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2.1 INTRODUCTIONBefore consider what the changing role of Quantity Surveyo r is in the future, it is worthwhile to review the background of the Quantity Surveying

profession and the roles and responsibilities of Quantity Surveyor. In t his chapter, the background of the Q uantity Surveyor and the HKIS will be introduced first.

And then, the traditional roles and evolved roles of the Quantity Surveyor will be discussed one by one. After that, responsi bilities of Quantity Surveyor have some

explains. What skills and knowledge are the Quantity Surveyor sho uld be included in the past will be discussed in this chapter. Quantity Surv eyor is one of important

roles in the construction industry. Thus, t he effects of Quantity Surveyor will be mentioned in this chapt er also. Lastly, it is a summary of the history of the roles and

responsibilities of the Quantity Surveyor.2.2 BACKGROUND TO THE QUANTITY SURVEYORFirstly, it has been stated that: Quantity surveyors are the profession

developed during the 19th century from the earlier "Measurer," a specialist tradesman (often a guild member), who prepared standardized 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 su bmit priced tenders.

Because the tenders were each based on the same schedule of information, they would be easily com pared to find the most suita ble candidate. QSBC (2009).A

quantity surveyor is professionally trained, qualified and experienced in dealing with these problems on behalf of the employer. He is essentially a cost expert

whose prime task is to ensure that the project is kept within the agreed budget and that t he employer obtains value for money (Seelay, 1997, p.40).Quantity

Surveyors are the financial managers of the construction team who add value by managing the functions of cost, time and quality . They have been trained as

construction cost consultants who have expert knowledge of costs, values, labour and material prices, finance, contractual arrangements and legal matters in the

construction filed. In general, they provide services of cost management and co ntrol in building and engineering projects ofany scale (Chung, 2000, p.10). HKIS

(1999) also recognized the Quantity Surveyor concerned the building co ntractual arrangements and cost control. They can provide private developers, government

departments, contractors, mining and petro-chemical companies and insurance companies some services to suit the various demands.QSBC (2009) also stated that:

A Quantity Surveyor (QS) is a professional person working within the construction industry. The role of the QS is to manage and control costs within construction

projects and may involve the use of a range o f management procedures and technical tools to achieve this goal. The above are some of roles of the Quantity

Surveyor. And then, the definition of the role of the Quantity S urveyor should be known. Refer to RICS (1983a, p.1) which stated that In the 1971 report, the role of

the Quantity Surveyor was defined as ensuring that the resources of the construction industry are utilized to the best advantage of society by providing, inter alia,

the financial management for projects and a cost consultancy service to the client an d designer during the whole construction process. This distinctive competence

of the Quantity Surveyor is a skill in measurement and valuation in the field of construction in order that such work can be described and the cost a nd price can be

forecast analysed, planned, controlled and accounted for.2.3 HISTORY OF HKISAccording to seeley, 1997 (in Chung, 2000, pp.3 -4) The development of the

surveying profession in Hong Kong goes back to 1843 with the arrival of the first Surveyor General. A Ho ng Kong Branch of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor

was established in 1992. In 1984, Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors was formed to act as an independent organization but it still maintained close links with the RICS

throughout. HKIS (2009) remarked the HKIS as the leading professional organization in surveying, real estate and construction in Hong Kong over the past 25

years.The history of HKIS can be founded in HKIS (2004, p.9) which recorded that It was in April 1984 that HKIS was founded. ..It was by 1990 that the HKIS

qualifications were fully recognized by the Hong Kong Government and HKIS ranks at par with other recognized professional bod ies in local affairs.2.4

TRADITIONAL ROLES OF QUANTITY SURVEYORAshworth and Hogg (2007) stated that the traditional role of Quantity S urveyor is still practiced on small to medium

sized projects. It can be described as a measure and value sys tem. Quantity Surveyor should prepared using a single price met hod of estimating, produce bills of

quantities for tendering, measure the progress payments base o n the work and prepare final account on the basis of the tender documentation. The following listed

the traditional role of Quantity Surveyor: Single rate approximate estimates Cost planning Procurement advice Measurement and quantification Document

preparation, especially bills of quantities Cost control during construction Interim val uations and payments Financial statements Final account preparation and

agreement Settlement of contractual claimsThe traditional role of the quantity s urveyorhas since been considerably expanded to include such functions as

resources control, accountancy, legal judgment, and all within the fields of contracting, engineering, project management, etc. (Newton, 1985, p.18).As a

tradition, estimating, preparation of tender documents, tender analysis, contract documentation, valuation and variation, and all quantity surveying related works

of infrastructure projects are always handled by civil engineers notwithstanding that majority of these works are act ually handled by quantity surveyors under the

supervision of civil engineers. In the building works, the traditio nal role of handling these works by architects had been ch anged to become the role of quantity

surveyors, and the Government and Private Fo rms of Building Contract were changed to recognize such QS role. Ho wever, in the infrastructure works, such QS role

is still with the civil engineers as stated in the Government Form of Civil Engineering Works (HKIS, 2008).2.5 EVOLVED ROLES OF QUANTITY SURVEYORRICS (1983a)

also pointed out that the Quantity Surveyors expertise had been further developed after 1971. For the construction project, they are involved in the field of

manpower planning, resources control and in assessing the effects of time. The filed of contracting, civil and industrial engineering construction, mechanical and

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electrical engineering services, and project management and control also relate to the Quantity Surveyor. That means the role of the Quantity Surveyor is extended

in 1980s. The Quantity Surveyor involve complex resource procurement an d management processes, besides deal with complex constructio n contracts; provides

the basis for a disciplined and well managed approach to projects.In 1980s, Quantity Surveyors roles from the historically dealt with work through prime cost and

provisional sums to advice procurement method which becomes a new potential role of Quantity Surveyors because of the increas ing array of options that were

available. Other evolved roles have included project and construction management and facilities management. I t is because the inherent adversarial nature of the

construction industry which are involved in contractual disputes and ligation. More engineering services orientated increased emphasis on the services such as

measurement, costs and value is other reason of this change (Ashworth an d Hogg, 2007). Quantity S urveyors should more direct and more related to client. This

management role is most effective when linked to authority, responsibility and risk taking. Clients need early and accurate cost advice, more often than no t well in

advance of site acquisition and of a commitment to build (RICS, 1991).Seeley (1997) pointed out the Quantity Surveyor not onl y regarded building contract and

often as project manager on civil and heavy engineering contracts to control the project from inception to completion a nd coordinate with other parties to take

over the works. Quantity Surveyor is an im portant member of the design team in both the public and private sectors to adv ising employers and architects on the

probable costs of alternative designs.RICS (1983a) believed that Quantity Surveyor after gained the kno wledge and experience in construction economics,

management and resource control, he will evolve his role. T hese roles are policy making, numerate skills, strategic planning, contracting, work in construc tion

management, multi-disciplinary working, diversity in procurement, life cycle costing and building procurement adv iser.Newton (1985) raised Quantity S urveyor use

the expert system of computer technology can make him become identity, independence and in first. That means the role of Quan tity Surveyor can be established

early in the design or construction process.As a co nsultant Chartered Quantity Surveyor, he sho uld improve the quality of service and the matching of the kno wn

resources to suit for the requirement of clients. There are some services s hould be provided to clients during pre -contract stage and post-contract stage. In t he pre-

contract stage, Quantity Surveyor should preparing bills of quantities and examining tenders received and reporting thereon, cost planning, air conditioning,

heating, ventilating and electrical services, negotiating tenders and pricing bills of quantities. In the post -contract, Quantity Surveyor should taking particulars and

reporting valuation for interim certificate for payments on account to the contractor, preparing periodic assessments of antici pated final cost and reporting thereon,

measuring and making up bills of variations including pricing and agreeing totals with contractor and adjusting fluctuations in the cost of labour and materials if

required by the contract, air conditioning, heating, ventilating and electrical services, valuations for interim certificates , preparing accounts of variation upon

contracts and cost monitoring services such as providing approximate estimates of final cost at the following frequency (RICS , 1983b).Some evolved roles stated in

Ashworth and Hogg (2007) are listed as following: Investment appraisal Advice on cost limits and budgets Whole life costing Value management Risk analysis

Insolvency services Cost engineering services Subcontract administration Environmental services measurement and cos ting Technical auditing Planning and

supervision Valuation for insurance purposes Project management Facilities management Administering maintenance programmes Advice on contractual disputes

Planning supervisor Employers agent2.6 RESPONSIBILITIES OF QUANTITY SURVEYORIn the past, the responsibil ities of Quantity Surveyors are mentioned in RICS

(1980) which listed some responsibilities of Quantity Surveyors as following: Budget estimating; Cost planning; Advice on tendering procedures and contract

arrangements; Preparing tendering documents for main contract and specialist sub -contractor; Examining tenders received and reporting thereon or negotiating

tenders; Pricing with a selected contractor and/or sub-contractors; Preparing recommendations for interim payments on account to the contractor; Pre paring

periodic assessments of anticipated final cost and reporting thereon; Measuring work and adjus ting variations in accordance with t he terms of the contract;

Preparing final account, pricing same and agreeing totals with the contractor; Providing a reasonable number of copies of bills of quantities and other

documents.Bennett (1986, p.31) said that The quantity surveyors res ponsibility is to ensure that the budget is complete and that no necessary costs are omitted or

duplicated.Beyond this, the quantity surveyor should advise the client to make separate provision for all other costs including consultants fees, land costs, finance

costs, fluctuations where appropriate and an overall project contingency. The quantity surveyors further major responsi bility is to ensure that the cost contro l and

accounting procedures adopted by the construction manager are satisfactory. This is a normal responsibility for final account s and raises no new issues for quantity

surveyors apart from the unusually large number of separate works contract accounts to be dealt with.Chartered Quantity Surveyor will provide a construction

management service because of market-orientated. Some of them are towards realizing this pote ntial (Bennett, 1986).RICS (1991) reported that so mething is

changing of the world in 1990s such as mar kets, construction industry, client needs and the profession. For the changes i n markets, the trend of different sectors

will have different workloads and the challenges are arising for the European Union. For the changes in the construction industry, the nature of contracting will be

changing. Some competition may come from non-co nstruction professionals. For the changes in client needs, they want get t he long-terms view about the initial

design and construction phase. For the changes in the pro fession, employment patterns, the impact of fee competition, the ways in which t he quantity surveyo r is

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appointed and the changes in their role and practice. Thus, management to time, co st and quality should be emp hasized by Quantity Surveying. Bills of Quantities

were still important. The areas of early cost advice, cost control and market forecasting are new services for clients business. The professions unique skill-base

which combines procurement and cost management would be practiced by Quantity Surveyors. Quantity Surveyors are employed in consultancies only in t he past.

More and more Quantity Surveyors will be employed by clients, developers and contractor.i

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