Quantity surveyors: Minister tasks new inductees on professionalism

Tue, Feb 5, 2019 | By publisher


Politics

THE Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has advised newly inducted quantity surveyors on the need to ensure projects were executed at minimal cost and with professionalism.

Fashola gave this advice at the 2019 Annual Assembly of Registered Quantity Surveyors and Induction of newly registered Quantity Surveyors and practising firms on Tuesday in Abuja.

The minister was represented by Pemi Temitope, Deputy Director, Quantity Surveying, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

He said that the event demonstrated the commitment of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN) to expose members of the profession to developments in the construction industry.

“With the emphasis place on investment in infrastructure under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government, registered quantity surveyors are highly group of professionals with their unique training as cost experts in the construction industry.

“There is so much that government wants to provide for the nation in the area of infrastructure with limited funds alongside accelerated delivery of new infrastructure, the ministry has identified the maintenance of infrastructure as of equal priority.

“It is our belief that improved maintenance of our public buildings, roads and other infrastructure will enable government derives maximum value from these facilities, deliver improved public services quality.

“Stimulate economic growth, create jobs and generally improve the quality of life of its citizens’’.

He said that the challenges associated with the provision, renewal and replacement of critical public infrastructure assets in Nigeria require the involvement of construction industry professionals, especial registered quantity surveyors.

According to him, the high cost of construction projects requires the skills and knowledge of quantity surveyors in promoting resource optimisation and value maximisation.

He called on the inductees to maintain high standards devoid of compromise and fraudulent activities as they practice the profession.

The President of QSRBN, Mr Murtala Aliyu said that the inductees should be much concerned about quality of the jobs they carry out and not about their numbers.

According to him, the board has not fewer than 3,500 persons licensed to practice quantity surveyors in Nigeria.

He said that in spite of the increasing number; it was far from adequate considering the population and economic growth rate as a country.

Aliyu said that the boundary between various professions was narrowing by the day as the character of projects was being redefined.

“In projects today, delivery is more important than the process involved, finances and their sources determine the rules of engagement.

“Geographical boundaries are becoming less consequential; our sense of doing business must take all these into consideration to enable us compete.’’

He said that the emerging situation in the profession would affect their training patterns and course curricular and contents, which would in turn affect how the board channels resources to manage these changes in schools, offices and industries.

The president said that the world and industries were changing fast, adding that professions in the country were still enslaved by laws and regulations.

“Over regulation narrows the space and unfortunately our perspectives, at every point in time, our profession is hounding another trying to create a larger space for itself within a small cubicle.

“Instead of collaboration we waste a lot of energy in displacing one another or at least trying to do so.

“The crises of relevance among professions are increasing while the nature of the market and human needs is changing at uncomfortable rates,’’ he said.

Aliyu said that quantity surveyors needed to keep tracking the industry, the market and human demand to remain in business.

The President, Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Mr Obafemi Onashile, said that the profession was international, adding that surveyors should not restrict themselves only to Nigeria.

He said that the profession should not end in the ministry for those of them working in the ministry but they should widen their knowledge of the profession.

Onashile called on surveyors to be focused on their profession in order to compete favourably with other surveyors globally.

The event had its theme as: Strengthening the quantity surveying profession in Nigeria for global competitiveness.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the board inducted 311 registered quantity surveyors and 21 firms. (NAN)

– Feb. 5, 2019 @ 17:59 GMT |

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