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BQS 401 Assignment 1 - INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITY

SURVEY
Quantity Surveying (Universiti Teknologi MARA)

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DEPARTMENT OF QUANTITY SURVEYING

COLLEGE OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA SHAH ALAM

COURSE CODE : MEASUREMENT OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS I / BQS 401

PROGRAM : BACHELOR (HONS) OF QUANTITY SURVEYING (AP 224)
LECTURER’S NAME : DR. HAR EINUR AZRIN BINTI BAHARUDDIN
Name of Group Members Matric No

MEGDELIN BINTI MARTIN 2022876244

NUR AFRINA BINTI SOFIAN 2022864592

NUR NYLEA AZIRA BINTI ASMAM 2022678404

NURDALILLAH BINTI AHMAD JAIS 2022898268

FYLARAYSIECA VANIA BINTI RAIJON 2022455338

HILWINA AZZAHRA BINTI MOHD ARIF 2022604272

Assignment Title: QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION IN MALAYSIA

Due date of Assignment:15th DECEMBER 2022

DECLARATION:
We declare that no part of of this assignment has been copied from other person’s work except
where due acknowledgement is made in the text, and no part of this assignment has been
written for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorized by
the lecturer concerned.

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QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSIONS IN MALAYSIA

NUR NYLEA AZIRA BT ASMAM¹, NURDALILAH BINTI AHMAD JAIS², MEGDELIN BINTI
MARTIN³, FYLARASIECA VANIA BINTI RAIJON⁴, HILWINA AZZAHRA BINTI MOHD ARIF⁵
and NUR AFRINA BINTI SOFIAN⁶

ABSTRACT

The term of quantity surveying is no longer new in Malaysia construction industry. The quantity
surveying professions had developed because of the current scenario in the Malaysia
construction industry has changed enthusiastically. The roles of quantity surveying profession
in construction project is much important to get acknowledged from construction professionals
ranged from architects to contractors. An experienced QS is not able to be replaced by any
other profession as their knowledge in QS, management, organization, costing, contracts are
way beyond the knowledge of any other person in other profession. Therefore, QS should be
considering a profession that is not to be repelled from the construction industry to maintain
the cost and management of the projects or construction.
Keywords: Quantity surveying profession, Roles of quantity surveyors, Malaysia construction
industry.

INTRODUCTION

Historically, quantity surveying (QS) had been established and introduce to Malaya (then call
Malaysia) since 1930s due to the migration of some QS members from the United Kingdom
to Singapore (Wee, 2019). The first QS firm brought in 1932 to SG (during this period, SG is
a part of Malaya) named Waters and Watson established by 2 British QS, David Waters and
Eric Watson and was operated until January 1942 (due to WWII) (Wee, 2019). By this time,
the first major building in SG which BQ was prepared is for the Supreme Court building in SG
(Wee, 2019). After the war ended, in the 1950s, QS profession was severely affected but not
long it became well-known profession and began to develop in Malaya (then call Malaysia) as
Eric Watson restarted the firm and adds their branch in KL (Wee, 2019). Most of the works
carried out by this firm during that time is reconstruction works (Wee, 2019).
After some time, the government of Malaya had formed a QS Department in the PWD,
but the scope of work was boundless (unlimited) at that time (Wee, 2019). In conjunction to
1960, the RICS branch had produced a SMM for building works for the use in the Federation
of Malaya, SG and Borneo (Wee, 2019). A step of improvement has been made when Davis
Langdon & Seah (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (DLS) practice in conjunction with the practices of Juru
Ukur Bahan Malaysia (JUBM) and JUBM Sdn Bhd (Wee, 2019). Juru Ukur Bahan Malaysia
was established in 1972 and is one of the earliest fully Malaysian QS practices to be set up in
Malaysia (Wee, 2019). Today, the DLS-JUBM Group is one of the largest quantity surveying
and construction cost consultancy practice in Malaysia and operates throughout Malaysia from
five main office located at Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
(Wee, 2019).
Seeley (1997) described Quantity Surveyor as a profession who would prepare
accurate bills of quantities to be priced by tendering contractors and who would measure and
value any variations that might occur during the progress of the works. In Malaysia, quantity
surveyors must register with Board of Quantity Surveyors Malaysia to be qualified as a QS.
This is followed by finding employment that is supervised by the Royal Institution of Surveyors
Malaysia (RISM) for two years. As of 2022, there are 3,656 were registered as Provisional

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Quantity Surveyor (PVQS), 591 were registered as Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS) and
1,148 were registered as Consultant Quantity Surveyor (CQS). While, there are 400 entries
were registered as CQS Practices and 101 entries were registered as QS Technologist.

1.1 DEFINITION OF QUANTITY SURVEYOR

The Quantity Surveyor is a construction professional who is qualified and sufficiently trained
to advise on all aspects of construction costs, financial management, and contractual
administration. They are an expert in the cost and management of building, civil, and heavy
engineering projects. Quantity Surveyors work on a wide range of projects around the world,
including housing, commercial property developments, hospitals, mosques, petrochemical
plants, highways, dams, and airports.
When a construction project is proposed, the cost must be determined in advance.
These include the site preparation costs, construction, labour, material, plant costs,
professional fees, taxes, and other charges, along with the new building's likely costs for
operation and maintenance. The Quantity Surveyor has been certified to assess these costs
and make recommendations on alternative proposals. When the decision to build the project
is made, the Quantity Surveyor advises the client on proper contract arrangements, together
with the legal contract and requirements under which the building will be built.
They also advise the architect and engineer on the cost implications on behalf of the
client. These include the various construction methods, alternative material selections, and
the project's size and quality. This is also to ensure that each element is merged with the cost
plan allowance and that the overall project cost remains within budget. These abilities place
Quantity Surveyors in a strong position to take on a leading managerial role throughout the
course of a project's development. For examples they could assess the implications of
changes in design, site conditions, and working arrangements and provide the client with
accurate budget and time estimates.
Quantity surveyors can work in a variety of settings, including private practise,
government sectors, educational institutions, construction companies, property developers,
banks and financial institutions, industrial companies, and other commercial firms. Their
professional abilities are highly valued, and they frequently advance to top managerial
positions.

1.2 SCOPE OF SERVICES PROVIDED BY QUANTITY SURVEYORS

Quantity Surveyor plays a big part role in construction as they are expertise in many fields and
work. Moreover, a Quantity Surveyor can work in many different industries as their scope of
job and knowledge diversified which makes them able to work in other than architecture
industries such as insurance companies, oil and gas, heavy industry and many more. So, what
is actual scope of service provided by a Quantity Surveyors?

These are scope of services provided by Quantity Surveyor:

1. Preliminary estimates and cost plans
• Quantity Surveyor plays major part in preparing cost estimates and plan to help
client come up with cost plan with optimal quantity and price.

2. Bills of quantities and other tender documents

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• Bills of quantities involved a process which need Quantity Surveyor to ‘taking off’
that involves identifying elements of construction works that can be measured and
priced.

3. Tender reports and contract documents

• Bills of Quantities are designed primarily as a tendering document then prepare
and collate the necessary Contract Documentation.

4. Prime cost sums items

• Defined as a sum provided for work or services to be executed by a nominated
sub-contractor, a government or a statutory authority

5. Valuation of works including variation

• The valuation will include preliminaries, measured works, materials on and off site,
day-works, provisional sums and re-measured works.

6. Final accounts
• Quantity Surveyor must prepare final account which records the actual costs for all
section of the job.

Other than that, there are supplementary service provided by Quantity Surveyor:
1. Feasibility studies including cash flow
2. Final cost of contracts based on provisional bills of quantities
3. Re-measurement of work due to re-planning and re-designing
4. Projection of estimated project or development expenditure and anticipated income
cash flows.
5. Evaluation of contractors registered for prequalification
6. Comparative cost studies on economics of alternative design
7. Pricing of Bill of Quantity or negotiating and agreeing Schedule of Rates
8. Valuation or auditing of contract claims for arbitrations litigation cases
9. Valuation or auditing of insurance claims for fire damaged buildings
10. Auditing of contracts and their related budgets and expenditure

1.3 CURRENT PROSPECTS OF QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION

The current profession of quantity surveying has faced uncountable challenges in its
development since its inception. It has weathered the storm and grown and is now a well-
known profession in the construction industry. However, to get the prestigious "Sr" or Surveyor
title before your name, you need to meet the requirements to become a Registered QS in
Malaysia after completing your degree. Its name emanates from their role in quantifying the
number of construction resources such as labour, materials, and equipment. They also have
different names in different countries and depend on the area where they are assigned. With
the advancement of the industry, now we can not only find QS in the construction industry, but
in other industries as well.
Being one of the most important people for a major construction project has become
the quantity surveyor's responsibility in making sure everything in the project runs smoothly.
The current prospect of the quantity surveyor profession is as a project consultant either to
the public or the private sector. They are known as professional quantity surveyors, and they
carry out work on behalf of client organizations. The consultant quantity surveyor covers
various activities in the project. The function of consultant quantity surveyors is generally

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related to cost control of construction projects and their main aim is to ensure that the client
gets value for the money invested.
Next, the quantity surveyor also works with contractors and suppliers. They are known
as the main contractor's quantity surveyors. They will join the design team and be responsible
for coordinating all projects being built by the contractors who employ them. Whether
coordinating one or more projects, the contractor’s quantity surveyor’s main role is to ensure
that projects are done within the budget and the contractor get maximum profits.
In addition to being professionals in the construction industry, they are also involved in
the non-construction sector. There are also prospects for quantity surveyor in financial
institutions. Among the types of financial institutions are central banks, commercial banks,
brokerages, insurance companies, savings and loan associations, and more. For the banking
sector, quantity surveyor will be involved in security, indemnity and insurance, guarantees and
bonds, and taxation. Thus, the roles of quantity surveyors in financial institutions are to assess
the technical appraisals such as construction stakeholders who need the capital, developers
who want to develop a new project, contractors who want to bid for a new project, suppliers
who want to produce a new material and individuals who want to buy a house or other
properties.
Moreover, for oil and gas or petroleum sector, quantity surveyor is involved in technical
and commercial roles. For technical roles include quality management, project management,
engineering, and health, safety and environment, while commercial roles also include finance
and accounting, engineering and cost estimating, procurement, legal, and several others.
Finally, the quantity surveyor profession's prospects are in public service authorities.
There are many public services where a profession as a quantity surveyor can be used
including law enforcement, education, public buildings, economic development services, and
several others.

1.4 CHALLENGES FACING THE MODERN QUANTITY SURVEYOR TO MEET

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (I.R 4.0)

The development of new technologies is faster until it makes it known as the industrial
revolution (Mashegoane & Khatleli, 2018) Industrial can be interpreted as activities that related
to the processing of raw material until the finish product that have its own value and quality,
while revolution is a lifestyle changes or habits carried out in people live (Glorino Rumambo
Pandin, n.d.). In conclusion industrial revolution is a significant change in world industry
because it produces a new thing that needed by human to stay alive.
Industrial Revolution 4.0 is period that characterized by an imbalance between
production and competition. There is an advantages and disadvantages regarding the
industrial revolution to all people. As a quantity surveyor they also face a challenge during
facing the industrial revolution. The development of new technologies such as software
application on project have made some of the professional quantity surveyor lazier (Akinshipe
et al., 2022) The simple arithmetic and project paperwork have been eliminated by the
software. The software may help the quantity surveying professions become easier and
efficient that can result to increase the firm productiveness using cost calculation and
automated quantities (Akinshipe et al., 2022) In conclusion the software application will lead
to laxity to their paperwork due to automated task done by the software.
During Industrial Revolution 4.0 where the period of digital transformation happens,
some of quantity surveyor finds it hard to adapt with digitalization because of inadequate
education and training in IT tools during their studies (Akinshipe et al., 2022) Most of the
tertiary institutions do not offer the module for digital training for their student and still doing
their job manually by doing taking off on the traditional dimension paper. The graduate student

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will find it hard to develop the digitalization skills to use the software when they search for job.
As a result, it also will burden the firm to train their graduate employees for digital training. The
IT training can cost higher because everything related to the technology is expensive. An
adequate education and training in digital tools must be done by the university in stages by
reforming the education curriculum to accommodate the digital transformation in daily
learning(Akinshipe et al., 2022).
Industrial Revolution 4.0 will give challenge to the small firm in adapting new
technology for the special software used by the quantity surveyor. The high cost of
implementing these technologies has also been a challenge in adopting technologies and
software usage in a small QS firm. Small QS firm may need to rely on governing bodies to
provide support regarding the implementation of digital technology to resolve cost issues. QS
job is not very highest paid among the parties involved in construction. The profit that a small
QS firm gain is not as much as a large one, since they do not get as many projects as a big
firm. For small QS firm they may took longer time to implement digitalization in quantity
surveying because they are upgrading the technologies a little at a time. Government
involvement in this situation such as collecting fund may help lessen the burden for a small
QS firm (Akinshipe et al., 2022).

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REFERENCES

Aishah Abdulla. (20 April 2018). Difference between being a Consultancy Quantity
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surveyor-aishah-abdulla
Akinshipe, O., Ikuabe, M., & Aigbavboa, C. (2022). Digital Transformation in Quantity
Surveying: Where Lies the Issues? Social and Occupational Ergonomics, 65.
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Glorino Rumambo Pandin, M. (n.d.). Industrial Revolution: A History of Industrial
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Mashegoane, G., & Khatleli, N. (2018). 26. The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry
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member/

Salleh, N. M., Husien, E., Husin, S. N., Muhammad, N. H., & Alang, N. (2020). Quantity
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Seeley, I. H. (2013). Quantity Surveying Practice.

University of reading Malaysia. Career in Quantity Surveying. Retrieved from

https://www.reading.edu.my/news-2/524-career-in-quantity-surveying

Wee, Z. (2019). Quantity Surveying Field and Industry in Malaysia. Academia.edu.

https://www.academia.edu/35384252/Quantity_Surveying_Field_and_Industry_i
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Wao, J. (2015). Predicting the Future of Quantity Surveying Profession in the

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