THE TRAINEE QUANTITY SURVEYOR THE SITE MANAGER How I … · What does a quantity surveyor do? I...
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18 East Anglian Daily Times Tuesday, March 21, 2017 Business East Monthly www.eadt.co.uk Sector skills report: Construction THE TRAINEE QUANTITY SURVEYOR THE SITE MANAGER How I got a job in the construction industry... After taking my A Levels at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich, I completed a degree in biology at the University of Reading. I decided I didn’t want to continue with biology but I had enjoyed the maths content in the course. I also have a maths A Level, so I went along to the 2015 Suffolk Skills Show with my CV, intending to talk to accountancy firms but instead was inspired by a young female quantity surveyor on the R & D Construction stand. I had an inspiring conversation with the people there and was invited to come into the company for a morning to learn more about the company and quantity surveying as a career, with the possibility of a vacancy for a commercial trainee. I had another interview following on from this and started as a commercial trainee a few weeks later. I feel lucky that the company recognised I had some transferable skills and didn’t see my lack of construction experience as a barrier. What does a quantity surveyor do? I spent six months working as an assistant estimator which involved pricing jobs at tender stage. I have now moved to the Surveying department, which involves ongoing cost analysis of contracts, pricing variations, sending out subcontract orders and completing monthly valuations. The work is very varied – each job I am involved in is different. R&D Construction is a groundworks contractor and offer a wide range of agricultural, commercial, housing and utilities services. I try and get out to each job at least once a fortnight and I liaise with contract managers and site supervisors to ensure we maintain margins. To be a quantity surveyor you need a good numerical and analytical ability. A high level of IT competency is also important as is attention to detail, and the ability to work well within a team. What industry qualifications are you studying for? The company is funding me to do a three-year Quantity Surveying Masters conversion course by day-release at London South Bank University. I travel down to London to attend lectures and workshops every Tuesday. I had a couple of exams in January and have more in May, in addition to ongoing course work. The course is intense with a heavy workload which means I spend many of my weekends studying. After spending time in the Surveying department there will be an opportunity for me to spend some time on site. In the next three years I hope to become a qualified quantity surveyor and be RICS accredited, which should allow my salary to significantly increase. Advice to young people looking to develop a career in the construction sector? Find out as much as possible about the construction industry and the careers available. Getting work experience with a construction company is important and spending time on a construction site is beneficial. ■ To see Rheanna talk about her experience of work visit the R & D profile on www.icanbea.org.uk Rheanna Pavey is a trainee quantity surveyor at R&D Construction based in Bury St Edmunds ‘There are so many niches in construction and a huge variety of jobs...’ assessments, management, costing and pricing. I keep a diary and a folder of evidence to prove I have satisfied the requirements of the qualification. Later on this year an assessor from the CITB will visit me on site to shadow me as part of the assessment. How did your career progress? Bovis eventually bought out Ashby and Horner and I became a site manager for Bovis running smaller sites with jobs around the £2m mark. Over the years I’ve held similar roles for a number of firms and also set up my own building company that I ran for three years but the recession came along and the work dried up. I’ve been with Gipping now for five years, they are a great company and I haven’t looked back. My work with Gipping focusses on building bespoke private houses. Recent projects include a house in Orford on the coast and a private residence at Great Bealings near Woodbridge. I’m currently site manager on a job in Braintree where we are building 21 flats. I manage everything from start to finish including the site engineering and surveying, setting out the levels and steel work and organising the materials and workers. What is the best thing about working in construction? I enjoy the variety of work – it’s not like you are stuck in the same office all the time. If you work in construction you work on different projects, on Stephen James, 52, is a site manager working on various projects for Gipping Construction, a construction company based in Ipswich. He is also an ambassador for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and has visited schools to talk to young people about working in construction How did you get into the construction industry? After leaving school I went onto a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship with a London- based firm called Ashby and Horner. It was an interesting time, a lot of the work was based in the City of London on heritage buildings, offices and banks. I moved more into the management side of things in 1987 when Ashby and Horner were contracted to work with Bovis on the construction of the Financial Times depot. The engineering assistant was on long-term sick leave, so I was brought across to work alongside the engineer setting out the print depots. I enjoyed seeing the job more as a whole – not just the carpentry element of it - and from here I progressed away from being on the tools towards more management type roles. What industry - specific qualifications do you have? At the time I moved into management I took a number of City and Guilds qualifications in surveying and costing projects and gained Licentiate membership of City and Guilds. These qualifications are becoming obsolete, so I’m currently taking an NVQ Level 6 in construction management. It’s an eight month programme that I started at the turn of the year. It is run by the CITB and once a month I visit a class held at the Barbican in London and we look at different aspects of being a manager on a construction site such as health & safety different sites in different places. I also like to see how buildings come up from the ground. You start with nothing and finish with buildings you can feel proud of. Advice to young people thinking about entering construction? Check out the CITB and the Go Construct websites, which tell you about where to get training, the names of local construction companies, salaries and types of jobs. When you mention construction, most people just think it’s all about bricks, mortar and mud, but there are a huge variety of jobs for those with engineering, surveying and mathematical skills. There are so many niches in construction you just have to have your eyes open and if you work for a good organisation you can move into different roles – as I did in becoming a site manager. One problem is that the industry is so short of the skilled trades that employers are reluctant to promote these people into management. Today you tend to find less managers that are skills-based – they tend to be people who have gained qualifications in management. I’ve been into schools as a CITB ambassador and I feel more can be done to inspire young people to consider a career in construction. We desperately need skilled bricklayers and plumbers, as a well as those with a background in engineering, IT and the sciences. The Employees
Transcript of THE TRAINEE QUANTITY SURVEYOR THE SITE MANAGER How I … · What does a quantity surveyor do? I...
18 East Anglian Daily Times Tuesday, March 21, 2017BusinessEast Monthlywww.eadt.co.uk
Sector skills report: Construction
THE TRAINEE QUANTITY SURVEYOR THE SITE MANAGER
How I got a job in the construction industry...
After taking my A Levels at St Joseph’s College in Ipswich, I completed a degree in biology at the University of Reading. I decided I didn’t want to continue with biology but I had enjoyed the maths content in the course. I also have a maths A Level, so I went along to the 2015 Suffolk Skills Show with my CV, intending to talk to accountancy firms but instead was inspired by a young female quantity surveyor on the R & D Construction stand. I had an inspiring conversation with the people there and was invited to come into the company for a morning to learn more about the company and quantity surveying as a career, with the possibility of a vacancy for a commercial trainee. I had another interview following on from this and started as a commercial trainee a few weeks later.
I feel lucky that the company recognised I had some transferable skills and didn’t see my lack of construction experience as a barrier.
What does a quantity surveyor do?I spent six months working as an assistant estimator which involved pricing jobs at tender stage. I have now moved to the Surveying department, which involves ongoing cost analysis of contracts, pricing variations, sending out subcontract orders and completing monthly valuations. The work is very varied – each job I am involved in is different. R&D Construction is a groundworks contractor and offer a wide range of agricultural, commercial, housing and utilities services.
I try and get out to each job at least once a fortnight and I liaise with contract
managers and site supervisors to ensure we maintain margins.
To be a quantity surveyor you need a good numerical and analytical ability. A high level of IT competency is also important as is attention to detail, and the ability to work well within a team.
What industry qualifications are you studying for?The company is funding me to do a
three-year Quantity Surveying Masters conversion course by day-release at London South Bank University. I travel down to London to attend lectures and workshops every Tuesday.
I had a couple of exams in January and have more in May, in addition to ongoing course work. The course is intense with a heavy workload which means I spend many of my weekends studying.
After spending time in the Surveying department there will be an opportunity for me to spend some time on site.
In the next three years I hope to become a qualified quantity surveyor and be RICS accredited, which should allow my salary to significantly increase.
Advice to young people looking to develop a career in the construction sector?Find out as much as possible about
the construction industry and the careers available. Getting work experience with a construction company is important and
spending time on a construction site is beneficial.■ To see Rheanna talk about
her experience of work visit the R & D profile on www.icanbea.org.uk
Rheanna Pavey is a trainee quantity surveyor at R&D Construction based in Bury St Edmunds
‘There are so many niches in construction and a huge variety of jobs...’
assessments, management, costing and pricing. I keep a diary and a folder of evidence to prove I have satisfied the requirements of the qualification.
Later on this year an assessor from the CITB will visit me on site to shadow me as part of the assessment.
How did your career progress?Bovis eventually bought out Ashby and Horner and I became a site manager for Bovis running smaller sites with jobs around the £2m mark. Over the years I’ve held similar roles for a number of firms and also set up my own building company that I ran for three years but the recession came along and the work dried up.
I’ve been with Gipping now for five years, they are a great company and I haven’t looked back. My work with Gipping focusses on building bespoke private houses. Recent projects include a house in Orford on the coast and a private residence at Great Bealings near Woodbridge. I’m currently site manager on a job in Braintree where we are building 21 flats. I manage everything from start to finish including the site engineering and surveying, setting out the levels and steel work and organising the materials and workers.
What is the best thing about working in construction?I enjoy the variety of work – it’s not like you are stuck in the same office all the time. If you work in construction you work on different projects, on
Stephen James, 52, is a site manager working on various projects for Gipping Construction, a construction company based in Ipswich. He is also an ambassador for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and has visited schools to talk to young people about working in construction
How did you get into the construction industry?After leaving school I went onto a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship with a London-based firm called Ashby and Horner. It was an interesting time, a lot of the work was based in the City of London on heritage buildings, offices and banks.
I moved more into the management side of things in 1987 when Ashby and Horner were contracted to work with Bovis on the construction of the Financial Times depot. The engineering assistant was on long-term sick leave, so I was brought across to work alongside the engineer setting out the print depots. I enjoyed seeing the job more as a whole – not just the carpentry element of it - and from here I progressed away from being on the tools towards more management type roles.
What industry - specific qualifications do you have?At the time I moved into management I took a number of City and Guilds qualifications in surveying and costing projects and gained Licentiate membership of City and Guilds. These qualifications are becoming obsolete, so I’m currently taking an NVQ Level 6 in construction management.
It’s an eight month programme that I started at the turn of the year. It is run by the CITB and once a month I visit a class held at the Barbican in London and we look at different
aspects of being a manager on a
construction site such as
health & safety
different sites in different places.
I also like to see how buildings come up from the ground. You start with nothing and finish with buildings you can feel proud of.
Advice to young people thinking about entering construction?Check out the CITB and the Go Construct websites, which tell you about where to get training, the names of local construction companies, salaries and types of jobs.
When you mention construction, most people just think it’s all about bricks, mortar and mud, but there are a huge variety of jobs for those with engineering, surveying and mathematical skills. There are so many niches in construction you just have to have your eyes open and if you work for a good organisation you can move into different roles – as I did in becoming a site manager.
One problem is that the industry is so short of the skilled trades that employers are reluctant to promote these people into management.
Today you tend to find less managers that are skills-based – they tend to be people who have gained qualifications in management.
I’ve been into schools as a CITB ambassador and I feel more can be done to inspire young people to consider a career in construction.
We desperately need skilled bricklayers and plumbers, as a well as those with a background in engineering, IT and the sciences.
The Employees
