Knowing what they do for you ... what you are paying for is vital.

This is part of a series of articles I am writing for you to explain what each profession does in some detail.

So far I have covered:

. The Architect and Real Estate Development . The Structural Engineer and Real Estate Development . The Hydraulic Engineer and Real Estate Development

and now we'll tackle generally mis-understood profession of Quantity Surveyor.

The Quantity Surveyor (QS), can also be known in development and construction industries as a Construction Economist, or even a Cost Manager.

At feasibility stage quantity surveyors use their knowledge of construction methods and costs to advise developer on most economical way of achieving project requirements.

Quantity Surveyors do not usually work on small developments, such as six or ten residential units/condos/apartments.

But when such projects get into higher multiples, I have always engaged them as part of my development team.

It might be timely to remind you of my description of what a developer or development manager does - a developer is a Manager of human - physical and financial resources. S/he is not an Expert - s/he engages Experts to carry out their specialist work so that DM can achieve development's goal.

The DM is not an expert - a DM is a "Generalist" and happens to know a lot about what goes into putting a successful development together.

That does not mean that a DM may not have had a specific building/construction expertise, it is just that s/he engages other to do that work and takes on General's Work of getting entire development off ground and then completed successfully.

So a QS is one of those specialist professions that a DM engages to advise on construction costs.

At start of a project you may have used, what we refer to as, a 'broad brush' price for construction figure or an estimate prepared by a builder or indeed a QS.

However you arrived at figure, it becomes your Construction Budget upon which your projects financial viability has been established.

Well, once you start detailed development of your Projects Design, you need ensure that every alteration, or I should say, expansion of design, is still within original Budget. That's another aspect of what your QS does for you.

A QS estimates and monitors construction costs, from feasibility stage of a project through to completion of construction period and beyond if you require services.

The QS forms part of Design Consultant Team and work closely with developers, architects, engineers, contractors, suppliers, accountants, insurance underwriters, solicitors and Courts and with financiers.

A QS controls design construction costs, and compared them to Budget Cost, by breaking down building into major elements of total cost structure - referred to as "elemental costs."

For instance, if most residential buildings, of type and size you are proposing shows that foundations are usually $X per square foot or per square metre, and your plan design shows $X + per foot/metre, you would want to know why, at a stage of your project, when you have a chance to take corrective action.

Now within major "elemental cost," QS has a further break down of costs.

Staying with example of our foundations, you would have such items as Steel Reinforcing, Concrete. So if foundation costs are high, you can see that cost of steel has increased in past 3 months by 12% due to whatever reasons.

At lease you know reason for increase and if you are stuck with it, you know you have to look for 'cost saving elsewhere' so that you don't break your Budget.

Quantity surveyors can use techniques referred to as Cost Planning, Estimating, Cost Analysis, Cost-in-use Studies and Value Management to establish and control a project budget.

The structure of a building is like skeleton of our body. Without it a building could not stand upright and without a skeleton, we would be a blob of flesh on ground.

So just like I said in an earlier article, if Hydraulic Engineer did not get water to 2nd level of a house or 30th floor of an apartment building, there would not be much point in constructing building in first place.

So all these professions link together in a co-dependent relationship when creating a modern building.

Just think about last tall building you saw. Now think about all forces that come into play. The obvious one it weight of concrete and steel. Then of course is weight of all equipment, furniture, windows, cars and personal possessions of occupants.

All of this weight has a vertical impact and must be calculated by structural designer, so that foundations are of sufficient strength and are founded on some solid sub-strata natural material, like rock.

How does structural engineer handle this weight if there is no rock, say 20 metres under building. Can you see how things can get complicated?

OK, weight factor is an obvious one. But what about 'wind?' This building that is being designed will be sticking up in air, say 150 metres.

Imagine a strong wind of 100 miles (km) an hour hits southern facade of building or any of other three sides. If you were living inside, you would not like to feel building move - not even a fraction of an inch, would you?

If wind is a hale or rain storm and wind carrying it is swirling around and not coming from a fixed direction, building may be experiencing a 'twisting' motion. Once again, you would not like to feel building move a fraction of an inch.

What about if building is going to be erected on an absolute beach front location.

What happens if sea invades inland in storm force gales and erodes a great deal of sand from around foundations and also has forces I described above.

These are just some of forces Structural Engineer must allow for in his/her design. The design, not only takes these forces and conditions into account, but must also take account of historical precedent of past major storms or floods.

You may have heard people talk of Flood of 1974 (my region) of Hurricanes of 2004 in Florida. Well, all of these must be recorded and added to history of floods and storms of 50 - 100 years ago (or longer) that may have occurred in your area of interest.

Having taken all this into account, Structural Engineer, must design a structure that in his/her opinion is safe for citizens as well as occupants.

It may be of interest to readers that one of roles of Local Authority's Building Department is to check that calculations are correct.

Now, not all of us are going to build high rise buildings, but I hope it is easier to understand forces at play on a big building and then relate them to a smaller structure most individual developers with build.