The accuracy and monitoring of quantity surveyors' price forecasting for building work

Abstract

This paper examines the performance of two public sector quantity surveying departments when forecasting the lowest tender price for proposed projects at the design stage. The reliability of any price forecast is dependent upon professional skill and judgement and the availability of historical price data derived from completed projects. The quantity surveyor also requires an effective feedback mechanism that provides information on the accuracy of previous forecasts. A simple feedback mechanism is developed in this paper which can be used to assess forecasting performance and give an early warning of bias and identify any patterns that may emerge.

Keywords:

• Price forecasting
• accuracy
• monitoring
• quantity surveyor