Chartered Surveyors & the Construction IndustryIn the UK, chartered surveyors are professionals with many varied roles across a wide variety of industries and specialisations. Essentially, all chartered surveyors are members of RICS; the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, located in London SW1, and so are entitled utilize the suffix MRICS or FRICS [Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors]. To the public in general, the chartered surveyor is someone who works in the construction industry, and even the majority is specialists in building, property management and similar fields. However, many other areas require the services of a chartered surveyor, including artwork and antiques, mineral surveying and auctioneering.Within the construction and property fields, chartered surveyors get excited about performing surveys for homebuyers, valuations for mortgage companies, full surveys of buildings, consultancy on construction developments, and land surveys, management of estates and different other areas associated with land and property. Chartered surveyors tend to specialise within these fields, and sometimes form professional partnerships with those employed in different areas within exactly the same industry.RICS & Construction ContractsConstruction contracts are in the heart of each building project undertaken in the united kingdom, and are made to be legally binding agreements between the building owner [developer] and the contractor(s) who will be performing the task. Labour costs, the supply of labour for the project, costs and supply of materials, and the time frame for the completion of the project are all covered in the contract, as will be the specifications, design plans, and agreements regarding any potential changes through the build.The RICS is closely involved with construction contracts, and issues both statements that outline best practice guidelines for surveyors, and mandatory practice statements that cover all areas of the assorted roles of chartered surveyors during construction projects. These roles include not only building and quantity surveyors, but additionally valuers and project managers. Lots of the mandatory and advisory statements produced by RICS relate to the role of chartered surveyors with regard to construction contracts, and RICS members are required to follow them.Contract AdministrationBuilding contracts in the UK fall into a range of subcategories. Probably the most common are the following:? International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC)? Public Procurement Contract 2000 (PPC 2000)? The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT)? New Engineering Contract (NEC)Chartered surveyors working on building projects are therefore called to deal not merely with contract administration, but additionally with areas of project management that may include material and labour costs, initial planning and feasibility studies (including site surveying and legal issues), site and building safety, preventing and resolving any disputes which could arise, and building control.Contract administration is critical to the successful completion of a construction project, and chartered surveyors have an important role to play. In addition to overseeing the fulfilment of the agreed contract, and being involved with its termination, issues arising prior to the contract is agreed can include insurance for both contractor and the project owner, warranties and guarantees, and adequate provision to cover any potential time overruns, payment difficulties, and defective work. The role of surveyors with regards to building contracts can include working with and managing the usage of non-standard contracts, in addition to those outlined above.The Role of the Employer's AgentOn a design and build contract a chartered surveyor will often be engaged being an Employer's Agent, a role which can vary greatly with respect to the specific needs of your client or the project itself. The role can even be affected by the number of time that is available, but basically the Employer's Agent acts for the client on any matters relating to the construction contract. https://london-surveyors.uk/best-daylight-analysis-london/ where an Employer's Agent might be engaged include large commercial or public property building contracts. RICS provides guidelines explaining the full selection of services and activities which might be undertaken by the Employer's Agent.These will often include, but are not limited to, picking or recommending contractors following a creation and agreement of the client's brief; ensuring that sustainability goals are achieved; advising on adherence to CDM or Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, updated recently with new legal duties for clients, designers and contractors amongst others; and the planning and management of costs and risks. Analysing tenders from contractors can be an important area of the role, and running meetings and ensuring smooth progress on the webpage itself are generally involved.The Role of the Project ManagerProject Managers have an integral role in construction projects, which includes responsibility for overseeing the successful progress of the build, from the original planning stage to completion. An excellent PM should be able to spot and resolve problems and issues before they arise, partly by having the breadth of specialised knowledge essential for asking the proper questions. Conflict and dispute resolution will demand good diplomatic skills.At the heart of the Project Manager's role is good communication. In order for a project to be completed within the allotted time scale and budget, while satisfying the original brief, a PM must think several moves ahead. It's essential, for instance, for the PM to ensure the look has been fully understood by everyone focusing on the project, that your client understands the price implications of the work they will have requested, and that the contractors are fully conversant with both client's requirements and the legal requirements involved. These can, and do change, and can frequently affect the success of a build. The creation of clear guidelines understood by everyone involved on the project is the first responsibility of a PM; making certain those guidelines are honored is equally important.Targets should be set that enable cost, time scale and safety concerns to be met. Those targets should be agreed by both client and contractor, but the PM must also manage to maintain the good working relationship between them when unforeseen circumstances - for example, a rise in the expense of materials or labour, or revised legal duties - arise during the duration of the project.Finally, the communication skills of the PM will be vital in producing progress reports as the project runs. These reports includes monitoring the completion of varied parts of the build, as well as ensuring that costs come in line with the budget.TWC Consulting offers a diverse range of Construction Consultants on all sorts of major & minor works projects including Chartered Surveyors, Construction Project Managers, Employers Agents, Contract Administrators, Cost Consultants, Planning Advisors (and more) all from under one roof.