12 minute read
Member Interview – Guy Smith, PQS
MEMBER INTERVIEW
Guy Smith
Guy Smith, PQS(F)
When was your first introduction to construction?
My life in the construction industry began at a very early age – probably when I was about six years old. My father, though originally trained as a quantity surveyor, operated a small residential construction company, and he used to bring me along to his construction sites (safety was not as big a concern in the mid-20th century!). I think those visits to dad’s housing projects planted the seed for my involvement in the industry. I must admit, however, that a career in construction was not my first choice: my original career plan was to be a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, but when that did not work out, it was not much of a stretch for me to make the jump into quantity surveying instead. It was in my blood – literally.
When did you begin your Quantity Surveying career?
Again, I started in quantity surveying very early. After my father left the building profession and resumed his career as a quantity surveyor, he often used to bring his work home with him. In an effort to help me improve my mental math skills in my early teens, he used to give me stacks of dimensions to extend, and I guess I caught the bug. My official quantity surveying career, however, started when I was accepted into the trainee quantity surveying program with George Wimpey Construction (now part of Carillion plc) in London, embarking on a series of cooperative (“sandwich”) courses in the Higher National Diploma program at Willesden College of Technology in 1973. Wimpey treated me very well: in my various assignments with the company, I got to work as a Trainee (later Assistant) Quantity Surveyor on numerous social and speculative housing projects throughout the United Kingdom, later moving to Canada with the company and continuing my career in housing and small commercial, industrial and engineering projects in Toronto and Edmonton.
What types of role and responsibilities have you held?
After moving to Edmonton in 1979, I had the opportunity to resume my ‘partnership’ with my father (who had moved to Canada in 1976) in a small quantity surveying consulting practice. I became one of dad’s two partners in the practice, eventually assuming a whole lot more responsibility when he died suddenly in late 1981. My surviving partner and I parted ways in 1983 and I operated the practice as a sole practitioner until the Fall of 1985, when a chance phone call from John Pettie, who was then the leader of the Cost Control and Analysis Branch at Alberta Public Works, Supply and Services, led me into my next role as a Cost Analyst in the branch. My role there was to support cost managers and project managers on a wide range of institutional buildings, including provincial buildings, courthouses and other facilities for our public sector clients. As I progressed into a management role in the department, I became responsible for tracking and projecting cost trends and developing construction cost models.
In 2000, I made yet another career change, assuming the role of Regional Manager in the Learning and Housing Facilities Branch in the same department, which by now was known as Alberta Infrastructure. In this position, I worked closely with facilities managers from more than 20 school boards in the northern sector of the province to help them plan their capital and maintenance construction projects. By 2004, I was appointed the Regional Director in the same branch, providing support to the school boards as they planned their annual capital funding requests and leading a team of managers and facilities technologists.
In June 2007, I left Infrastructure to assume the role of Director of the Alternative Capital Financing Office at Alberta Treasury Board. In this role, I was responsible for developing the process and framework for the first public-private partnership project for social infrastructure – a project which would lead to the highly successful Alberta Schools Alternative Procurement (ASAP) program, the first two projects of which I served on as the assistant project director. Through the ASAP projects, we were able to build more than 50 new schools throughout Alberta, two years faster
and over $150 million less costly on a life-cycle basis than using traditional procurement methods.
In September 2010, I returned to Alberta Infrastructure as the Executive Director of Learning Facilities, leading a team of nearly 50 directors, managers, project coordinators and facilities technologists in delivering a highly ambitious capital construction program for schools, colleges and universities; and managing the expectations of 64 school jurisdictions and 22 post-secondary institutions. The program continues, and will do so until at least 2018, at which point we will have delivered, or presided over the delivery of, more than 240 projects in a very short period of time.
When I started to plan for my retirement in 2015, I vacated my position at Learning Facilities, moving into the vacant position of Executive Director of Procurement Operations. In this, the final engagement in my 30-year career with the Government of Alberta, I was responsible for leading a team of procurement professionals to support all the project delivery branches throughout Alberta Infrastructure. In addition, I was responsible for leading the department’s emergency response and business continuity team, as well as records management and freedom of information administration. It was certainly an interesting and fast-paced portfolio with which to finish off my career.
What types of projects have you worked on?
I think the above response demonstrates the wide variety of projects in which I have been involved over the years – everything from social and private housing, through commercial and industrial construction, to a range of institutional projects serving the citizens of Alberta.
Is there a particular project that you would like to tell us about?
Every project has its high and low points, but the one that will stick in my mind the longest will be the first ASAP
schools project to build 18 schools in Edmonton and Calgary under a public-private partnership arrangement. We started out the project as a highly secretive ‘black ops’ project, where we were not permitted to discuss what we were up to during the planning stage. At that point, we were not even able to discuss the planned projects with the school jurisdictions that would be receiving the new schools, because it all fell under a budget that had yet to be approved.
When the project was finally approved to move ahead, we had a real flurry of activity as we finally started working with the school boards to make sure their needs were met. What we were not aware of at the time was that the Minister of Education of the day was about to announce that we had to shave a year off our planned project schedule; when we heard the announcement, instead of saying “it cannot be done”, we set to work finding a way to make it happen. As it turned out, the project was completed under budget, more than a month ahead of the accelerated schedule, and two years faster than it would have been completed under a traditional approach. We learned a great deal on that project, not only about P3s (this was the first P3 project of its kind in western Canada, so we were developing a lot of the processes as we went along), but about the ability of a well-structured and motivated team’s ability to take on and meet a challenge.
How do you see the CIQS as being the advocate for our profession?
CIQS has been a tremendously strong voice for the quantity surveying profession over the past 50 years and beyond. From the ‘founding fathers’ of our profession, all the way through to our current leaders, there has been a gradual, but positive increase in the level of understanding and acceptance of our role in the industry. Our educational standards and codes of ethics are strong, and we are now gaining footholds in the academic community across Canada. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our leaders, both at the corporate and at the regional level, through the years. We may not always agree with the directions that our organization’s leaders have chosen for the profession over the years, but I think we can all agree that CIQS has made great strides as a recognized profession in a comparatively short timeframe. I look forward to a time when CIQS is acknowledged as an organization to which governments listen when developing policy directions and capital development strategies, much as the RICS is a leading advocate for the industry in the United Kingdom.
What has been your approach to Continuing Professional Development?
If we are to continue to grow as a recognized profession, it is essential for us to continue to grow as individuals within the profession. Therefore, a strong, well-administered Continuing Professional Development program is essential to the ongoing healthy growth of our professional capacity. But my belief is that growth does not necessarily have to be restricted to reading more and attending more courses on quantity surveying-related subjects; indeed, our profession is so widespread and diverse across so many disciplines that it behooves us to stay current on many different aspects of the construction industry, on management and leadership trends, on marketing, on climate issues, and even on the political and economic environment. The more well-rounded our professional education is, the better we can serve our customers.
What challenges do you see for Quantity Surveying?
Moving to formal recognition as a recognized profession, in the same way that accountants, lawyers, architects and engineers are recognized, continues to be a slow and challenging process. I believe this is a challenge that will eventually be overcome, but the process is extremely painstaking and time-consuming.
We also have to be sure that the work that our professionals do is wellgoverned and well-protected. Many times over my career, I have seen unqualified people hang up their shingle and bring the profession into disrepute when they do work that they are not qualified to do, then disappear, leaving the profession to clean up the mess.
As the profession matures, we have to pay attention to the fact that many of its most senior members are ‘baby boomers’ and as such are preparing to leave the profession; this is going to leave a large ‘knowledge gap’ if the transfer of knowledge is not wellconducted by the departing leaders.
I worry about the dilution of the profession if we do not pay constant attention to our education standards and to making sure that we continue maintaining strict admission and qualification standards. So, my advice to the leadership of the profession would be to ensure that we stay the course on making access to Designation Holder status accessible, but highly challenging, for those who would seek to move forward in the profession.
What opportunities do you see for Quantity Surveyors?
Access to technology and to solid educational programs related to the profession improves every year. We, as a profession, need to remain on the leading edge of development of these tools.
We are on the forefront of a wave of property development across the country, even though the economy remains somewhat in the doldrums. This is a perfect time for our profession to be marketing itself and branding itself, as our partners in the RICS have done, as the leaders in the planning and development of property across North America and the Caribbean. I believe we must leverage our connection with RICS to support the growth of our shared profession to enable the continued growth of both organizations.
Do you have any concluding thoughts?
We must carefully monitor the progress of the post-secondary educational programs geared toward Designation Holder status to ensure that we continually improve them to make them attractive to the young men and women seeking to make quantity surveying a viable career option. It is about the people: I have had the great fortune to work with some fantastic, motivated, highly professional, intelligent and witty people over my years in the construction and property industry, and particularly in the quantity surveying profession. In over 40 years in the ‘property business,’ I can honestly say I have never wanted to change my career path – probably because I have had access to so many diverse and challenging branches of the profession throughout my career.
My last word has to be about our Executive Director, the beating heart of this institute. In a very short time, the Executive Director of this organization, Lois Metcalfe, will be retiring from her role. Nobody, whether intimately connected with the leadership of the profession, or indirectly connected as a client or consultant, should ever underestimate or overlook the tremendous contribution that Lois has made to our profession over the past four decades. Lois grew up in the organization, and the organization grew up because of Lois. She will be missed, and very difficult to replace. Best wishes for a long and happy retirement, Lois!
Mr. Guy Smith, PQS(F), was elected as the 28th CIQS President in 1996. He has over 40 years of experience in the property development industry. Prior to immigrating to Canada in 1977, Guy worked with one of the largest construction corporations in continental Europe. He joined the Government of Alberta in 1985 and was the Executive Director, Learning Facilities and Alternative Procurement at Alberta Infrastructure. He retired from the Alberta Public Service in October 2015.
QUANTITY SURVEYORS, ESTIMATORS, PLANNERS
A leading Cost Consulting and Project Management firm requires the following candidates for its Montreal and Ottawa offices:
Junior, intermediate and senior level Q.S.’s, Estimators and Planners with experience on:
• Commercial and institutional projects • Industrial projects (oil/gas, refineries, mining, metallurgical).
We offer competitive salaries, benefits, training and potential for growth. Relocation assistance will be provided. We sincerely thank all applicants, but only those candidates which meet our requirements will be contacted.
Please send resume in strictest confidence to: LCO - Construction and Management Consultants Inc.
Fax: 514-846-8913 | Phone: 514-846-8914 | E-Mail: MONTREAL@LCOGROUP.COM
