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Programs >> Quantity Surveying QS

Quantity Surveying QS

Approved Training Programs


What is Quantity Surveyor?
The quantity surveyor is the person responsible for figuring out just what a construction project is going to cost. They have other roles too, especially making sure that construction costs and production are managed as efficiently as possible. Quantity surveyors have this title because they prepare a ‘schedule of quantities’ — estimates of the material and labour costs — that contractors’ tenders can be measured against. (However, contractors are not selected for cost alone.) The schedule is also called a cost estimate. Other names for people employed with quantity surveying qualifications include estimator, cost engineer, cost manager, cost analyst, project coordinator, project cost controller and cost planner.

Quantity surveyors’ main roles are:


Career Path
The quantity surveyor acts as the financial and development consultant to the construction and property development industries, advising clients on the optimal use of funds as well as strategies to maximise human and physical resources.

The quantity surveyor relates to people at all levels, whether they are developers, architects, engineers, land surveyors, lawyers and accountants or contractors, sub-contractors, emerging contractors and general workers. Quantity surveyors are expected to maintain the highest level of professionalism towards all parties involved, thus ensuring fair and accurate finalisation of projects.

In addition to private professional practice, quantity surveyors' skills are also utilised in the following spheres of the economy: