APPENDIX TO ITEM 11.10
Report for the 23rd General Assembly
FIG Working Week in Prague, 22-26 May 2000
Ad hoc Commission on Construction Economics and
Management
The work of the commission, started at Brighton in 1998,
continued through the Sun City Working Week and throughout the subsequent
months. The Commission has developed a number of initiatives during the period
including the promotion of the association between the member organizations
International Cost Engineering Council and FIG. We are seeking to continue the
work of the other commissions in housing with the promotion of a joint workshop,
hopefully involving Commissions 7, 8, 9 and Ad Hoc, during the Prague 2000
Working Week. The development of this cross commission workshop is intended to
form an example of how the differing surveying disciplines can work together to
promote the surveying profession as a whole, and it is hoped that the memorandum
of understanding between FIG and CIB will enable a relationship between the
commissions and CIB to develop at the Working Group Level.
The relationship with the International Cost Engineering
Council is considered critical to the development of the Ad Hoc Commission
within FIG. This is now a major force representing associations of cost
engineers and quantity surveyors on a global scale. The ICEC is organised in
four regions, and the ICEC Region II spring meeting has been arranged to
coincide with the Prague Working Week. Other forthcoming events under the aegis
of the ICEC include the XVII International Cost Engineering Congress in Calgary
on 25th to 30th June this year and the ICEC Region IV
(Asia Pacific) meeting is to be held in Cairns as part of the Pacific
Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress from the 7th to the 12th
June. The Commission is also pleased that, through association with ICEC, it now
has links to new member associations in Canada and the USA.
The Inaugural Meeting of the African Association of Quantity
Surveyors was held during the Sun City Working Week. This was attended by most
of the delegates to the FIG Ad Hoc Commission, together with additional members
of the South African Association of Quantity Surveyors and the Namibian
Association. The objectives of the new association were agreed and a steering
group established to maintain the momentum gained in Sun City. The Technical
Sessions of the Commission were well attended and the general response from the
attendees to the work of the Commission was very encouraging. It is hoped that
additional interest in the Working Groups will be generated at the Prague
Working Week to enable meaningful progress to be made.
The benefits of the association with ICEC have again been
demonstrated by the recent nomination by the ICEC of a Director of Standards. It
is hoped that the Director will work through Working Group 5 of the Commission
to coordinate on standards relating to Cost Engineering with the FIG Task Force
on Standards under the leadership of Iain Greenway.
The Commission has also offered to assist the President of
the European Group of Surveyors with the preparation of a study into the
non-geodetic activities of Surveyors in Europe. This work will be coordinated
with the work being undertaken by Working Group 2, the review of construction
procurement in Europe, and it is hoped that the study will be presented as part
of the Seoul Working Week next year. The Commission is actively seeking
additional participation into the Working Groups.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors completed its
International Policy review earlier this year. Discussions are planned to
determine how the Ad Hoc Commission, the ICEC and the Quantity Surveying
Division of the Institution can best cooperate in the future.
The Ad Hoc Commission has developed an interesting programme
for the Prague Working Week, with two technical sessions on the Thursday
morning, and a cross commission Workshop in the afternoon. The Work Programme of
the Commission will be discussed at the full Council Meeting of ICEC in Calgary
on June 29th and 30th 2000. It is hoped that the
enthusiasm generated in Sun City can be continued through the Working Week in
Prague, in Calgary, and into the new millennium.
John A. Collinge
Chair, FIG Ad hoc Commission on Construction Economics and Management
Roger Batten
Vice Chair, FIG Ad hoc Commission on Construction Economics and Management
19 March 2000
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