THE COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR QUANTITY SURVEYORS .

1.ILIAS SAID, 2. MOHD WIRA MOHD SHAFIEI, 3. ABDELNASER OMRANTHE COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR QUANTITYSURVEYORS: ENHANCING CONTINUOUSPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTAbstract:Quantity surveyors are construction economists who fulfill varied and comprehensive duties tosupport cost-effective construction and property development projects. The core competencies ofquantity surveyors include determining project budgets, measuring project quantities, preparingcontract documentation (such as Bills of Quantities and cost control documents), administeringcontracts, and preparing final accounts. Despite being recognised as a professional discipline distinctfrom architecture and civil engineering since 1836, quantity surveyors are not immune to the threatsand changes in their operating environment. Some parties in the construction industry have beencritical about the quality of works and services provided by quantity surveyors. Some even questionthe importance of appointing quantity surveyors as project consultants. Because of these challenges,the profession needs to regroup and take stock of the whole situation so that they will not becomeextinct in the future. All parties who have vested interest in the development of the profession, be itthe students, educators, registered as well as unregistered quantity surveyors must find an answer toarguably, the declining roles of quantity surveyors and the lack of recognition they receive inconstruction projects. However, recognising the importance of professional competence, this paperhas looked into issues relating to quantity surveyors’ competency. As results, this paper was revealedthat, quantity surveying educators and practices alike, are still deeply entrenched in the ‘traditional’core competencies rather than the newer and more novel services and skills.Keywords:Competency, training, continuous professional development, occupational skills, quantity surveyingINTRODUCTIONQuantity surveyors are key professionals in theconstruction industry and their clients includedevelopers, government bodies and agencies,building proprietors, architects and contractors.They can be involved in cost planning, costmanagement, project procurement, contractadministration, feasibility studies and assetfinancial management. The wide array ofquantity surveyors’ responsibilities means thatthey have to be educated, trained, and highlyskilled in diverse subjects. Lenard (2000) argued copyright FACULTY of ENGINEERING – HUNEDOARA, ROMANIAthat the changing nature of the construction anddevelopment industry such as the adoption ofinnovativetechnologicalprocessesanddevelopment, the emergence of highly focusedprofessionals and the full range of advancedtechnologies will necessitate a much strongeremphasis on job competencies than ever before.However, competence, in any sphere of work,can be a difficult concept to pin down. It isparticularly difficult when it relates toprofessional occupations where roles can becomplex, and the knowledge and skills involved105

ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERINGmany and varied (Cheetham and Chivers, 1996).In order to arrive at a suggested model ofcompetencies and skills for quantity surveyors, itis important to elaborate and discuss the jobscopes and varying roles of quantity surveyors,be it in professional firms, contractingorganisations, and construction client bodies.This paper will firstly, describe the profession ofquantity surveyors, then followed by discussionon quantity surveyors’ job competencies,deliberation on the research findings and lastly,description on the suggested model ofcompetencies for quantity surveyors.QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSIONThe origins of quantity surveyors can be tracedback to the ancient Egyptian civilisation whoused dedicated personnel to carry out estimatesand costing for their magnificent structures andbuildings. It developed into an occupationduring the 17th century restoration of Londonafter the Great Fire. In 1836 the professionentered its new age when the new Houses ofParliament of Great Britain, designed by SirCharles Barry, became the first major publiccontract to be fully measured and tenderedusing detailed bills of quantities for financialaccountability (RICS 2005). A quantity surveyoris a professional in the construction industrywho has the ability to analyse both costcomponents and practical physical constructionworks of a project in a successful way so as to beable to apply the results of his analysis in solvingproblems peculiar to each project (Badu andAmoah, 2004). In general, the principal servicesthat could be offered by any quantity surveyingfirm are (John Austen Associates 2004): Preliminary cost advice and feasibilityestimates. Cost planning. Advising on contractual methods. Advising on selection of other consultants. Advising on contractor selection. Preparing tender documents. Obtaining or negotiating tenders. Reporting on tenders received or packagedeal/design and build offers. Evaluating construction work. Preparing and agreeing accounts for/withcontractors. Preparing expenditure statements for taxaccounting purposes.106Periodic financial reportingTechnical auditing.Assessing replacement value for insurance.Project management related services.Giving expert evidence in arbitrations,adjudications and legal disputes. Preparing/defending against constructioncontract claims.From being a trade-based vocation, quantitysurveying had developed into a full-fledgedprofession widely accepted in the constructionindustry. The quantity surveyors, in its presentday construction industry, uses his ability toanalyse cost components of a constructionproject in a scientific way and apply the resultsof his analysis to a variety of financial andeconomic problems confronting the developerand the designer. Badu and Amoah (2004) heldthat these changing roles had been redefined bythe educational system received by the quantitysurveyors. DIFFERENT ROLES OF QUANTITY SURVEYORSThere are several options in the quantitysurveying field. A qualified quantity surveyor canusually gain employment in quantity surveyingfirms, construction companies, or propertydevelopers. Some large public or privateorganisations that deal with a significant amountof building or construction procurement as partof their activities normally employ ls to become their project managers.Quantity surveyors working in consultant firmsare retained by the construction clients to ensurethat what is eventually built is what the clientswant or could afford (National CommercialServices UK, 2004). The responsibilities of theclient’s quantity surveyor include thepreparation of Bills of Quantities and the givingof advice on what a project would cost. He alsodoes cost planning during the design stage of aproject, examine tenders, price quantities andreport his findings. He also negotiates rates withcontractors on negotiated contracts, valuingwork in. The distinctive skill of a quantitysurveyor lies in his ability to analyse a projectusing the above knowledge and apply it to thefollowing areas like progress payment andmaking recommendations as to payments to bemade to the contractor including advising onthe financial aspects of variations (Badu and2010/Fascicule 3/July September/Tome III

ACTA TECHNICA CORVINIENSIS – BULLETIN of ENGINEERINGAmoah, 2004). The contractor’s quantitysurveyor on the other hand engages himself inmatters relating to costs and estimates from theperspective of ‘entrepreneurial’ contractor, andagrees on measurements with the client’scontractor for any specific project. The principlerole of the quantity surveyor here is to look afterthe financial interests of the contractor. He willcalculate and record the financial value of thework carried out and ensures that the contractoris paid properly and on time. During thecurrency of the contract, he will be involved inmeasurements on site and from drawings inorder to establish the true value of wok done inthe interim period (National CommercialServices UK 2004). He also collects informationabout cost of various operations or method ofconstruction from which the contractor canprepare future estimates. He might also betasked to prepare the project report and assiststhe contractor in his management schedulingplans (Badu and Amoah, 2004).A DISCUSSION ON COMPETENCYThe issue of workers’ competencies had beendiscussed by industrialists, managementpractitioners and academics alike since the1960’s. Concerns had been raised by them aboutthe difficulty in transferring core competenciesto the next generation of employees, and theresultant effect of this transfer to the firm’sability to sustain its competitive advantageacross diverse environments (Hamel andPrahalad 1990; Siddiqi, 2000). However, thethinking on competencies and corporatestrategy remained dormant during during the1970s and early 1980s, the reason being thatmanagement practitioners and academics paidmore attention to other approaches of strategy(Anjana-Kak, 2002). In the late 1990s the idea ofcompetence had gained greater credence andwidely used by industries. Rankin (2000)reported that a significant number of companiesin the UK are using competencies to improveindividual and corporate performance. Baker etal., (1997) observed that companies were startingto look into workers’ competencies when theyrealised that providing a framework whichbrings greater clarity to the idea of competencein business in general, and operations andtechnology management in particular, wouldbring competitive advantage to their2010/Fascicule 3/July September/Tome IIIorganisations. What is competence? In thispaper, the term is not to be likened with theconcept of ‘core competence’ as developed bythe likes of Hamel and Prahalad (1990), Stalk etal., (1992), and Tampoe (1994). For them, corecompetence refers to an integrated set of coretechnologies and core skills that provide anorganisation with its competitive advantage. It ismore organisationally driven rather thanindividually focused. But Boyatzis (1982),Schroder (1989) and Burgoyne (1993) are moreinterested in the ‘individual’ aspect ofcompetence. The concept is widely used inhuman resource management. Individualcompetence refers to the set of skills that anindividual must possess in order to be capable ofsatisfactorily performing a specified job. Holmesand Joyce (1993) defined competence as action,behaviour or outcome which a person should beable to demonstrate, or the ability to transferskills and knowledge to new situations within anoccupational area. Meyer and Semark (1996)have added two new dimensions into thisdefinition i.e. personal attributes and valueorientation. Roggema-van Heusden (2004)attempted to define competence fromprofessional personnel point of view. They heldthat, competence is the ability to perform well ina professional situation that involves theaccomplishment of a certain task or the dealingwith a problem, in a manner that can beobserved and be judged by others. That is to say:a competent professional is capable of applyingthe necessary expertise in confluence witheffective behaviour.THE COMPETENCY MODELAs the needs and expectations of constructionclients have changed, particularly since thedecade of the nineties, so have theirexpectations of professional services in the builtenvironment. Whereas professional serviceshave been engaged without hesitation in thepast, questions about relevancy in terms of valueadded to the project are now being asked(Procter, 1997). Because of the more discerningclients, the profession needs to regroup and takestock of the whole situation so that they will notbecome extinct in the future. Prokesch (1997)argued that knowledge base of the professioncould be the key in unlocking the potential ofthe profession and meeting the changing client107