DMS Quantity Surveyors
Turning cost into value!

A QS provides financial advice, planning and management with the view of ensuring value for money in all sizes of construction projects.

Since any property investor's aim is enhanced property value, the involvement of the QS must in itself be advantageous to the client.  Hence, the client is to achieve more value through the QS's involvement than without.  Value thus relates to what something is 'worth' on a personal as well as on a monetery level.  Good value is to satisfy a client's personal perception and good investment criteria.

When should the QS get involved?

Before the design brief is firmed up with the Architect, the QS will provide an outline estimate of the cost and feasibility of the project making use of the client's conceptual requirements and taking factors such as land use rights, parking requirements, topography, construction type and level of finishes into account.  The QS should assist the client in determining the brief prior to an instruction to an Architect to proceed with the design.  The brief will now include the size parameters, which helps alleviate abortive design work.

Throughout the design development stages, the QS will provide advice, estimates, comparisons between schemes, comparisons between building systems and finishes, etc. to enable the design team to arrive at a point of meeting all the client's requirements soonest.

However, should the client become aware of his need to involve a QS at any stage during the design process or even thereafter, involvement should be advantageous through the normal pre- and post contract services.