoria State Lead and National Cost Director for Currie & Brown based in Melbourne.
Currie & Brown are multi-disciplinary and are involved across cost management, project management and provide advisory services, so my typical day involves catching up with the respective department leads around workload and any day- to-day issues that may be in play as well as making sure we keep to deadlines and engage with the Client and other stakeholders. Within the wider business there are reporting requirements and updates to be provided from the Melbourne office and I oversee workload to the wider QS teams in the Sydney and Brisbane offices.
I enjoy the mix of managing the office and still retaining a hands-on cost management role on some of our projects so you may find me at the odd meeting or in a fee submission. I also provide expert witness advice around quantum issues including delay damages, costs for rectification of defects and an opinion on the reasonableness of costs in terms of claims and variations.
So, I’m sure you’re keen to know what a QS does and how they assist in the delivery of a project and the easy answer would be to say they manage the costs and provide recommendations but there is so much more to it than that. I believe the QS is key and fundamental to the project as they oversee the design team in terms of cost control, whereas the other members of the team tend to only consider or prioritize their own discipline and are not necessarily thinking about cost impacts when they complete the design.
Client side QS’s have differing roles throughout the design and construction process, in terms of pre-contract works and before the project commences on site. There are a number of cost plan stages to work through and QS’s have the ability to read a drawing and understand the complexity of the design and imagine the construction happening. This analytical approach helps to recognize the need for further clarification or spot coordination issues which in turn reduces the risk and cost to the parties.
Through measurement of the drawings the QS will understand the cost premiums or impacts that may occur, be these because of the specification or detailing or maybe because of site or other restrictions. This knowledge and experience enables accurate pricing of these critical elements to occur and a purposeful budget to be set and monitored.
The QS role post contract and once on site is to oversee, monitor and report on costs and again is pivotal to a successful outcome for the parties – variations and changes to the original agreed scope requires an understanding of whether the content of the claims is additional and what the magnitude of change and costs really are. The QS also undertakes other functions including the monthly reviews of progress to enable payments to occur, providing advice around anticipated final costs and again providing day to day advice around any pertinent cost issues that may affect the final project cost.
Graduates considering a career path in quantity surveying and working with practices like Currie & Brown would be given the opportunity to have full involvement and assist in the delivery of the above tasks whilst still having the support and the mentorship of senior staff. The mix of office and periodic site visits helps the individual gain key experience which in turn develops the QS skill set of understanding the constituent parts around delivery and the quality, time and cost factors.
Over the years, I have met a number of QS’s with differing abilities and skill sets and I suppose much like people in construction roles and other industries there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’ in terms of the qualities and traits that you would look for. Our current team come from all different backgrounds and have studied engineering, project and construction management besides some who have purely trained in surveying. The common characteristics are their enthusiasm to learn and deliver a successful outcome.
In terms of networking there are a number of organisations that support and actively work with QS’s; AIQS and RICS would be able to provide additional information about the role, the career paths available and the related associations.
A career working as a QS in construction isn’t limited to either working Client side or Contractor side, and each has its own challenges and rewards. So if it’s the atmosphere and collaboration of site working or the early cost planning activities when you assemble the design jigsaw pieces and create a cost plan, maybe there’s a role for you as a budding cost planner.
Mike Cox is Victoria State Lead and National Cost Director for Currie & Brown based in Melbourne. He's still got an English accent, and is a very passionate individual.