Contents

Contents................................................................................................................ 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 2 2.0 MAIN BODY...................................................................................................... 2 2.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION........2 2.2 RELEVANCE OF BILL OF QUANTITIES IN MODERN DAY TRADITION BUILDING CONTRACT.......................................................................................................... 4 3.0 CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 7 4.0 REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 8

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BILL OF QUANTITIES IN THE MODERN DAY TRADITION BUILDING CONTRACT

1.0 INTRODUCTION
The birth of construction can be traced back to the stone ages , as early as the Egyptians, Greeks , Romans and Islamic civilizations era, (wainwrigth and whitrod 1980) when man had started making shelters from tree branches and stones. However, with the passage of time and as man became more civilized construction evolved and has been evolving, becoming more and more complex, especially with the discovery of new building materials and construction techniques there by modernising it. Due to its complexity in nature, the construction industry requires the skills of highly competent professionals among them architects , builders, quantity surveyors, civil engineers and planners just to mention a few . However, in this assignment I am tracing the historical development of quantity surveying profession, stressing the importance of the bill of quantities in modern day tradition building contracts

2.0 MAIN BODY

2.1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF SURVEYING PROFESSION QUANTITY

Bill of quantities is synonymous with quantity surveying profession. The profession is said to have emerged in England with the earliest quantity surveying firm of which records are available being a Reading firm which was operating in 1785. There is little doubt that other firms were in existence at this time and a number of Scottish quantity surveyors met in 1802 and produced the first method of measurement. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century it was the practice to measure and value the building work after it had been completed and bills of quantities were not prepared. The need for quantity

surveyors became evident as building work increased in volume and building clients became dissatisfied with the method adopted for settling the cost of the work. In the seventeenth century the architect was responsible for the erection of building, as well as their design, and he employed a number of master craftsmen who performed the work in each trade. Drawings were of a very sketchy nature and much of the work was ordered during the course of the job. On completion each master craftsman submitted an account for the materials used and labour employed on the work. It later became the practice for many of the master craftsmen to engage surveyors or measurers to prepare these accounts. One of the major problems was to reconcile the amount of material listed on invoices with the quantity measured on completion of the work. Some of the craftsmen s surveyors made extravagant claims for waste of material in executing the work on the site and the architects also engaged surveyors to contest these claims. General contractors became established during the period of the industrial revolution and they submitted inclusive estimates covering the work of all trades. Furthermore they engaged surveyors to prepare bills of quantities on which their estimates were based. As competitive tendering became more common the general contractors began to combine to appoint a single surveyor to prepare a bill of quantities, which all the contractors priced. In addition the architect on behalf of the building owner usually appointed a second surveyor, who collaborated with the surveyor for the contractors in preparing the bill of quantities, which was used for tendering purposes. In later years it became the practice to employ one surveyor only who prepared an accurate bill of quantities and measured any variations that arose during the progress of the project. This was the origin of the independent and impartial quantity surveyor as he operates today. (Ivor Seeley, 1988)

The functions of a quantity surveyor today includes financial accounting and settlement of contractual disputes(et al, willis 1987), cost planning, investment appraisal, life-circle cost and analysis, preparation of contract document, preliminary cost advice and approximate estimating, cash flow foresting, financial reporting and interim management, contractual procurement and tendering procedure. This is achieve using the knowledge acquired in construction technology, management studies, legal studies and economics

2.2 RELEVANCE OF BILL OF QUANTITIES IN MODERN DAY TRADITION BUILDING CONTRACT The term quantity refers to the amount of the different types of works fixed in position which collectively give the total requirements of the building contract. These quantities are set down as a standard form of billing paper which has been suitably ruled in columns so that each item of work may be conveniently detailed with a suitable reference, the billing paper also contains columns in which a contractor tendering for a particular project enters the rates and prices for each item of work. These prices added together give the contract sum (Ivor H. Seeley 1998). The bill refers to a written statement of how much is owed for goods and services (Collins 2002). Therefore, a bill of quantity can be said to be a document which sets down the various items of work in a logical sequence and recognised manner so that they be readily priced by contractors. The function of the bill of quantities has not changed very much ever since it was introduced over hundred years ago in the traditional procurement system. It is a uniform document for contractors to estimate or price the work on precisely the same basis, thus allowing for the fairest bidding (Willis et al, 2002)

Critics of the bill of quantities say that the bill of quantities is too costly to prepare and that the preparation of the bill of quantities is very much time consuming , they say it may lead to delays especially when the works require agency . However, as pointed by Garrison (1998), information is vital to the success of financial management in the absence of adequate, accurate and reliable cost information, project cost management exercise would be ineffective. Therefore, the availability of bill of quantities provides the contractor with the necessary information to carry out the various project management processes more effectively and efficiently e.g. Materials procurement and labour requirement .it acts as a guide; it helps the contractor to know specifically the correct measure of materials required, when and where to purchase it. Even in determining the amount of labour and expertise needed to undertake a project.

In addition to this, where cost is the emphasis of the project and fund is limited, it is appropriate to use bill of quantities, because it contains every detail of the project cost and this helps in detail project accounting and financial reporting, there by ensuring that the client get value for their money. However, it is not necessarily useful for every type of project or procurement system, in the fast construction projects where the non traditional procurement system is used it is not possible, because the process of design, documentation and construction tend to run parallel to each other thereby shortening the tendering process.

Further more, the bill of quantities can be used for other purposes at any stage of the project development i.e. during the pre contract and post contract phases of a construction (molloy, 2001, Willis et al, 2002, turner, 1979). More-so the bill

of quantities protects the client and contractors interests by compelling every stakeholder in the construction project to be committed to the contract from inception to completion and eventual hand over, attracting legal penalties should one partner fail to comply.

3.0 CONCLUSION
The complexity of the construction industry in modern day tradition building contracts calls for even a greater demand of the bill of quantities and quantity surveyor more than ever before. The criticisms that it is too costly to prepare a bill of quantities , the preparation of bill of quantities is very time consuming and the description and quantities in the bill of quantities are not often accurate should be addressed professionally and scientifically calling for even improved methods of delivery from quantity surveyors.

4.0 REFERENCES
Collins . Y. (2002) Pre-Qualification structured learning (PQSLs) series Schedule of rates Vs bills of Quantities. The Hong Kong institute of surveyors

Molloy, J.B (2001) Destroying the purpose of the Bill of Quantities http// www.hkis.org.hk Newsletter sept 2001

Seeley I .H.(1973). Building Macmillian Education Limited

Economics

.Great

Britain:

Seeley I.H. (1988). Building Quantity Explained. London: Macmillian Education Ltd.

Turner D.F (1979) Quantity surveying, administration London George Godwin.

practice

and

Willis C.J, Ashworth, A and Willis, J.A. (2002) Willis practice and procedure for the Quantity Surveyor