Your career

The Quantity Surveying Profession

A Quantity Surveyor estimates and monitors the costs of construction and maintenance of building and infrastructure such as sports stadiums, tunnels, bridges, universities, residential buildings hospitals and roads. They are usually involved from the feasibility stage through to completion of a construction project. Quantity Surveyors can also undertake tax depreciation, insurance estimation, mediation and arbitration.

Quantity Surveyors work predominately in an office in the private sector with consulting firms or construction companies, or in the public sector with the State/ Territory Government Departments/Authorities. Once project construction begins, Quantity Surveyors are regularly on site to monitor variations in construction and their impacts on costs.

There are many job titles/roles that exist within the Quantity Surveying profession: 

• Quantity Surveyor
• Project Manager 
• Construction Estimator 
• Cost Manger 
• Certified Quantity Surveyor 
• Construction Manager 
• Cost Planner 
• Cost Engineer
• Contract Administrator 
• Commercial Manger 
• Construction Economist 

Why is a QS so important?

Behind every construction project, large or small, is a person whose responsibility it is to determine what it will cost. The Quantity Surveyor, is a professional figure in the Property and Construction Industry.

Demand for qualified and experienced Quantity Surveyors has been high in recent years, despite the economic downturn. The profession is also at the forefront of some of the current issues facing the Property and Construction Industry, including Sustainability and the desire for Green Buildings. Quantity Surveying qualifications are recognised worldwide and there are ample opportunities for overseas travel. 

How to I become as QS?

1. Complete your high school education - concentrate on doing well in mathematics and science courses.

2. Obtain a Bachelor's degree - There are several degree options available to you in your path to becoming a quantity surveyor.  It is best for you to seek advice from your career advisor or the universities to find out which one would best suit your needs.  Each course offers you a different career path and your choice will depend on your goals.

AIQS has produced an Accredited Course Guide, listing courses that meet and maintain educational standards relevant to the disciplines of quantity surveying and construction economics.  Enrolling and successfully completing one of the accredited courses may provide you with an eventual pathway to membership of AIQS.

3. Gain exposure - Look for cadetship opportunities upon graduating or even while you are still studying.  This will enable you to gain a "real-world" view of what quantity surveying entails and is most likely to complement your academic study.

4. What if I am wanting to make a career change?
If you already possess a bachelor's degree in another discipline, you may want to study for a Postgraduate degree in quantity surveying and possibly secure a role as an apprentice QS.

Accredited Degrees: 

AIQS accredits courses that meet and maintain educational standards relevant to the disciplines of quantity surveying and construction economics and provides external verification of a course’s quality.

Graduates holding the resulting awards are adequately equipped to be recognised by AIQS as meeting the academic requirements for entry to the profession of quantity surveying.
 
The accreditation process applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate courses meeting the current Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) requirements for higher education awards, quality assurance and regulation in the disciplines of building/construction management, and quantity surveying.
The goals of the accreditation process are to:
•  Offer a means to strengthen and improve existing academic courses in the disciplines covered
•  Provide guidelines for the development of new academic courses in the discipline
•  Provide guidelines for accrediting new courses
•  Provide a framework for a mutual, ongoing dialogue between AIQS and the Providers
•  Provide incentives and a framework for innovation and research.
 
AIQS Accredited Course Guide lists the qualifications which are currently accredited by AIQS.

For Future QS Students - Scholarships: 

The Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS) offers a number of scholarships each year for Year 12 students who qualify for entry into a Quantity Surveying, Construction Economics, Construction Management (Economics) or other appropriate course at an AIQS accredited university in Australia.

The scholarship is to the total value of AU$5,000. This includes:
• a monetary value of AU$4,000 ($1,000 upon enrollment / $1000 after completion of 8 units / $2000 upon completion of degree) cash (there are no restrictions on its use);
• AIQS published text books and manuals including the Australia and New Zealand Standard Method of Measurement;
• Student Membership whilst studying the accredited degree; and,
• 1-year free AIQS Membership upon graduation (Graduate Grade)
For further information on the requirements for scholarships, please refer to the AIQS Scholarships Criteria and Conditions.

Currently applications for AIQS scholarship has closed 2019.