Cost consultants working on international standards
July 14, 2015
By
CCE
ICMS coalition represents costing professionals in 140 countries and says it aims "to create an overarching international standard that will harmonize cost and measurement definitions..."
A group of over 30 organizations met in Washington, D.C. last month to launch a movement to establish international standards for costing construction projects.
The Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) was at the meeting and has joined the International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) Coalition.
The coalition represents costing professionals in 140 countries and says it aims “to create an overarching international standard that will harmonize cost and measurement definitions in order to enhance comparability, consistency and benchmarking in the construction industry.”
As CIQS points out, “In an industry worth a staggering $8.5 trillion in 2015 …. inconsistency in something as fundamental as construction measurement can create huge uncertainty and risk.”
CIQS says the Washington meeting is: “a landmark moment for the construction and quantity surveying sector as a whole. This is the first time professions have come together in this way to develop standards which reflect and enhance the increasingly international construction market.”
The work to draft and consult on the new international standard is being delegated to an independent committee of experts. The coalition wants to make tangible progress immediately and to arrive at an international standard in the near future.
Craig Bye, who represented CIQS at the meeting, said: “I was impressed by the level of commitment of the participants and enthusiasm expressed.”
Following are the organizations that have signed declaration to become joint members of the ICMS Coalition:
Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE)
Association of Cost Engineers (ACostE)
Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS)
China Engineering Cost Association (CECA)
Construction Economists Europe Council (CEEC)
Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS)
Federation Internationale des Geometres (FIG)
Ghana Institute of Surveyors (GhIS)
African Association of Quant Surveyors (AAQS)
International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC)
Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS)
Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS)
Philippine Institute of Certified Quantity Surveyors (PICQS)
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI)
Union Nationale des Economistes de la Construction (UNTEC)
