Project Management Construction Consultants
There are a number of professions structured around the building industry. These are called consultants.
- The Architect
- The Interior Designer
- The Quantity Surveyor
- The Engineer
- The Project Manager
These professionals all have set areas of expertise although there are overlaps in all of these professions.
The Architect
The Penguin Dictionary describes an architect as a person who designs buildings and superintends their construction. He prepares drawings and specifications, inspects sites, obtains tenders, and handles legal negotiations needed before work can start.
An architect usually has attained a degree in the subject and before becoming a registered architect must have a number of years practical experience and have undergone a professional examination set by the Institute of Architects or Architects Registration Council before being able to practice as a Registered Architect. In fact in most countries you may not call yourself an architect unless you are registered as such.
The Interior Designer
A person who plans and works with the interior architecture of a building, incorporating the planning of spaces, the decoration and furnishings of the rooms.
The Quantity Surveyor
The quantity surveyor estimates or measures quantities of materials and labor required for a building project. They often create a bill of quantities for contractors to generate their price from.
The Engineer
An Engineer is a degree qualified person in the application of science and mathematics by which the properties of matter and sources of energy in nature are made useful to human beings in machines, structures, processes etc. A structural engineer deals with structural processes.
The Project Manager
This is a person who will manage the project in its entirety including all consultants and contractors. Often with a tertiary qualification. For example starting as a Quantity Surveyor or Engineer and specializing.
As construction consultants the Quantity Surveyor or Engineer usually have a much more pragmatic approach whilst Designers and Architects are usually design and aesthetics lead.
