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Building or Quantity Surveying?

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Reply 20
Best University for Quantity Surveying
Hello lovely people out here....hope u r great

I have finished with BA(Hons) degree in international business. Now i m interested to do msc in Quantity surveying because i wanted to do masters in some technical field. I am confused that which university to select. i have done some research. Heriot watt university is highly ranked. university of porstmouth is an other.

guys i need ur views that which university is best for QS msc.
whats the future of QS?
or whts the other best option for me to msc in after my ba(hons)International business management from anglia ruskin uni.

thanks
Reply 21
Original post by c-man
I have offers for year 2 entry at Salford and Liverpool John Moore universities, have you had any luck finding work for when you graduate.


Is this doing building surveying? as I have also offers off these to uni's and debating which one is best!? :rolleyes:
Reply 22
Original post by Carlene23
The case studies sound like a good idea fret so I'll check those out asap.The decision has been made. Sent off my applications today - I chose BS (LSBU, Nottingham Trent, and LJMU) in the end so fingers cross I've made the right choice :smile:
Hi Carlene, I know it's been a while since you posted about this topic but i am currently in the same position as you were. I am in my last year of my degree and was interested in going into either Building Surveying or Quantity Surveying. But I think after reading this thread, I am swaying towards Building Surveying and am also looking into going to Southbank University. Which University did you eventually do your Masters at? And do you have any advice that you could share to someone who is quite clueless!Thank you
Original post by maisy123
Hi Carlene, I know it's been a while since you posted about this topic but i am currently in the same position as you were. I am in my last year of my degree and was interested in going into either Building Surveying or Quantity Surveying. But I think after reading this thread, I am swaying towards Building Surveying and am also looking into going to Southbank University. Which University did you eventually do your Masters at? And do you have any advice that you could share to someone who is quite clueless!Thank you


Quantity surveying and building surveying are very different professions. Look into them both carefully as they both involve different types of work and it depends entirely on what you prefer to do
Reply 24
Devil's advocate here,

As a professional quantity surveyor I can say that the role is boring at times, however the prospects are generally much better than those of a building surveyor (I.e enables ease of promotion to senior management)

Quantity surveying basically teaches you how to manage and procure project liabilities (contractually and financially) in order to do this you will need to know your way around a cash-flow forecast, eventually a profit and loss statement and will generally know the margins better than anyone else in the company. I can't speak for all universities, but Heriott Watt(the most highly ranked QS course provider in the U.K) teaches you the fundamentals of corporate finance which helps immeasurably.

Building surveyors on the other hand are concerned with the structural aspects of a project and how that impacts on value etc my friend for example was out surveying footings last week, signing them off if they met his requirements asking for a repour if they didn't.

The key difference here is that with quantity surveying you learn financial management skills that are essential in senior management.
I'm not saying you can't get there as a building surveyor, but I recently went for an interview at a multidisciplinary surveying practice (both BS and QS) where the two MD's were Quantity surveyors by trade and the four associates comprised of 3 QS and one BS. To add weight to my argument, procurement is becoming a highly recognised field, because the people that work there generally have the best knowledge of the business function, the problems that can inhibit profit and consequently the solutions to enable the company to move forward. Have a look at construction / engineering commercial managers and their salaries, most of these people are trained Quantity Surveyors and are on major money generally starting in the 50-60k range.

Like I say quantity surveying can be boring at times, very contractual and often office based so building surveying might be a better choice for those that enjoy being out and about on site a lot (which can be over-rated in the winter months)

It is also important to note that generally QS can work as 1 of 4 different functions:
Sub-contractor (generally site based)
Main-contractor (site/office)
Client (office for the majority)
Consultant (office for majority)
Each of these require slightly different responsibilities.

sent from mobile
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 25
Original post by Jamaker
Devil's advocate here,

As a professional quantity surveyor I can say that the role is boring at times, however the prospects are generally much better than those of a building surveyor (I.e enables ease of promotion to senior management)

Quantity surveying basically teaches you how to manage and procure project liabilities (contractually and financially) in order to do this you will need to know your way around a cash-flow forecast, eventually a profit and loss statement and will generally know the margins better than anyone else in the company. I can't speak for all universities, but Heriott Watt(the most highly ranked QS course provider in the U.K) teaches you the fundamentals of corporate finance which helps immeasurably.

Building surveyors on the other hand are concerned with the structural aspects of a project and how that impacts on value etc my friend for example was out surveying footings last week, signing them off if they met his requirements asking for a repour if they didn't.

The key difference here is that with quantity surveying you learn financial management skills that are essential in senior management.
I'm not saying you can't get there as a building surveyor, but I recently went for an interview at a multidisciplinary surveying practice (both BS and QS) where the two MD's were Quantity surveyors by trade and the four associates comprised of 3 QS and one BS. To add weight to my argument, procurement is becoming a highly recognised field, because the people that work there generally have the best knowledge of the business function, the problems that can inhibit profit and consequently the solutions to enable the company to move forward. Have a look at construction / engineering commercial managers and their salaries, most of these people are trained Quantity Surveyors and are on major money generally starting in the 50-60k range.

Like I say quantity surveying can be boring at times, very contractual and often office based so building surveying might be a better choice for those that enjoy being out and about on site a lot (which can be over-rated in the winter months)

It is also important to note that generally QS can work as 1 of 4 different functions:
Sub-contractor (generally site based)
Main-contractor (site/office)
Client (office for the majority)
Consultant (office for majority)
Each of these require slightly different responsibilities.

sent from mobile



Thanks a lot for you input. Could you eloborate a bit more about what being a QS entails? I get the whole cost estimation part of the job - but is there anything else you could tell us about which could give a better insight?

1) What is the level of responsibility like? (e.g. do you just estimate costs or do you also source for funding/loans for the project; how much negotiation is involved in QS)

2) How are working hours/job time-scales (if contracted whats the shortest and longest a project could take)

3) Would you say it's difficult to start your own surveying firm (after gaining years of experience), or do most QS's stick with a particular firm or take out contract work?

4) Also how long does it take to become a "Senior" QS or BS - would you say this is based on the level of experience (i.e. working on "x" number of big projects) or the number of years within the field (e.g. natural career progression would result in a person becoming senior QS/BS within "x" number of years)?

Sorry for the headache but these are the main factors I'm weighing up in my head when deciding whether to become a QS or BS
Reply 26
Original post by JJAR


1) What is the level of responsibility like? (e.g. do you just estimate costs or do you also source for funding/loans for the project; how much negotiation is involved in QS)

2) How are working hours/job time-scales (if contracted whats the shortest and longest a project could take)

3) Would you say it's difficult to start your own surveying firm (after gaining years of experience), or do most QS's stick with a particular firm or take out contract work?

4) Also how long does it take to become a "Senior" QS or BS - would you say this is based on the level of experience (i.e. working on "x" number of big projects) or the number of years within the field (e.g. natural career progression would result in a person becoming senior QS/BS within "x" number of years)?

Sorry for the headache but these are the main factors I'm weighing up in my head when deciding whether to become a QS or BS


Hi guys, im looking at doing a MSC in QS at Kingston uni or Southbank, also interested in the answers to the questions above if anyone is working in the field?

Has anyone done a QS MSC at Kingston or Southbank? Not sure which to choose being a non-cognate.

Cheers :smile:
Original post by Alonso92
Hi guys, im looking at doing a MSC in QS at Kingston uni or Southbank, also interested in the answers to the questions above if anyone is working in the field?

Has anyone done a QS MSC at Kingston or Southbank? Not sure which to choose being a non-cognate.

Cheers :smile:


I done a qs bsc at Kingston which was rics accredited. I've heard they're not rics approved now.

Doesn't matter where you do the msc. Just make sure it's rics accredited
Building surveyors are also qualified in site engineering, valuation surveying, property law and project management. QS can only qualify in estimating, QS and commercial management. As a caluation surveyor you can earn in region of £250-400 per HOUR. You can work overseas pricing multi million dollar structures etc. Also Property Lawyers earn 70k a year which is a huge leap from average 40k salary QS gets. All in all, BS and QS only have 5-10% pay difference and as a fact BS can get lot more international work and pay in long run since you will become qualified in law and project management which are highest paid construction occupations just below civil engineers.

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