Information for Students Thinking of a Career as a Quantity Surveyor

Quantity Surveyor: Job Description

Quantity surveyors are responsible for managing all aspects of the contractual and financial side of construction projects.

Quantity surveyors manage the costs of a construction project. They help to ensure that the construction project is completed within its projected budget. Alternative job titles for a quantity surveyor include ‘cost consultant’, ‘commercial manager’, ‘cost manager’ and ‘cost engineer’.

The tasks quantity surveyors complete will differ according to whether they are working on the design or the construction stage of a project (and therefore whether they are working for a consultancy – which focuses on the design stage – or the contractor, who builds the project). Depending on the stage of the project and their employer, they might:

• Price/forecast the cost of the different materials needed for the project.
• Prepare tender documents, contracts, budgets, bills of quantities and other documentation.
• Track changes to the design and/or construction work and adjust budget projections accordingly.
• Procure or agree on the services of contractors and/or subcontractors who work on the construction of the project.
• Measure and value the work done on-site.
• Pay subcontractors.
• Liaise with the client and other construction professionals, such as site managers, project managers and site engineers.
• Select and/or source construction materials
• Write reports.

Quantity surveyors who work for consultancies tend to be office-based and work typical office hours; those who are employed by contractors tend to be based in temporary offices on construction sites and go out on-site often. They tend to work longer hours and may be required to work shifts.?

Typical employers of quantity surveyors

The main employers for quantity surveyors are:

• Specialist cost management/quantity surveying consultancies working within the construction industry.
• Construction and engineering companies (consultants and contractors).
• However, quantity surveyors may also find a few vacancies with these types of employers: property firms and property developers, architectural practices, infrastructure and utility companies, eg Network Rail and Scottish Water, public sector organisations.

Qualifications and training required

There are routes into a career as a quantity surveyor for both university graduates and school leavers. For?school leavers, there are apprenticeships and training programmes available.

In most cases,?graduates will need:

• either an undergraduate degree accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in quantity surveying, commercial management or a related construction subject
• or a postgraduate conversion course (usually a Pg Dip or masters) accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

However, some employers will hire graduates with a non-accredited degree and sponsor them through the postgraduate conversion course.?Read up on how to get an employer to do this.

Graduates either apply for an individual vacancy or for a graduate scheme in quantity surveying, cost management or commercial management.

Once employed, quantity surveyors are expected to work towards a chartership professional qualification with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.?

Key skills for chartered surveyors

• Numeracy
• Good working knowledge of MS Excel and the ability to learn how to use specialist software
• Excellent relationship-building and interpersonal skills
• The ability to work in a team
• The ability to negotiate
• Attention to detail and a methodical approach to work.

What graduate quantity surveyors do in their jobs

Quantity surveying is as much about managing relationships as it is about numbers.

Careers in quantity surveying are all about managing costs, ensuring that high-quality structures are built as economically as possible. A quantity surveyor could be involved in every stage of the project, depending on whether they work for a consultant or for a contractor.

What are the typical responsibilities of a graduate quantity surveyor?

As a graduate quantity surveyor, you will complete a range of tasks on each project, but they will all involve carrying out some of the same core functions. These include:

• Contracts and procurement: Tasks include recording and monitoring variations to the contract, and ascertaining the costs involved. The amount of time you spend on this can vary from a week working on an interim valuation to a couple of hours a day updating a list of variations.
• Measurement: Measuring construction works on-site also involves recording progress and valuing the work, based on agreed contract rates. How long this takes depends on the size of the project: measuring brickwork can take anything from an afternoon to a full day, including calculations back in the office.
• Cost forecasting (part of pricing): This involves forecasting the final costs of projects or work packages (individual contracts within a project). You will review tender documents and contract variations and use this to calculate the final figure payable. It can take two or three days to calculate, depending on how many packages are involved and how accurate the forecast needs to be: a project near completion needs to be very accurate.
• Monitoring profit and loss (also part of pricing): This involves compiling monthly reports to show the progress of a project. Tasks include recording costs incurred and future costs, producing summaries showing monies coming in and going out, monitoring risks, and reporting on factors likely to affect profitability.
• Liaising with clients: You will need to attend meetings with clients and advise them on any commercial issues that arise. Throughout a project, you will probably meet with the client either every week or every fortnight and these meetings may last for between one and three hours.

What is career progression like for quantity surveyors?

When you join a quantity surveying firm, you will usually be known as a ‘graduate quantity surveyor’, ‘assistant surveyor’ or ‘commercial management trainee’, depending on the firm. You are likely to keep your initial job title until you’ve passed your APC, which takes around two years if you pass the first time.

As a newly chartered surveyor, you will take on greater responsibility for projects and often begin to line manage graduate surveyors. Typical job titles at this stage include ‘quantity surveyor’, ‘intermediate quantity surveyor’ and ‘project surveyor’. You can then progress to senior quantity surveyor status or work towards a full commercial or project management role. In most organisations, commercial managers take on wider responsibility for all aspects of the commercial aspects of the project, including the supply chain, and for the people management aspects of a team. The role usually requires chartership and at least eight years of experience. Depending on the organisation you work for, you may later become a commercial director or even a partner of the firm, in which roles you are responsible for the overall performance of the division and/or organisation.

Over time, many quantity surveyors specialise in a type of construction project (eg roads) or in a particular discipline (eg civil engineering work), but there are other directions in which they could take their career. These include going into:

• Capital allowances and tax: Capital allowance specialists identify the building components that qualify for capital allowance tax relief for both construction projects and property purchases. Traditionally claims were prepared by tax accountants, but a number of quantity surveyors move into this area because they have specialist knowledge of construction technology and construction procurement.
• Facilities management: Facilities managers oversee the running of services that support a business to do business, covering everything to do with the physical building (such as maintenance and electricity) and the services provided by people (such as catering and security). Facilities managers can also have input into the design of a building, so having a quantity surveying background is useful.
• Legal services and dispute resolution: At the heart of the construction industry are contracts and at the heart of contracts is risk allocation. This is the raison d’être for legal services in the construction industry and an area into which experienced quantity surveyors can move. Generally speaking, in this area, you would spend time either drafting and negotiating the terms of a contract, or assisting in the resolution of disagreements once they have arisen.
• Contracts and risk management: Risk managers within the construction industry help clients to assess, evaluate and develop strategies to minimise or deal with risks – especially legal and financial risks. It often involves working with contracts and quantity surveyors who have suitable backgrounds for the work.
• Supply Chain or Procurement (inside and outside of the construction industry): Working in this area includes the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing, procurement and logistics – and there is much crossover with the work of a quantity surveyor.

How much is a quantity surveyor’s salary in the UK?

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What qualifications do you need to become a graduate quantity surveyor?

Most quantity surveying graduate schemes and graduate-level jobs require a quantity surveying or commercial management undergraduate degree that has been accredited (approved) by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). However, graduates of any subject can complete an RICS-accredited postgraduate qualification and 'convert' to quantity surveying and then apply for jobs.

A number of employers also run graduate schemes aimed at students from any degree background. When you are on the course, the employer will pay for you to complete the postgraduate conversion course while you work for it.?Contact me if you would like to discuss how you might do this

What skills should you demonstrate in quantity surveying graduate job applications and interviews?

While you will need to explain your reasons for wanting a quantity surveying career in graduate applications and interviews, you will need to demonstrate a range of transferable, softer skills. Teamwork, communication and relationship-building skills are essential for working with colleagues, professionals at other construction organisations and clients alike.?

Other skills and abilities include:

• The ability to persuade and motivate others
• Problem-solving skills
• The ability to analyse information and data and be comfortable with data
• Drive and self-motivation
• Flexibility
• Commercial awareness