Value management practice by South African quantity surveyors

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the nature and extent of value management (VM) practice by professional quantity surveyors in South Africa. The survey explores practitioners' awareness and understanding of VM and the nature and extent of the use of VM techniques within their organisati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Facilities (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England) West Yorkshire, England), 2010-02, Vol.28 (1/2), p.46-63
Main Authors: Bowen, Paul, Cattell, Keith, Edwards, Peter, Jay, Ian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Best practice
Built environment
Capital expenditures
Construction
Construction industry
Environmental management
Flexibility
Globalization
International
South Africa
Stakeholders
Studies
Surveying
Urban environments
Value engineering
Workshops
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Summary:Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the nature and extent of value management (VM) practice by professional quantity surveyors in South Africa. The survey explores practitioners' awareness and understanding of VM and the nature and extent of the use of VM techniques within their organisations.Design methodology approach - A web-based, online questionnaire survey is employed to establish VM practice by South African registered quantity surveyors. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse the survey response data.Findings - The results suggest that, while VM (and more particularly its value engineering antecedent) is generally known among quantity surveyors in South Africa, it is less widely practiced. VM is seen predominantly as a cost reduction tool. This misperception, and the lack of awareness of the potential benefits of VM, must be remedied if quantity surveyors in South Africa are to provide clients with services that meet world's best practice standards. Quantity surveyors also need to know what those standards are.Practical implications - Refresher courses in contemporary VM theory and practice are recommended, as well as exploration of the impacts on VM of other techniques such as risk, quality and environmental management.Originality value - The findings are important given the increasing globalization of construction services, especially given the international ties between designers, quantity surveyors and other built environment professionals.
ISSN:0263-2772
1758-7131
DOI:10.1108/02632771011011396