FIG Commission 10 - Construction Economics and Management

Term 2015-2018

Highlights Commission Chair
Commission 10 intends to leverage on FIG’s network of members organisations to promote the profession of QS/CE and PM/CM which are either non-existent or lacking in many countries especially the under-developed and developing countries. There are also developed countries that do not have the profession of QS/CE or PM/CM.

See Lian Ong, Malaysia

Specific activities aimed at these countries include development of standards for construction and cost management and contribution to appropriate Continuing Professional Development programmes.

In 2017 we see the successful launch of the International Construction Measurement Standard (ICMS) which will see a signification harmonisation of the practice of construction cost reporting across the globe in the years to come. The interest among FIG members on Building Information Modelling (BIM) continues to grow and the Pre-Working Week Conference on BIM has drawn large crowd.

Working Group 10.1 – International Construction Measurement Standards

Following the launch of draft standard for public consultation on 11 November 2016 at RICS Headquarters, London, more comments were received. Subsequently the second draft for public consultation was issued in Mid-March 2017 and consultation period closed on 31 May 2017. The draft ICMS was well received and several constructive comments were received when dateline for receiving comments for the final draft closed on 31 May 2017.

Consequently the SSC further finetuned the final draft with the comments received and publish the final draft to the Trustee in June 2017. The ICMS was published and launched at the annual congress of Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) held in Vancouver, Canada from 24 to 26 July 2017.

With the publication of ICMS we hope that there will be consistency in reporting of construction cost across the entire world.

The Trustee of ICMS Coalition has reconsituted the Standard Setting Committee (SSC) and has mandated the SSC to review the current edition of ICMS incorporating comments from the market.

 The SSC had just commenced its first meeting on 16 March 2018 and will over the next 12 months work towards the publication of the 2nd Edition of ICMS incorporating additional project categories for civil engineering works, life cycle costing and reformat the standard to ensure it is easy for data capture digitally.

Working Group 10.2 – Building Information

Modelling Building Information Modelling (BIM) is changing the way how surveyors work, think, collaborate and make money. Using and sharing multidimensional digital representations of buildings are the driving forces for the digitalization of our work. This affects many tasks surveyors and GIS professionals perform, e. g. cost estimation, GIS analysis, engineering surveying, construction work, land management and facilities management.

Following great interest on the development and application of BIM at previous FIG Working Weeks, the Working Group organised a Pre-Working Week Workshop on BIM in Helsinki.

The workshop covered:

  • Teaching theoretical background of the BIM method (concepts, workflows and standards).
  • Best practice presentations from large projects and SME (from surveyor’s point of view).
  • Presentation of the latest software (surveying, integration and collaboration with BIM, CAD, GIS).

The Workshop attracted strong participation from professionals of engineering and surveying companies, land administration agencies, academics from different countries and also students and young professionals from the FIG Young Surveyors Network.

Following this, the Working Group also organsied a Round-Table discussion among key executives of vendors and users of BIM and has resulted in several proposals for the development of BIM agenda in FIG.

Based on this success, the Working Group will again be organising a similar workshop before the FIG Congress in Instanbul.

The Commission has also proposed to publish ”BIM for Surveyors”, a compilation of selected essays and techincal papers by professionals and experts in the field. The application for such publication hase been sent to the Council and is awaiting approval from the Council.

Working Group 10.3 – Education and Research

The profession of QS/CE is new or non-existent in some countries, both developed and developing countries. Commission 10 hopes to use its network and platform to influence policy makes to consider the use of QS/CE for developmental projects and as such the need to build competencies and human capital in this specialised field.

Commission 10 has developed the core competency standard for the QS/CE profession. The application for the publication of the QS/CE Core Competency Standard has been forwarded to the Council and is awaiting approval from the Council.

Work Plan

Terms of Reference

Cost Engineering (CE) and Quantity Surveying (QS)

Functions:

  • To provide independent, objective, accurate, and reliable capital and operating cost assessments usable for investment funding and project control; and
  • To analyze investment and development for the guidance of owners, financiers and
    contractors.

CE and QS duties and responsibilities include:

  • estimates of capital or asset costs including development costs;
  • estimates of operating and manufacturing costs through an asset’s life cycle;
  • risk assessment and analysis;
  • trending of scope and cost changes;
  • decision analysis;
  • financial analysis (eg, net present value, rate of return, etc);
  • project cost control;
  • appraisals of existing assets;
  • project analyses, databases, and benchmarking;
  • planning and scheduling;
  • siting studies, etc.;
  • productive and investment needs assessment;
  • facility management needs assessment;
  • project feasibility and budget assessment;
  • cost management;
  • procurement management;
  • contract administration;
  • whole-life appraisals;
  • quality audits;
  • value management; and
  • dispute resolution.

These are typical functions of the CE or QS but not all practitioners in the field perform all of these functions. Many specialize in a limited number of these functions.

Project and Construction Management (PM/CM)

Function: To set project objectives in line with the purpose(s) set up by general management and to manage the resources necessary to meet the project objectives.

PM/CM should:

  • ensure that a realistic reference (scope, cost, time) is set up for further control and is in line with the objectives;
  • ensure that appropriate management tools are set up to help the team control the project;
  • create a cost-minded atmosphere within the team;
  • make decisions on what should be done in case of variance; and
  • ensure that the project objectives remain in line with business needs.

PM/CM delivers the project by:

  • managing resources;
  • delegating tasks;
  • making decisions;
  • receiving information;
  • setting goals;
  • motivating people;
  • understanding cost engineering and quantity surveying;
  • managing the schedule and make decisions in case of variance;
  • managing quality and work methodology.

Mission statement

The mission of Commission 10 is:

  • The promotion of the practice of QS/CE and PM/CM globally.
  • The promotion of “best practice” for QS/CE and PM/CM globally.
  • The promotion of dialogue between member organizations engaged in QS/CE, and PM/CM.
  • Fostering of research appropriate to the better understanding of building practice around the world.
  • The promotion of cooperation among FIG Members organisations involving QS/CE and PM/CM for their mutual well-being and that of their individual members.
  • The advancement of QS/CE, PM/CM, by education and research and continuing professional development
  • To secure uniformity in education, standards and methodology by QS/CE, PM/CM throughout the world
  • To facilitate and assist in development of formal education framework and competencies in the profession of QS/CE or PM/CM among member organisations that may not have a formal education or professional development in QS/CE or PM/CM
  • To achieve the above mission objectives, FIG Commission 10 will collaborate with other international or regional organisations such as RICS, ICEC, PAQS, CEEC, AAQS, PMI and other similar organisations.
 

Work Plan

 
     
Key Documents

 

Publications

FIG PUBLICATION NO. 71: FIG Guidance on Professional Competencies - for Quantity Surveyors / Construction Economists / Cost Engineers.   

This publication as a .pdf-file (60 pages - 0,8 Mb)

Working Groups

Working Group 10.1 – International Construction Measurement Standards

Policy Issues

At present, construction measurement standards differ markedly around the world, making it difficult to accurately measure construction activities and processes, as well as the resulting performance and environmental impacts. The different sets of standards are often inconsistent or conflicting, making difficult for professionals, clients and investors to assess with certainly the value and risks attached to the project. In view of increasing mobility of construction professionals and also increased activities on cross border investments it is necessary for an international standard for consistency and transparency.

The establishment of International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) will be an international collaborative effort by international, regional or national professional organisations involving quantity surveying, cost engineering, project management and construction management.

The creation of such standards would eliminate current inconsistencies and improve the ability to assess, compare and reduce impacts related to environmental, social and economic impacts of the construction industry. Through accurate measurement standards, risks will be reduced for businesses and investors and sustainable development can take place with greater accountability in both established and emerging markets.

The establishment of ICMS has the support of United Nations Global Compact. As the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the United Nations Global Compact works to advance collective action in support of sustainable development and to strengthen accountability. ICMS has the potential to increase transparency in the construction sector through the development of internationally-accepted standards in measurement.

Chair

See Lian Ong (slong1951[at]gmail.com)

Members

Ruya Fadason (Nigeria)
Ekow Budu-Anguah (Ghana)
Robert Sinkner (Czech)


Working Group 10.2 – Building Information Modelling

Policy issues

BIM is on the cusp of becoming a common project requirement, but what is the position of the surveying profession in this new order? QSs and PMs rely on the effective use, management and reuse of shared information. A BIM model allows this for asset information. Clearly, BIM presents a great opportunity for surveyors to improve their own efficiency and to add value through a better use of information on behalf of clients. Although there is an increasing awareness and usage of BIM, recent survey by RICS indicates that awareness of BIM issues within the surveying profession is still relatively low. The time for action is rapidly approaching. Tools that enable surveyors to use and add value to BIM models are now available, and are becoming increasingly powerful. So how should surveyors contribute to the development of the BIM capability?

Key elements of the BIM Strategy point to some opportunities:

  • government’s focus on asset information – ‘data drops’ provide opportunities for value added services, particularly associated with occupation and facilities management (FM)
  • progressive adoption – government’s mandate for Level 2 BIM means that initial barriers to entry for surveyors will be low, particularly for value-added information exchange
  • client pull, industry push – surveyors have the opportunity to collaborate with the wider industry to define appropriate standards to drive efficiency and manage risk
  • use of project intelligence to support project gateways with ‘should cost’, programme and operating cost information. This links closely to other Construction Strategy work streams dealing with benchmarking.

Chair

Dr. Christian Clemen, Germany
clemen[at]htw-dresden.de

Members
Femi Balogun (Nigeria)
Dr. Jan Erdelyi (Slovakia)
Artemis Velaris (Greece)
Aloje Kopacik (Slovakia)


Working Group 10.3 – Education and Research

Policy issues

The profession of QS/CE is new or non-existent in some countries, both developed and developing countries. Commission 10 hopes to use its network and platform to influence policy makes to consider the use of QS/CE for developmental projects and as such the need to build competencies and human capital in this specialised field.

The new Chair of Commission 10 has had hands-on experience in bringing formal education of QS/CE to China about 10 years ago and hope to use the same model to develop the skills either through conversion programme or through developing course curriculum for undergraduate students.

Engagement with institution of higher learning within each of the relevant countries is essential to ensure the success and sustainability of this initiative.

Chair

To be appointed.

Members
Mercy Iyortyer (Nigeria)
Artemis Velaris (Greece)