Involvement in designing to a cost, rather than costing a design
Significant domestic and international increases in demand for
building materials has led suppliers to request greater prices for
their product. This combined with a lack of skilled labour, high
world oil prices and soaring domestic labour costs has seen
unprecedented increases in the cost of all types of construction
across the sector, and the margins of builders come under serious
pressure.
The quantity surveying profession has long been a source of expert
advice on construction costs. The engagement of a qualified
quantity surveyor enables a client to address material and labour
price increases through value management processes that provide
the following:
• Solutions that enable a developer to design and construct
utilising materials that provide cost savings, while maintaining the
intended quality and integrity of the product. For example,
replacing non-load bearing concrete areas with hebel panels.
• Suggesting and providing cost options for areas where prefabricated
products may be able to replace labour intensive onsite
activities. For example, utilising pre-fabricated fibre cement wall
panels instead of brickwork on internal walls, offering a significant
time and potential cost benefit.
• Labour and time related preliminary costs can be reduced
significantly by utilising offsite manufactured materials and prefabricated
products, such as:
- Pre-fabricated flooring, reducing the volume of
concrete used in floorslabs. Effective application of
products such as these offer time, cost and labour
advantages, and can often enhance the quality of the
finished product.
- Pre-fabricated formwork assists in the vertical
application of concrete, once again this offers time,
cost and labour advantages.
The above items suggest areas to reduce construction costs once
in a project’s construction phase. Price and margin pressures have
led developers to seek the services of a quantity surveyor earlier
in the design process. The following models demonstrate the
evolving nature of the role of a quantity surveyor in the design
phase of a project.
As the following models demonstrate, traditionally, a design would
be costed and developed before a quantity surveyor has the
opportunity to suggest design alterations providing significant
cost savings. It is becoming regular practice for a quantity
surveyor to communicate with architects and engineers at the
initiation and design stage of a project, devising alternative
systems of design that provide the most cost effective solution
available. The effective use of this process ensures complimentary
design, materials and labour are implemented and the greatest
available value is achieved.
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