2 Construction Quantity Surveying

and 38% for repairs and maintenance. This impressive value represents an
increase of 17% over the previous decade, with the percentage split between
new and repair/maintenance works remaining constant. Industrial reports
indicate that the decade 2010–2019 will see growth, albeit to a lesser extent
than witnessed between 2000 and 2009.
The industry has over 300,000 firms employing in excess of 2 million people
in a multitude of roles, including suppliers, designers, contractors, manu-
facturers and those suppliers of goods and services that rely on the industry.
The industry is buoyant in terms of economic stability, and offers employment
that expands and contracts with the amount of spending by the private and
public sectors. In terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), which is the economic
measure of the total value of goods and services produced in the national
accounts, the industry contributes 7–9% annually and is indeed a giant in
terms of the contribution it makes to the national economy and workforce.

1.2 The client’s team

A client may be an individual, partnership, group of persons, organisation or

business from the public or private sectors that seeks and pays for building
works. Public sector means central and local governments and private sector
means an individual(s), firm(s) as partnerships and limited or unlimited
companies. In general, the client’s role is to decide a suitable method of
procurement to obtain a building, which involves a series of appointments to
create teams tasked with assisting and delivering a project. The client’s team is
made up of the following:

The design team This team comprises of consultants from a range of

backgrounds engaged by a client to specify and design schemes suitable for the
client’s needs. Any member of the design team may engage second tier consult-
ants with specialist skills to assist with their workload and commitment to the
client and project.
The construction team The construction team is on the supply side of the
industry, a term used to describe those parties appointed to physically con-
struct a project in accordance with the design requirements. This includes:
● A main contractor (the builder)
● Subcontractors to carry out works for the main contractor
● Material suppliers (including manufacturers)
● Suppliers of plant equipment to assist with the construction operations.
The combination of design team members and a main contractor is often
referred to as the building team. Under a traditional procurement arrange-
ment, each building team member has an agreement with the client, with
subcontractors and suppliers usually having an arranged dealing with the main
contractor only.

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