History of Quantity Surveyor

A quantity surveyor (QS) is a professional working within the construction industry concerned with building costs.The profession is one that provides a qualification gained following formal education, specific training and experience that provides a general set of skills that are then applied to a diverse variety of problems.[1] Predominantly these relate to costs and contracts on construction projects. Other areas in which QS find employment include property surveys for hidden defects on behalf of potential purchasers, running estates, valuing the mineral deposits for mining companies, selling property and even Leasehold Reform Act work.[1]There are around 75,000 professional QSs working in the UK.HistoryThe profession developed during the 19th century from the earlier "measurer", a specialist tradesman (often a guild member), who prepared standardised schedules for a building project in which all of the construction materials, labour activities and the like were quantified, and against which competing builders could submit priced tenders. Because all tenders were based on the same schedule of information, they could be easily compared so as to identify the best one.The professional institution with which most English-speaking quantity surveyors are affiliated is the UK-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Others are the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Quantity Surveyors International (QSi) and Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES) [1]. Those who are qualified members of the RICS are allowed to use the term "Chartered Quantity Surveyor" or simply "Chartered Surveyor".The QS usually reports to Project Manager or Project Director and provides advice in the decision-making process throughout the management of a project from initial inception to final completion. The QS handles estimating and cost control, the tendering process and, after contract award, the commercial interface. QSes should be able to carry out estimating and