New Aspects of Quantity Surveying Practice Second edition

Abstract

Four years have passed since the first edition of New Aspects of Quantity Surveying Practice. At that time Building, the wellknown construction industry weekly, described quantity surveying as ‘a profession on the brink’ whilst simultaneously forecasting the imminent demise of the quantity surveyor and references to ‘Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying’, had everyone rolling in the aisles. In a brave new world where confrontation was a thing of the past and where the RICS tried to deny quantity surveyor’s existed at all, clearly there was no need of the profession! But wait. What a difference a few years can make for on 29 October 2004 the same publication that forecast the end of the quantity surveyor had to eat humble pie when the Building editorial announced that ‘what quantity surveyors have to offer is the height of fashion – Ethel is history’. It would seem as if this came as a surprise to everyone, except quantity surveyors! Ironically, in 2006 quantity surveyors are facing a very different challenge to the ones that were predicted in the late 1990s. Far from being faced with extinction, the problem now is a shortage of quantity surveyors that has reached crisis point, particularly in major cities like London. The ‘mother of all recessions between 1990–1995’ referred to in Chapter 1 had the effect of driving many professionals, including quantity surveyors out of the industry for good, as well as discouraging school leavers thinking of embarking on surveying degree courses. As a consequence there now is a generation gap in the profession and with the 2012 London Olympics on the horizon, as well as buoyant demand in most property sectors, many organisations are offering incentives and high salaries to attract and retain quantity surveying staff. In today’s market-p