QUANTITY SURVEYING IN THE USA
It never ceases to amaze me why, with a population in excess of 340 million, America has not really come to grips with not only what a civil engineering quantity surveyor does but also why such vocation has heretofore not been readily identifiable in the US construction market place or indeed through colleges and universities. In the past, a civil engineer is perceived as strictly dealing with the design and construction of a civil engineering project and a land surveyor primarily responsible for dimensional control.
The US Capitol Building which houses the Senate and the House of Representatives in the United States capital city of Washington DC.
In an increasing demand for civil engineering construction activity the presence of firms providing expert professional quantity surveying services has grown substantially.
It would therefore seem that in matters concerning correct measurement valuation and contract interpretation it was left to a perhaps unqualified member of the legal profession to resolve. This may be one of the reasons why per head of population the number of members of the legal profession in the USA – approx. 1.3m – is twice the level in the UK.
The methodology prevailing with major contractors and employers over here seems to prefer reliance upon litigation for the resolution of contractual issues and related valuation. It can be an expensive process, often beyond the ability or means of a small to medium-sized contractor to pursue. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the CICES membership is so low for such a large population?
In an increasing demand for civil engineering construction activity the presence of firms providing expert professional quantity surveying services has grown substantially. The large often UK based quantity surveying practices, such as Gardner & Theobold, Gleeds and Faithful & Gould are all competing for new business in the QS mould, particularly since 2011, although there is a tendency to call the function ‘cost management’ rather than ‘quantity surveying’.
The problem is that the currently available US professionals are neither educated nor trained to perform what those in the UK and elsewhere would call a traditional QS role.
There is still however a tendency to adhere to the usage of the old term ‘measurement and valuation of projects’ and as such the main stumbling block to hiring quantity surveying professionals in the USA is the US visa entry application process, the main routes being an H-1B visa or an L1 company transfer visa. These are often difficult to obtain and costly. The US Government caps the number of H-1B visas it approves each year and one must have been employed by a firm for a minimum of twelve months in your home country before transferring.
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The obvious, yet perhaps simple answer is to change the current quantifiable requirements within the USA to accommodate the obvious increased demand for suitable QS professionals. The problem is that the currently available US professionals are neither educated nor trained to perform what those in the UK and elsewhere would call a traditional QS role.
In essence, they are not specifically experienced in such analytical, financial or project execution roles to carry out the work of a QS, without being specifically trained to do so – hence the increased demand in the USA for suitably educated and trained surveyors in the British (and worldwide) mode.
A gap in suitable education and training is definitely emerging over here, for civil engineering quantity surveyors pursuant to suitable US university degree courses and organizations to fulfill such role.
This would in itself create recognition for ourselves at CICES and indeed, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and assist in growth in membership and international collaboration. As the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors we should be using our influence to increase membership in the USA.