Site Diary - Thursday 5 September 2013
An chronological example of my working day.
To help you understand my typical working day of an Assistant Quantity Surveyor, I have documented one day in September to hopefully illustrate the some of the various responsibilities I have, and the interactions I have with both the Kier team and our clients/supply chain.
7.50 am- Arrive on site at South Killingholme
Weather Conditions - Dry
After signing in at the site register my first action is to chat with the Project Manager regarding the current events. One issue we have at the moment is the statutory utility co-ordination company we have employed are not performing as we originally anticipated. The project manager and I are concerned that this has the potential to effect Phase 2 handover of the plots. Upon our discussion, I email our contact at the utility company for an urgent response on the problems we are experiencing.
9.00 am- Internal Production Meeting
As per every production meeting we have, my role is to prepare the commercial matters for the meeting. Elements such as the change of margin and turnover within the month and any contract variations that have been agreed/discussed since the last review. This month I have agreed with our client the contract variations to the landscaping and the fence specification and also prepared a brief description to why the project has sustained a reduction in margin in the month .
Whilst in the meeting the team agree that the utility company situation is avoidable and we proceed with plans to mitigate these problems.
Whilst in the meeting the team agree that the utility company situation is avoidable and we proceed with plans to mitigate these problems.
11.00 am- Site walk-around with Highways Officer North Lincs Council
I arrange to meet up with the local highways officer to discuss the requirements to get the adjacent roads up to an adoptable standard. One of the land purchase agreements of the site was to place all roads on the estate on to the statutory 12 months maintenance period. Upon discussions of the scope of works required, I challenge the extent requested from Council, to which the Highways do not concede! After the discussion I return to the site office and draft a variation instruction to our groundwork's subcontractor for a cost. Given that this was an purchase agreement for the land, the costs for the extra works is not recoverable. Therefore I have to inform my Line Manager of losses we set to incur.
1.00 pm - Re-conciliation of subcontractors works to date
At the end of each month the Subcontractors on the project submit their applications for payment for works carried out in the period. I ensure that the works applied for are actual percentages completed. This is an important element to the project to ensure our commercial interests are being protected. As project Quantity Surveyor, one of my roles is to monitor the subcontractors progress against the our programme to ensure that cash flow is being maximised. The project manager and I agree on each of the subcontractors % complete, and I issue payment notices accordingly. An example of one of my typical payment notices can be found here.
3.30 pm - Costing of the client variation, 2 additional plots.
One of my present tasks is to price a large variation to the scheme - 2 additional plots.
I begin to price the variation by reviewing the costs accrued to date from the original scheme. This forms the basis of my price that I will present to my Line Manager before I submit it to the employers agent, Although the costs to date are a good basis, there are many other issues that arise from pricing the variation. The relocation of our site accommodation has to be included and also additional prelim times for example. I have been issued by our client prior to today his expectations of the likely cost, however my prices are showing much higher than they would like.
I begin to price the variation by reviewing the costs accrued to date from the original scheme. This forms the basis of my price that I will present to my Line Manager before I submit it to the employers agent, Although the costs to date are a good basis, there are many other issues that arise from pricing the variation. The relocation of our site accommodation has to be included and also additional prelim times for example. I have been issued by our client prior to today his expectations of the likely cost, however my prices are showing much higher than they would like.
5.45 pm - Down tools!
After pricing various scenarios of the variation to present to my line manager , I collate them into a spreadsheet to highlight the cost implications of each scenario. I send the spreadsheet by email to the construction team. I am in the office tomorrow, so I can discuss this in more detail with the wider team,