Mr Kofi Obeng-Ayirebi, Chairman of Quantity Surveying Division, Ghana Institution of Surveyors (GhIS), has admonished professionals to build competencies and explore “commercial aspects” of the profession to better their fortunes.
He observed that many practitioners had limited their activities to only measurements, ignoring the critical technical fields which were the goldmine of the profession.
Mr Obeng-Ayirebi made the admonition while swearing-in executives at the launch of the Central Region Chapter of the Quantity Surveying Division of the GhIS.
He indicated that quantity surveyors, per their training, were better placed to undertake activities like project audit, project performance review, and arbitration of construction-related disputes using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms which had been neglected.
“These are the commercially viable fields and so expand into these areas if you want to make money. When such disciplines are left unattended to, other disciplines will pick it and do it anyhow and people will accept it because they need those services,” he cautioned.
He explained, for instance, that the passage of the Procurement Act, which insisted on value for money, presented great prospects given that it was the duty of quantity surveyors to prepare such documents.
He further dispelled the notion that the area of ADR was the preserve of lawyers, maintaining that the resolution of construction disputes, due to their technical nature, fell right within the territory of quantity surveyors.
“Learn the act of arbitration, adjudication, reconciliation and negotiation; those are the commercial aspects which will help you,” he noted.
“Project performance review and project audit: is not for the auditors because there are technicalities in the project,” he stressed, adding that “perfect your skills and avail yourselves.”
He urged the newly launched chapter of the Quantity Surveying Division of GhIS to work in unity and be assertive in the organisation.
For his part, Mr Kwame Tenadu Snr, Vice President of the International Federation of Surveyors, tasked surveyors in Ghana to be innovative and dynamic to meet the changing demands of the profession.
He said the global profession space was fast evolving, driven by technology and warned that surveyors risked losing their relevance if they continued to be indifferent.
“We cannot be living in the time three years back. You have to come to the realisation that there is a transformation train and that train will leave you behind when you do not get on board.
“Once these dynamics are technologically-driven, it means that every professional will have to ensure that they are abreast with time to be able to function well,” he said.
