Quantity Surveyor at Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Key Responsibilities

Quantity Surveyance and Quality Assurance

• Calculate and verify project costs to enhance value and cost efficiency for infrastructure projects in line with regulatory standards and quality.
• Estimate and monitor all costs that relate to the infrastructure project from the planning stage until the final stage when all actual costs are levied.
• Verify the accuracy of deriving costs for project ancillaries, labour and material for each item or activity, especially for large volume, high value or high-risk services and works.
• Advise contract custodians on bill of quantities and activity schedule composition for large volume, high value or high-risk services and works.
• Monitor execution and update of processes for site audits, where required, to verify quantities and claims for work executed.
• Monitor and maintain adherence to local statutory building regulations and the applicable built environment standards and regulations.
• Provide surveying inputs and guidance for the development of infrastructure strategies, policies systems, functional/technical norms and standards.
• Provide a professional quantity surveying service and continuous quality assurance to meet the needs of the Infrastructure Delivery division.
• Vet bills of quantities and variation orders as received before payment and approve payments to contractors.
• Advise on standards, practices and governance relevant to contractual documentation.
• Prepare and conduct financial close-out and review project/programme close-out costs.
• Compile and present special reports when required.
• Prepare quantity surveyance inputs for the preparation of the User Asset Management Plan, the final project lists, the budgets and the infrastructure Programme Management Plan.

Continuous Improvement of Estimating Services and Cost Engineering

• Conduct research and keep abreast of new technologies and procedures including interaction with professional Councils/ Boards.
• Liaise with external quantity surveying firms and the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors regarding documentation, benchmarking rates and alternative procedures to ensure improvements and cost savings.
• Contribute to Master Planning, Project Briefing documents, accommodation schedules and operational narratives.
• Optimise standard guides, methods and techniques to evaluate the utilisation of available resources.
• Evaluate and identify new initiatives or enhanced/ improved products for inclusion in programmes or projects.
• Formulate standards and improved bills of quantities and activity schedules for large volume, high value or high-risk services and works.
• Identify all risks and devise risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide support in conducting internal audits for assurance that standards and ensuring that procedures are being applied.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or a B-Tech in Quantity Surveying. 2. Registration with the South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP).
• A minimum of 8 years’ experience with quantity surveying in engineering and construction contracts, preferably in the public sector.
• Experience in estimating and cost engineering of construction services and implementing cost control measures in projects.
• Knowledge and understanding of Quantity Surveying Professions Act of 2000, National Building Standards Act. of 1977 and Regulations, Construction Industry Development Board Act of 2000 and Regulations, Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1993.
• Understand how to apply the Provincial Infrastructure Delivery Management System (PIDP) and the IDM Toolkit.
• Understand how to prepare budgets, extract and interpret information from related information systems.
• Understand the service delivery platform, indicators and service plan and how that links with Infrastructure.
• Understand how to undertake a risk analysis and undertake a risk mitigation strategy.
• Understand how to interpret existing and develop new Functional- and Technical Norms and Standards.
• Ability to process and analyse new and complex information quickly and to prioritise issues for consideration.
• Ability to build strategic alliances with key players for business.
• Capacity to clarify needs of others and work with them to develop and implement cost-effective and practical solutions.
• Demonstrated experience in successfully managing projects within tight schedules.

Desirable Requirements

• Postgraduate qualification in Quantity Surveying.
• Qualifications in health and safety.