What Makes a Good Quantity Surveyor?: Automate to boost ROI

Quantity Surveyors (QSs) play an essential role in the construction industry, providing critical financial management and ensuring project efficiency. By understanding their key functions, skills, and the latest trends in the industry, main contractors can leverage QSs to add significant value to their projects. Any modern QS worth their salt knows that digital transformation takes precedence in getting their employer’s money’s worth. Invoice automation helps streamline financial processes enough to make your salary back and then some. As a main contractor, it’s good practice to be aware of their modern construction management solutions before you hire.

Table of Contents

• The Evolution of Quantity Surveying
• Key Responsibilities of a Quantity Surveyor
• The Value of Modern Quantity Surveyors
• Paul Hemmings’ Experience and Insights
• Automated Invoicing and Payment Processing

The Evolution of Quantity Surveying

In recent years, the role of Quantity Surveyors has evolved with advancements in technology and changes in industry standards. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has emphasized the importance of technical skills and continuous professional development, ensuring QSs stay updated with what makes a good quantity surveyor; such as modern techniques or technologies. The Chartered Institute of Buildings also highlights the importance of adhering to quality standards and building regulations.

Key Responsibilities of a Key Responsibilities of a Quantity Surveyor

Advising on Feasibility: QSs conduct feasibility studies to evaluate the potential of a site and determine what a client can afford to build.

Periodic Valuations: They present detailed cost information on a periodic basis to enable payments for work completed.

Work Package Division: QSs organize projects into subcontract packages, awarding these to subcontractors to ensure the best deals.

Contractual and Legal Matters: Managing contractual relationships and legal matters is a core responsibility, ensuring compliance with contract documents and legal standards.

Cost Management: Ensuring that project costs do not exceed the budget is critical. This involves the estimation of costs and ongoing commercial management to mitigate commercial risks.

Staff Payments and Final Accounts: QSs arrange staff payments and settle final accounts at the end of a project.

Financial Advisors and Progress Monitoring: Acting as financial advisors, they monitor project progress for clients, ensuring adherence to project timelines and overall project management.

The Value of Modern Quantity Surveyors

Modern Quantity Surveyors bring a blend of technical and soft skills that enhance project value. Here are some crucial attributes:

Numeracy: QSs must be highly numerate to manage project budgets and costs effectively, crucial for accurate bills of quantities.

Proficiency in Software: Knowledge of tools like Excel and specialized software is essential for accurate calculations and reporting, often needed in structural engineering projects.

Project Knowledge and Relationship Building: Understanding building projects and construction processes, and building strong relationships with stakeholders are vital. This also involves negotiation skills for negotiating contracts.

Attention to Detail: Ensuring no detail is missed prevents additional costs later, especially in the initial stage of project plans.

Inquisitive Mind: Anticipating risks and thinking ahead is crucial for effective cost management, important for risk assessment and potential risks.

Negotiating Skills: Good negotiation can save money and time, keeping projects on track and ensuring successful project outcomes.

Patience: Patience is necessary to manage projects successfully and deal with unforeseen challenges, ensuring effective time management.

Paul Hemmings’ Experience and Insights

I feel fortunate that we have built a fantastic network of construction professionals in our community over the last few years. We have almost 20,000 architects, project managers, quantity surveyors, and subcontractors, and a few months back, we thought we’d use this to do some research.

My first boss always said to me, “A good QS will make back their salary and some on a project,” and this is something that stuck with me, and I always agreed with. I believe that a good Quantity Surveyor adds major value to a project and should be able to procure intelligently, value engineer, and agree on variations, among many other things. In doing so, they will deliver their salary and some in return – what’s not to like?

During my career, I managed a large team of Quantity Surveyors and found my team was often too busy with unnecessary low-value tasks rather than delivering maximum value. Everything was very paper-based and repetitive, involving Excel and Word documents, copy-pasting, etc. Instead of value engineering and agreeing on new variations, they were doing data input and other menial tasks which held them back. I mainly saw this with procurement, which is one of the reasons we created our product at C-Link.

Speaking to more and more main contractors and companies who do subcontract procurement, it became apparent that it wasn’t just my team and me; the whole industry was spending lots of time doing low-value tasks. I, therefore, wanted to leverage our community to understand exactly how much time tasks took and showcase this to the sector.

We surveyed how long it takes to complete the subcontract tendering process on one package. The results are pretty shocking:

• Build a procurement schedule and pre-qualify subcontractors: 3.5 hours
• Allocate the correct drawings and documents to the specific package: 2.5 hours
• Produce a scope of works: 1.5 hours
• Produce a measured BoQ: 6 hours
• Complete a full tender analysis: 5 hours
• Complete mid-tender interviews: 8 hours
• Draft the subcontract: 4 hours

The results of our research show that, on average, construction professionals think they spend circa 30 hours taking a single subcontract package “from the cradle of identifying the best supply chain to the grave of placing a subcontract order.” That is four working days for a single person. Now multiply that by, let’s say, 20 subcontractors on a standard project, and you have nearly 600 hours or the equivalent of 15 weeks to procure a project for one individual. Can you believe it? I was a QS, and I can.

That is one of the reasons I founded C-Link, as I felt so much of that process was unnecessary and could be automated. I believe the 30 hours per package can be automated and improved to bring it down to closer to 10 hours per project, which is what we do at C-Link. I am a firm believer in what my first boss told me about how as Quantity Surveyors, we should be able to earn our salary back and some on a project. But imagine if we had 10 extra weeks (reducing the 15 weeks to 5 weeks) in a year to do it. How much more intelligent procurement could we do?

What makes a Good Quantity Surveyor: Automated Invoicing and Payment Processing

With the advent of advanced automation tools, Quantity Surveyors can now significantly reduce the time spent on invoicing and payment processing. Implementing tools like Bill.com can transform these traditionally manual tasks into streamlined processes. The benefits of automation in this context include:

Reduced Administrative Burden: Automation takes care of repetitive tasks, freeing up QSs to focus on higher-value activities such as value engineering and risk management.

Minimized Errors: Automated systems reduce the risk of human error in invoicing and payment processing, ensuring accuracy in financial records.

Timely Payments: Automation ensures that invoices are sent out and payments are received on time, improving cash flow and financial stability for projects.

By integrating these tools, QSs can add even more value to projects, aligning with the principle that a good QS will make back their salary and then some.

Conclusion

So, just what makes a good Quantity Surveyor? Are they worth your time as a main contractor? Well they are a major asset to any construction project, bringing a wealth of skills to ensure financial efficiency and project success. By leveraging the expertise of modern QSs and incorporating automated tools like Bill.com, main contractors can achieve significant cost savings and enhance project value. Be aware that this is but one example of digital transformation in construction, there are many more modern solutions in modern construction management that drive success. Tools like C-Link further streamline processes, allowing QSs to focus on tasks that add the most value, ensuring adherence to the highest quality standards and achieving successful career progression in the construction sectors. If you want to free up your Quantity Surveyors time, learn how much time you could save by trying our free calculator tool by clicking here.

About Paul Heming

Paul was a Quantity Surveyor who gained 10 years experience of managing £200 million worth of flagship UK projects, including 20 Fenchurch Street and Battersea Power Station. In 2015, Paul founded C-Link with the intention of sharing his expertise of managing major projects with the SME market.