Importance of Quantity Surveying with effective Cost and Contract Management

How Quantity Surveying and Contract Management is Critical to the success of a Project

Most of the engineering and construction projects are large-scale operations, it involves huge investment and the client wants the maximum quality at minimum cost. This is where Quantity Surveyors come in to picture where they get engaged with the project from the initial design stages, understand the budget projection, monitor and control the whole construction process in Finance, Material, Contracting, and Quality till the project is successfully handed over to the client within the projected budget or estimation with all essential completion reports.

Effective Quantity Surveying and Contract Management is critical to the success of every project. Delivering projects within agreed budgets in time is always important for professional quantity surveyors. Quantity Surveyors, Cost, and Contract Managers, Clients should be assisted to achieve the best outcome of a project by controlling and reviewing the cost and contractual aspects from inception up to completion stage. As a part of services, Clients should be periodically informed on the actual and predicted expenditure so they can plan their financials accordingly.

Quantity surveyors are responsible for managing all aspects of the contractual and financial side of construction projects
Professional quantity surveyors are known with different names in different countries for Eg.
In London United Kingdom (UK) is known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS– The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).
In Canada and the US, they are usually called Professional Quantity Surveyors.

Get a Call Back from Quantity Surveying Experts

Quantity surveying & Contract Management includes following functions that are very critical in every construction industry

Measurement & Estimation of Quantities of inventory & services
Preparation of Bill of Materials and services then Submission of Tenders and proposals
Building or Project Economics
Post Contract Functions like Monthly Valuations and Project Variance Reports
Identification of Claims & additional Works at sites
Software tools and technology to manage the project and quantity surveying reports accurately.
Centralize procurement process for better control on quantity, cost, and quality
Timely deliveries of projects with quality.
Administration of Contracts, Conciliation Arbitration, and Dispute Resolution.

The following are the scope of services of Quantity Surveying, Cost and Contract Management solutions

Feasibility studies & Analysis
Budget and Cost estimating
Value engineering & Technology
Cost planning and Life cycle costing
Procurement process
Problem and Risk management
Documentation of Proposals and Contracts.
Bills of materials and Quantities
Price & Cost Change Management
Contract management
Post contract cost change management
Claims management
Financial reporting and Final account preparation

Talk to Our Experts

Contract Management is generally done in 2 stages

1. Pre-Contract Stage which includes the Design phase and tender phase

Design Phase involves:

PBE – Preliminary Budget Estimate,
Preparing cost plan,
BOQ – Bills of Quantities and Estimates
Material Planning.

Tender Phase involves:

Contract Negotiations,
Appointing Contractors and helping clients to choose the best contractors.
Contract agreements for the appointed contractors are based on International Standard Contractual Agreement for Construction. (FIDIC) and National Standard Contractual Agreement for Construction (UUJK).
Documentation of projects and Contracts.
Assessment, Evaluations, and Reports.

2. Post-Contract Stage – During Constructions Process

Monitoring and Evaluating the Changes during construction.
Cost control & financial reporting.
Manage Payouts for contractors.
Final Accounting, Reporting & Handover.

Here are few best approaches that professional companies follow for Quantity and Contract management.

Accurate prediction and control of costs as a fundamental service.
Projection of budgets within the Client’s projection and authority.
Responsibility and accountability of project governance with proper guidelines.
Avoid surprising the clients with exceeded budget than the projection.
Resources planning according to the most appropriate skill set required for every project.
Validate the design proposals to make sure it meets the projected cost.
Proactive risk management.

Over-all the above content provides a fair idea on how quantity surveying skills along with cost and contract management solutions are critical for any professional construction industry helping its clients to accomplish their construction projects successfully.

Click here to get a free consulatation on Quantity Surveying