Prime
Why you need to hire a quantity surveyor
A quantity surveyor will help you plan for whatever money you have set aside for constructing your house. They will also make sure that the contractor operates within the budget.
What you need to know:
Do you have money for building but have failed to plan for it because it seems little? Maybe it’s time you seek the services of a quantity surveyor. They will help you plan for that money.
A number of people do not seek the services of quantity surveyors when building because they see it as wastage of finances and think an architect or engineer would do the work
However, Dickens Ampire, a quantity surveyor says this is a wrong perception because by excluding a quantity surveyor, you would incur high costs as opposed to using one.
Who is a quantity surveyor?
Ampire says a quantity surveyor is a professional who specialises in understanding, analysing, and reporting on the costs related with construction projects.
He adds that they formulate quantities, give appropriate estimates of all the materials and labour costs for a particular project. “It’s us who create your budget and make all the necessary records on the money spent during the construction process and the project schedule, a thing other construction experts cannot do because they are not trained to do that.” he says.
Ampire says they are able to come up with the cost estimates which are always accurate because they have ample knowledge on estimating, engineering, designing, and mediating. “Because we deal in construction budgets, we have to be alert on the prices of different items used in construction so that we give accurate amounts,” he says.
Why you need one
Having a skilled and experienced quantity surveyor will help you have an accurate projection of the costs involved in your construction project.
They will also help you have an effective cost planning on your construction crew to help you cut costs through delivering alternative ideas.
What they provide
1. The best value for each money spent because the budget entirely depends on him.
2. The total expenditures within the amount allocated for each of the various elements, or stages of the project.
3. Providing a balanced expenditure between the various elements or segments of the project.
How they do it
Before construction
Ampire says, “quantity surveyors compare the project with the others they have done to ensure accuracy on the client’s work.”
He says they also plan costs to help the design team stay within the project budget using practical solutions that could help keep the budget minimal because they have skills of value engineering and for this reason, “If you are to hire a quantity surveyor, you will have to include him in the whole construction process for better results.”
During construction
When construction begins, Ampire says the quantity surveyor keeps costs on track and they provide the project owner with cash flow data so that the client can know and provide the amount of money needed for each stage.
“There are times when a client runs out of finances and cannot finish the construction and the only way out is to get a loan from a bank to complete his construction. This is the time you will need the quantity surveyor most because you will have to provide the bank with the project report and it’s here that he will help the client in preparing and writing certificates for the money to be given by the bank,” Ampire explains.
After construction
After construction, Ampire says the quantity surveyor then adds up the total cost incurred throughout the whole process and provides a final account, which shows the actual costs for all the sections of the job done.
“Therefore anyone who excludes a quantity surveyor from the construction process leaves the biggest pillar behind. The outcome would be mismanagement of finances and over spending throughout the whole process,” Ampire notes.
