ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to outline the prevailing practices, processes, and problems facing the time-honoured quantity surveying (QS) profession, as it applies to the global construction industry. It includes a scene through which building information modelling (BIM)'s prospects and challenges for QS can be better understood. Cost estimation, the process of forecasting the most likely cost of delivering a project, is perhaps the QS' most important cost-related activity. The design-stage cost planning is generally conducted based on the detailed estimating, also known as analytical estimating, bottom-up estimating, fair-cost, or bid estimating, sprouts from detailed design and engineering information. Incomplete design or design without sufficient details is passed to QS for estimating and tendering. Due to the fragmented nature of construction projects, QS are expected to collaborate extensively with other professionals in the construction industry.
