Applied Quantity Surveying / Material Take-offs

This course will provide participants with a solid introduction to quantity surveying practices and procedures. A small fictional commercial building will form the practical resource for learning.

The terms “quantity surveying or quantity surveyors” in North America are synonymous with construction estimating or construction estimators. Even the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyor’s (CIQS’s) website, describes a quantity surveyor as “construction cost consultants/cost estimators [who] work for either the client or the contractor and can be based in an office or on-site. They make sure the costs of large construction and infrastructure projects are accurately estimated based on initial requirements and project specs.” The actual discipline of quantity surveying first involves the quantification of construction materials required in order to meet the job requirements – a skill set in and of itself. This course focuses on that discipline by applying the processes and procedures required in order to complete accurate and consistent material “take-offs” for pricing or even ordering purposes.

Course content will also cover:

• What is a quantity surveyor and what does he or she do
• Proper practices and procedures of quantity surveying
• General rules and methods of measurement of construction works
• How quantity surveys are organized and structured
• How the MasterFormat® system is used by quantity surveyors
• How items of construction are identified for quantity surveying
• Applied quantification of items of earthwork
• Applied quantification of items of concrete
• Applied quantification of items of formwork
• Applied quantification of items of concrete masonry units

The terms “quantity surveying or quantity surveyors” in North America are synonymous with construction estimating or construction estimators. Even the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyor’s (CIQS’s) website, describes a quantity surveyor as “construction cost consultants/cost estimators [who] work for either the client or the contractor and can be based in an office or on-site. They make sure the costs of large construction and infrastructure projects are accurately estimated based on initial requirements and project specs.” The actual discipline of quantity surveying first involves the quantification of construction materials required in order to meet the job requirements – a skill set in and of itself.

*Please note that this course focuses on the basic principles of quantity surveying and not about how to use excel/software to perform takeoffs. Attendees will be provided with an excel spreadsheet to use in completing exercises, which they can also choose to print and complete manually on paper.

Blueprint Reading: You should have a working knowledge of blueprint reading before taking this course.

Math: Students will be provided with a sample set of blueprints, and you should be comfortable with/prepared to calculate areas and volumes based on information you locate in the blueprints.

New construction estimators, field engineering staff or supervisors required to order materials as part of their responsibilities, those considering a career as a quantity surveyor or industry professionals who want to learn how a quantity survey is completed will all benefit from this course.

This course is delivered in partnership between your local construction association and other associations throughout Western Canada. You’ll be participating in a cohort with industry peers from across these regions.

Ralph Lembcke, P.GSC

Ralph’s construction career has taken him from estimator to project manager, then to self-employed contractor, and finally to a 30-year career as a professor with the Donald J. Smith School of Building Technology at Fanshawe College in London, ON, where he still teaches part-time. He was a 25-year member of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyor (PQS – Professional Quantity Surveyor) and is currently a charter member of the Construction and Design Educators Council of Canada (CDECC). Ralph sits on the board of advisors for the CDECC as well as for an Ontario-based construction company. Ralph holds a certificate in Construction Engineering Technology and Management from Fanshawe College, a teaching certificate from St. Clair College and a Professional Gold Seal certification from the Canadian Construction Association.

• On line discussions using a slide presentation will provide the basis of the course.
• Participants will be provided with a set of construction plan documents for the purposes of completing the various applied quantity surveying tasks, and a form for analogue quantity surveying, which could be adapted to a digital environment.
• The course facilitator will provide instruction and examples of the various material take-offs but registrants will largely ‘learn by doing’ under the guidance of the facilitator

Day one – Introductions, definitions and quantity surveying processes
Day two – Applied learning – quantifying earthwork items
Day three – Applied learning – quantifying substructure items
Day four – Applied Learning – quantifying superstructure items and conclusion

This course is delivered in partnership with local construction associations. You will be participating with a cohort of industry peers from multiple regions.

This workshop requires full face-to-face interaction and participation from both the instructor and students.

Please make sure you have the following:

• Computer or laptop with webcam: This course will involve on-screen interaction with your instructor and classmates, reading/viewing on-screen content like slides or videos, and interacting via typing with questions or responses. For this reason, we recommend that you have a full computer/laptop set-up and don’t recommend using a cell phone or tablet to attend the training.
• A quiet space with minimal distractions: plan to be fully engaged in the class and clear your work schedule just as you would for attendance in an in-class program.