Quantity Surveyor’s Pocket Book

Quantity Surveyor’s Pocket Book By Duncan Cartlidge

The quantity surveyor is a uniquely British profession, although during the

160 years or so since the fi rst quantity surveyor trod the planet they have man-

aged to convince other countries and construction industries that they are an

indispensable part of the development process.

Much maligned and often misunderstood quantity surveyors have

demonstrated an ability to shrug off the attempts to consign them to the past

and have instead reinvented themselves many times over. In 2008, the UK gov-

ernment took the step of lifting immigration restrictions on non-UK quantity

surveyors as the demand for their skills outstripped supply by almost 5:1.

I have in the past written books that concentrate on the new and emerging

skills that quantity surveyors are now being required to provide for ever more

demanding clients. And yet under the headline services of value management,

risk management, the Private Finance Initiative, etc., there is still a great need

for the quantity surveyor to be able to provide traditional quantity surveying

services. Therefore, this pocket book concentrates on traditional quantity sur-

veyor skills, still so much in demand by clients and contractors alike, but which

have, during the past 20 years or so, not had the emphasis in training and

education that perhaps they warrant.