How do our Quantity Surveyors support our clients?
Francesca Nottingham recently joined BWL’s Construction Consultancy team as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. With over 7 years experience of working in the industry, Francesca started her Quantity Surveying career with property developers and construction contractors. Her expertise enables her to support our clients with their Project Management, Commercial Management, and Technical Services requirement.
This article provides insight into Francesca’s role as a Senior Quantity Surveyor and the daily tasks she completes to support our clients in managing projects effectively and maximise opportunities and overall project value.
Starting off the day
Francesca begins her day by responding to client queries and requests relating to documents such as the latest Valuation Report or the Risks and Issues Register. She joins a weekly morning catch-up with our Construction Consultancy Director, to check the progress of ongoing projects, including any concerns/issues, and to monitor our pipeline of work.
Main tasks
No day is ever the same for Francesca. One day she will be attending a client meeting or site visit, and another day will be spent producing and reviewing documents.
During client meetings, Francesca discusses the current progress of works against her cost estimates. She guides our clients through estimates to ensure they understand how the costs have been calculated, based on current market rates, trends, and inflation. Francesca also provides forecasts for worst-case scenarios (e.g., project delays, and unforeseen circumstances) as part of our due diligence process.
Feasibility studies are conducted early on by Francesca to minimise the impact of such events and to ensure that our clients can afford their proposed projects. With cost being the primary concern in construction projects, Francesca supports our clients by providing cost-effective estimates that still meet the required outcomes of the project.
Francesca attends several site visits each month with our clients. Each visit gives her an in-depth insight into how the works are progressing. Francesca also liaises with onsite contractors and subcontractors to understand any issues from their perspective and therefore gains a better understanding of the project.
In addition to meetings and site visits, Francesca produces, reviews and issues documents to our clients, including Cost Plans, Payment Certificates, Pay Less Notices and Payment Schedules. Francesca also responds to requests for proposals from new and existing clients that require our expert services for their upcoming projects.
Wrapping Up the Day
The end of the day usually sees Francesca responding to any further client queries from the various projects she is managing at the time. She also keeps up to date with the current market by monitoring inflation costs and keeping our clients informed of any such increases which could impact their current and future projects.
Alongside her daily duties, Francesca is currently producing a Quantity Surveying process for BWL Construction Consultancy. This will enable our clients to understand all stages of their projects and easily guide them through our process for managing their projects. Francesca is drafting our process following RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) guidance and best practice.
To find out more about our Construction Consultancy Services, please contact us via enquiries@bwlgroup.co.uk