Member interview – George Evans

COST PLANNING LEADER

When and where did you start your career, and what were the highlights of those formative years?

I Graduated from the Building Technology Program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Every group has ideas of what they think they are going to do when they graduate and our group all thought they would be project managers. At the time, my dad had just formed a new quantity surveying partnership in Vancouver, which was quite busy. Dad offered me a job whilst I tried to become the next great project manager. When I signed up to go to BCIT, I had an interest in carpentry and accounting. Once I started in a QS office, I discovered I could play with numbers all day and still get my carpentry fix, albeit on paper instead of with a hammer and saw.

What is the area of your expertise; how did you develop this, and how does this assist our industry?

My primary interest has always been cost planning and this is what I really enjoy. I like being part of the process of seeing a project from concept to completion and helping the design team to meet what always seems to be a tight budget, without overly compromising the design intent. I enjoy the design process and appreciate the skills that designers bring to the table. I think that my appreciation for the design process helps me to come up with more creative ways to meet budgets rather than just cutting scope or interesting design features.

My primary interest has always been cost planning and this is what I really enjoy.

When I became President in BC, I was the representative to CIQS Council where I started as Registrar and ended as President.

To what extent have you been involved with the CIQS, and how would you describe this experience? Also, what is your advice to aspiring quantity surveyors and estimators as they progress their careers?

I have been involved with CIQS and CIQS-BC from the start of my career. Actually, before I became a QS, I attended CIQS-BC dinner meetings and started helping the organizers at the various events. I served on the CIQS-BC Board for five years starting as Treasurer and ending as President. I have to thank Marvin Kale PQS(F) for encouraging me to join his Board in BC. When I became President in BC, I was the representative to CIQS Council where I started as Registrar and ended as President. I continue to volunteer occasionally and I organize the annual CIQS-BC golf tournament. This year is our 29th year. My advice to aspiring professionals is to talk to as many people as you can. The internet is a great tool but talking to suppliers, builders, engineers, architects, site superintendents, etc., is the best education you can get. Join CIQS, attend everything and get involved.

QS Online Cost Consultants Inc. Halifax, Nova Scotia p. 902 405-1504 | c. 902 488-1501 halifax@qsonlinecostconsultants.com www.qsonlinecostconsultants.com

What notable changes have you seen in our industry and profession over the year, how do you see our profession change in the future, and how should we position ourselves for this?

For me the biggest change was computers. They were a new thing when I started. We had them in the office but only the administrators were using them. The volume of work we can produce now in the same amount of time is incredible. More recently is the advent of on screen measurement systems. I know they are not new but they are newer.

Getting drawings electronically and measuring and reporting electronically has reduced the volume of paper in our office by a staggering amount. As for change in the future, I am not sure I see a lot of change. There is constant modification to what we do and how we do it but the basic principles remain the same. I am doing things differently than I was 30 years ago but the questions and solutions always seem to be similar.

What are your views on the current state of the Canadian economy and in particular construction?

The current drop in the Canadian economy is a perfect example of what happens when you put all your eggs in one basket. We were so reliant on the price of oil we forgot about some of the other great industries out there, like manufacturing and construction. I have seen highs and lows in the construction industry over the years but it always comes back around. I was speaking with QS friends in Alberta the other day and, despite the doom and gloom, they are still busy.

What are your interests and do you have any claims to fame that you would like to share with our readers?

My favourite pastime away from the office is hockey. I play in a recreational league once a week with the same group of friends that I have played with for 20 years. We are a lot fatter and slower now but the beer is still cold at the end of the game. My other favourite is golf. I got that bug from my Dad. I am very proud to have my name on a couple CIQS and CIQS-BC golf trophies, one of which is named in my Dad’s honour.

I am doing things differently than I was 30 years ago but the questions and solutions always seem to be similar. I have seen highs and lows in the construction industry…but it always comes back around.

George Evans, PQS(F), MRICS

is a graduate of the BCIT Building Technology program majoring in Economics. As a seasoned senior professional with 25+ years of experience including cost planning, contract administration, change order negotiation and construction loans monitoring, George has been with LEC since 1987 and has been a Principal of the firm since 2001.

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ASPIRING PROFESSIONAL QUANTITY SURVEYOR SEAN MOONEY

Cost Consultant, BTY Group

y involvement in the construction industry began with a summer job when I was a teenager. I spent the majority of my 20’s traveling around North America building environmental containment systems. There was a great deal that I appreciated about that work, including the incredible opportunities it provided me to travel and see places that most other people would not normally see. As I climbed the ranks to site supervisor I learned a great deal about how to work with people from diverse backgrounds. Many of the men that I was in charge of were a great deal older than I was, and I had to strike a balance between respect and authority in order to ensure they were motivated to do their best work under my watch. I also learned things about myself from my time building environmental containment systems – namely my attention to detail and the effectiveness of time management, most specifically, finding the best possible way to streamline a project in an almost assembly-line manner. For example, if the project manager told me that we had five days to do something, I would inevitably find a way to do it in three.

After over a decade in the industry I felt that I was ready to take on new challenges. While the company I was working for at the time kindly offered to train me as an estimator for that specific type of construction, I knew that without an education my skills I would never be recognized beyond the company. I first went to upgrade my high school math via correspondence, certainly not an easy task after having been out of school for so long. I then had to decide on the appropriate program that meshed with my interests, abilities and aptitudes. I finally settled on Fanshawe College’s Construction Engineering Technology Management program. This three-year Ontario College advanced diploma appealed to me for many reasons, primarily because it promised to train me to be a project manager, which at the time is what I thought I wanted. The program turned out to be better than I expected. Over the course of three years at Fanshawe and with my co-op experience, my goals have evolved and I now intend to achieve Professional Quantity Surveyor status. I can particularly thank one of my teachers at Fanshawe, Ralph Lembcke, who was great at encouraging all of his students to harness the courses we were taking with a focus towards joining the CIQS. I was unaware of this organization when coming in to the program and am most grateful to Mr. Lembcke for suggesting this opportunity for professional development.

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Additionally, because of the co-op placements required for my diploma, I was able to participate in a side of the construction industry that I had little prior experience with: cost estimating and cost management. I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed this work, especially the placement I had with BTY Group in the summer of 2014 as a Cost Consultant Intern. I had always been somewhat reticent about office work, which is part of the reason I went straight into the workforce after high school and had not considered college at that time. But what I discovered during my co-op placement was that the things I had enjoyed about my work in constructing environmental containment systems were present in different forms in my new work. Whilst in my past life I relished the challenge of completing a job faster and more efficiently than required, while simultaneously paying attention to the little details, in my time at BTY I discovered that I needed to approach my work in this manner. Additionally, I learned that I enjoyed aspects of this line of work that were absent from my previous career. In this new line of work I was able to see the big picture – learning about jobs in detail and to see how they evolved from a concept brief to the finished product through tracking the cost of the job. I enjoyed working on a wide variety of projects, looking at over 40 jobs

In this new line of work I was able to see the big picture – learning about jobs in detail and to see how they evolved from a concept brief to the finished product through tracking the cost of the job.

…if the project manager told me that we had five days to do something, I would inevitably find a way to do it in three.

during my time at BTY. I was amazed at the diversity of commercial, industrial and residential jobs in the construction industry. I particularly enjoyed learning how consultants compile their estimates within a system and have found this knowledge to be invaluable. My education at Fanshawe linked well to this new line of work. For example, having used both CIQS publications (Elemental Cost Analysis and Method of Construction Works) in the previous semester at Fanshawe, I had a firm base of understanding of the cost estimating process.

Thanks to this great foundation there are many opportunities now in front of me and I am excited to see what the future holds. Having just wrapped up my program at Fanshawe, I will be returning to the Toronto BTY office and embarking on the next step in my career as a Cost Consultant on the Cost Management team. I will be applying the skills I learned during my education and co-op to new responsibilities and will be working towards becoming a qualified member of the CIQS, gaining the title of Professional Quantity Surveyor. Thanks to an ideal combination of academics and real world placements, I know that my career will continue to stimulate, challenge and engage me. I thank the CIQS and in particular the Editor of the Construction Economist, Arif Ghaffur, in encouraging me to write this article and providing the opportunity to share my experience as a contributor to the new “Aspiring Professionals” section in the Construction Economist.

“At BTY, we are delighted to have aspiring professionals such as Sean Mooney that are committed to progressing their careers and in parallel achieve the coveted professional qualifications of PQS.” – Toby Mallinder, PQS, MRICS Partner, BTY Group

ASPIRING PROFESSIONAL QUANTITY SURVEYOR SHANE McKERNAN

Project Coordinator, Concosts Group

Shane joined the CIQS-BC board in October 2013 as a student member helping provide information and ideas on attracting a younger generation to the

CIQS and quantity surveying profession.

Prior to being a student member (non-voting) on the CIQS-BC board, Shane graduated from the BCIT Construction

Management program in 2013 following six years in the field as a Red Seal carpenter. Shane hopes to achieve his CEC designation this year, and will continue his education until he obtains his PQS designation. Shane aspires to become a project manager and work with projects focused on green and sustainable building practices. Shane enjoys all manner of sports but is a particularly gifted fantasy footballer and scotch aficionado.

Over the last two years, Shane has been working as a quantity surveyor in the lower mainland, with the recent added responsibilities of a project coordinator within The Concosts Group. Shane currently sits on the organizing committee of the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) 2017 Vancouver event as the secretary and student liaison. He will be in charge of recruiting students in the industry to help volunteer at the event and introduce them to the exciting career of quantity surveying. As a recent student, Shane hopes to help spread awareness of the quantity surveying profession to students and help continue the efforts of the CIQS-BC board in proving the benefits of this organization and profession to British Columbians.

“CIQS-BC is focused on providing student/graduate members the opportunity to input into the future direction of our profession. Shane brings along enthusiasm and ideas to assist the CIQS-BC Board as we deliver our mandate on behalf of our members in British Columbia.” – President – Angela Lai, PQS, FRICS President, CIQS-BC, CIQS Board Member

Construction Economist welcomes your input

Are you a student, recent graduate, associate, mature candidate or direct finalist working towards your CEC or PQS status?

Please email (execdir@ciqs.org) if you would like us to consider any articles that you would like to propose for publication in the ‘Aspiring Professionals’ corner of the Construction Economist.

Congratulations

to the following Designation Holders who have qualified as a PQS or CEC (including reinstatements):

CIQS – British Columbia

Jordan Almond, CEC Mahdi Askarzadeh, PQS Gerhard Botha, PQS Christopher Chin, PQS Howie Chuang, PQS Keith Damphousse, PQS Ian Drouet, PQS Aidan Kelly, CEC Keith Leung, CEC Mark MacDonald, CEC Justin Norton, PQS David Parks, CEC Ryan Povey, PQS John Speakman, CEC Etienne Theron, PQS Cody Voorhorst, PQS CIQS – Maritimes

Richard Edwards, CEC Keith Hare, CEC

CIQS – Members at Large

Farhan Aftab, PQS Samuel O. Ayodele, PQS Rima Samih Barzak, PQS Ashraf Hammadi, CEC Afzal Mehdi, PQS Aniqua Strachan, PQS Melissa Yong, PQS

CIQS – Ontario

Magdy Abdelmalek, PQS Zulifqar Ali, PQS Deepesh Bissoonauth, PQS Iain Chambers, CEC Vincent Chung, PQS Peter Clare, PQS Elvan Eryoner, PQS Jonathan Gilford, PQS Bipin Gina, CEC Prasanya Gnanathurai, CEC Andrew Gordon, PQS Mukesh Kumar, PQS Annie Liu, CEC Amir Lopci, PQS Jeffrey Malo, CEC Alejandro Mejia, CEC Mark Pellerin, PQS Usman Saeed, CEC Patrick Stepniewski, PQS Richard Worr, PQS Miaosen Zhou, CEC CIQS – Prairies and NWT

Ghassan Adwan, CEC Maynard Basilides, CEC Peter S. Bhullar, CEC Jatin Jajal, PQS Alex Marsh, PQS Sami Moufti, CEC Noel Naughton, PQS Cameron Pole, PQS Ben Postma, PQS Jose Surtida, CEC Elier Villarreal, CEC

CIQS – Quebec

Thérèse Normandeau, CEC Evans Parent, CEC Guy Poisson, CEC

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