Aaron Higgins
Aaron is a Director here at Boden Group, and heads up the Property business. As a former QS, with 8 years in property recruitment, he has a wealth of experience in property, and can advise clients and candidates on market trends.
ever thought about being a quantity surveyor?
A Quantity Surveyor is the person in a building project who calculated what materials will be needed and how much they cost.If you’ve ever thought about venturing into the world of Quantity Surveying, you might wonder what you need to be good at to succeed. Our Associate Director for Property Recruitment,Aaron Higgins, is a qualified QS, so we asked him to discuss his top 5 necessary Quantity Surveyor skills.
1. Numeracy.
A lot of a Quantity Surveyors’ time is spent calculating the cost of a project to make sure that it’s affordable before work starts, and then ensuring that the project is running to budget and will be completed. Being great at maths and budgets are essential Quantity Surveyor skills, but more than that – you need to really enjoy working in numbers. If pages of costs and figures make you feel queasy, this isn’t the role for you.
2) excel skills
The ability to use software like Excel and get the most out of all the IT available are essential Quantity Surveyor skills. Utilising the available software speeds up the process and helps to ensure accuracy with pricing. In a time-critical industry, being able to process data and produce comprehensive reports can be what separates good surveyors from great surveyors.
3) stakeholder management
Like in a lot of industries, and especially within Real Estate, the relationships that we form can often lead to better performance. Being able to build lasting relationships based on trust and quality will make sure clients keep coming back. Managing a variety of stakeholders and relationships and understanding your clients’ wants and needs will put you in the best possible position to help and advise your clients, outshining your competitors. Price isn’t always the deciding factor. A positive experience, great communication and quality delivery are all just as important when a client is making a decision.
4) negotiation skills
The ability to negotiate is an essential Quantity Surveyor skill. It can help to save the company or the client time, money or materials – ultimately delivering a better outcome. Being well informed, a great negotiator, and an expert within your industry can help you to get the best deal for your client. Negotiation can come from experience, and it can take time to gather that knowledge, but once you are an experienced negotiator you can help your career and those in your team.
5) attention to detail
You need to be detail obsessed and have a methodical approach to your work to succeed as a Quantity Surveyor. You can expect your work to be scrutinised - to make sure it is compliant, legal and in keeping with the contract. You need to make sure nothing is missed that can later cost your employer or client money and time.
Having a good eye for detail and the patience to scroll through documents can be the difference between success and failure. You also need to be paying attention to the project as a whole – thinking ahead to anticipate any problems that might arise in the project.
industry expert andrew byrne shares his thoughts on what it takes to be a good quantity surveyor:
"I think an important aspect of the role, whether a graduate or senior QS is CPD- staying aware of our ever-changing and complex industry, in particular clients preferred standard contract forms and the nuances that accompany them"
Andrew Byrne MRICS- MCIARB
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Obviously, there are a range of technical skills needed to become a quantity surveyor. You’ll need anRICS accredited qualificationas well as RICS membership, and you’ll need to complete an APC to become chartered.
But while technical qualification will get you into the role, it’s these five Quantity Surveyor skills that’ll put you on the road to success:
- Numeracy
- Excel
- Stakeholder management
- Negotiation
- Attention to detail
Remember those, and you’ll find yourself at the top of your game in no time.
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