Civil engineering is a field in engineering which deals with the design of infrastructure and construction of such infrastructure. In order to build any infrastructure, there needs to be proper planning, designing, and a feasibility analysis regarding the proposed infra.

Quantity surveying is one such method used in civil engineering which is part of feasibility analysis which deals with various aspects of planning, designing, and cost evaluation, and value determination, tendering analysis, risk management, and procurement advice.

It also includes under its ambit drafting contract conditions, commercial management, cost consulting and estimating, contract admission, contractual advice, asset capitalization, payment assessment, and understanding client requirement.

Cost evaluation generally deals with cost estimates from the initial stage of construction till the completion of the project. Measuring cost at every stage requires deep research and study over the project. Based on this the final price of any infra project is decided.

Quantity surveying is not only limited to determining the cost of the project but it has also various aspects as mentioned above. Thus a lot of work is put into quantity surveying which is carried out by professional quantity surveyors.

The job of a quantity surveyor is cost planning, estimate making, and management. It has various other aspects involved which will be described later. The job is both based in the office and on-site. You will be meeting various people who are part of the project.

You will be teaming up with various people from different fields to carry out the job. Synchronization of each of the team members with each other is necessary to produce the end result with perfection.

Field job is challenging as well as interesting that offers a lot to learn. An office job is more research-oriented which requires detailed analysis using software and other computer programs. Calculating the cost estimates which aims at judicial use of resources and money requires tremendous hard work and dedication.

Complex projects are hectic and therefore require focused planning and execution. Even if you have a perfect cost estimate structure but if the execution goes wrong or vitiates from the plan then the result will be disastrous.

Since this job is intermingled with the work of others a concentrated effort to bring everyone on one page is necessary. The final outcome will become successful when each wing of the team works in tandem to achieve the desired goal.

Some of the Duties of Quantity Surveyor in Quantity Surveying:

Here are some of the duties of a quantity surveyor. These are:

  • Cost Planning, management, and estimate.
  • Claims and Dispute Management by the surveyor
  • Proximate Evaluation of Construction work
  • Contract related advice and contractual management
  • Management of tender which includes preparation of bills of quantities, assembly on tender documents and contract conditions, etc.

There are other various duties that are assigned to a quantity surveyor but these are the essential duties that are expected from a quantity surveyor. Alteration depends on requirements and skills.

Importance of Quantity Surveying:

So important does quantity surveying hold in a civil engineering and infra project. Here are some of the advantages of quantity surveying.

  • All such infra projects involve lots of investment and therefore faulty planning can directly have a negative impact on the investment. Thus quantity surveying is important to calculate correct estimates.
  • Quantity estimate is not limited only to the determination of cost but it is also about optimized use of technology, machines, formulation of contract, the share of the cost for each purpose, etc.
  • Understanding the client’s requirement is necessary and so is the effective implementation of the plan obtained based on the client’s advice. Quantity surveying ensures that there is a sync between the requirement and the implementation.
  • Quantity surveying puts things into perspective which is more scattered. Defining and demarcating the steps in a proper way and cost estimation based on this makes the actual work much better.
  • Deployment of resources can be better done with quantity surveying. There are various aspects that are looked into while formulating a plan and managing the resources. There is obviously a limited budget and it should be used in a judicial way.

There are other various advantages and that is what makes this process much more important and needful. Big projects are executed in a time-bound way with judicial use of resources and planned expenditure of money.