Using simulation to enhance the performance of quantity surveying and reporting -

Abstract

Quantity Surveying (QS) is defined as the process of estimating the quantities and costs of work at the start of the project. During project execution, QS involves tracking and quantifying the progress of work as well as arranging the corresponding payments for clients. QS features several sources of uncertainty including the timeliness of payments by the client and the amounts of monetary compensation. Past studies have presented models and strategies to improve the performance of QS systems, while some studies explored the adoption of advanced technologies to enhance QS. However, these studies did not provide a methodology for exploring the external uncertainties that interfere with QS activities. The objective of this thesis is to simulate the operations of the QS system to capture the imposed uncertainties. Ultimately, the goal is to mitigate the effects of uncertainty and to enhance the operations of the QS system. The methodology adopted consists of building a simulation model in Arena and testing it on a real-world case study. An alternative model is, then, proposed and tested. The results suggest improvement in terms of payment lifecycle.