ASAQS webinar highlights the need for QS benchmarking

The Importance and Value of Benchmarking in Enhancing Public Infrastructure Planning, Procurement, Delivery and Accountability. This was the topic of a recent webinar hosted by the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) in collaboration with the Africa Association of Quantity Surveyors (AAQS).
“We realise it’s a timely subject for Africa as a whole and took the initiative of bringing key thinkers together to share their insights,” said Mosha Senyolo, President of ASAQS.

ASAQS was proud to welcome delegates from across the African continent to the hybrid conference.

What is benchmarking?
Benchmarking is the practice of comparing one’s business processes and performance metrics to those of the best performers in that industry. Adopting their practices and strategies can augment a company’s own output and efficiency.

At scale, benchmarking promises to elevate performance across an industry, improving the value enjoyed by its consumers. However, this demands significant local and global cooperative efforts to collect, format and dispense meaningful data against agreed upon international standards and taxonomies. 

Benchmarking for Quantity Surveying
Senyolo said that the webinar focused on how benchmarking could:

• Offer valuable insights into past projects to better enable planning and risk management for clients and end-users.
• Enhance procurement practices, and their transparency and competitiveness, and identify where their value-for-money proposition needs to be strengthened from a public sector trust and accountability perspective.
• Lead to more efficient project execution by identifying best practices and innovative approaches for better outcomes and resource management for all stakeholders.
• Foster a culture of accountability by setting clear performance standards and measurements according to implemented standard practice requirements.

Professional fees
Guest speaker Simon Berry, presented on the need for benchmarking professional fees, which often varied considerably for similar projects. The traditional method of fee calculation in South Africa, he said, was flawed and was abandoned overseas about 30 years ago.
However, digital benchmarking provides the ability to easily establish the scope of services, calculate reasonable fees agreeable to all parties, benchmark efforts for similar jobs, and manage scope change.

Industry performance
ASAQS Executive Director Karl Tusler discussed the Association’s technological capabilities and its desire to employ the International Cost Management Standards (ICMS) for benchmarking.

According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), “ICMS are principles-based international standards that set out how to report, group and classify construction project costs in a structured and logical form.”

Trusler noted that ASAQS’ software partners could readily integrate the ICMS with its own standards in their products, namely, ASAQS Guide to Elemental Estimating, ASAQS Model Bill of Quantities, and ASAQS Standard System of Measuring Building Work. This would afford quantity surveyors both local and global benchmarks as well as the tools to exploit them.

In addition, Dr Anil Sawhney of RICS, and chair of the ICMS’ Standards Setting Committee, presented an overview of the ICMS standard, explaining its structure as a high-level taxonomy for life cycle costs and carbon emissions associated with built assets. 

Panel discussion
The event closed with a panel discussion between ASAQS’ distinguished guests, including Segun Ajanlekoko from Nigeria, David Gaitho from Kenya, Chanda Katotobwe from Zambia, Roy Mnisi from South Africa, and Sithembiso Vhandezi from the South African Auditor General’s office.
The panel was facilitated by  the ASAQS’ Immediate Past President, Newton Baloyi. 
They agreed that the private sector would definitely benefit from a comprehensive benchmarking ecosystem. However, the cost of such a system should be funded by the government, which stands to make the greatest gains from its implementation.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Stephné du Toit, [email protected], 084 587 9933, www.atthatpoint.co.za 
 
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