Professional Quantity Surveying Practice: Procurement of Construction Projects and Sustainable Decis

Learning outcomes

LO1 Examine the key aspects of professional quantity surveying practice, including contemporary developments, the relationship with project stakeholders, professional and business ethics, and client care.

LO2 Analyse the procurement of construction projects, and the management of processes and procedures

You are the assistant Quantity Surveyor working for ARP Associates, a medium-sized multidisciplined organisation operating a fishing net organisational model. The project team is diverse and includes architects, service and structural engineers at different geographical locations.

Your client is proposing to develop a large construction project with a requirement to achieve a high BREEAM rating. However, at the design decision stage, a new member of the design team has questioned the importance of adhering to the client's instructions.

The client is concerned that the project objectives will not be achieved and has asked your director to attend a strategic meeting.

Task

To prepare for this meeting, your director has asked you to produce an internal report that should critically discuss the following with reference to your client’s concerns:

• An overview of sustainable procurement and how ARP meets its sustainability targets. (approximately 350 words)
• The benefits of BIM in supporting collaborative practices within ARP and any barriers to its implementation. (approximately 700 words)
• ARP’s strategy of meeting the client's project requirements as a reputable ethical organisation. (approximately 400 words)
• Recommendations on how best to address the client’s concerns. (approximately 250 words)

The report should be structured and include an introduction and conclusion. An executive summary is not required. (approximately 300 words)

Marking guidance for this activity

This guidance is designed to help you to do as well as possible in your assessment by explaining how the person marking your work will be judging it.

Your work will be assessed in relation to the requirements set out in the assessment criteria marking guide at the end of this document and the grading guidance section below.

It is recommended that you read both of these sections before starting your assessment to learn what will help you to achieve the highest marks. Once you have finished you should review the assessment before submitting it, to check you have done what is required to achieve the highest marks.

When you receive your feedback from your tutor you should clearly be able to see which categories you gained marks in and, where relevant, recommendations about how to improve your performance going forward.

Grading guidance

This grading guidance section explains in more detail what a submission for this assessment should include in order to achieve a mark at the threshold, good and excellent standards.

You will have submitted a structured report, including a title and contents page. Each section will have appropriate headings and subheadings to reflect the content of the section. You will have demonstrated a sufficient understanding of organisational models and sustainability targets. Your submission will demonstrate sufficient understanding of BIM and its use to support sustainable decision making. You will demonstrate sufficient awareness of the barriers to implementing BIM within an organisation. Your report will include limited assumptions to support critical analysis with adequate recommendations.

You will have met the criteria for Threshold and submit a well-structured report that clearly addresses the audience. Your submission will demonstrate a clear understanding of the benefits of BREEAM rating, making reasonable assumptions to support the analysis. You will demonstrate a competent and clear critical appraisal as to how BIM can benefit sustainable decisions, and demonstrate a clear understanding of meeting the client's requirements. You will have included reasonable and appropriate recommendations

You will have met the criteria for Good and submitted a professional report. Your report will critically discuss the benefits of BIM and barriers to BIM implementation substantiated by the critical analysis of a wide range of supporting information. You will demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the importance of the briefing process and professional ethics. Advanced Insight is demonstrated with sophisticated interpretation, making reasonable and relevant assumptions to support your discussions. Recommendations will be clear action points directed to the intended audience.