PQSC Quantity Surveyor Registration cheat sheet

Whole-life cost (WLC) = capital cost + operating cost + maintenance + replacement + disposal, all discounted to present value; use it whenever options differ in durability or energy performance rather than comparing initial cost alone.

Present value PV = FV / (1 + r)^n; net present value (NPV) = sum of discounted cash flows minus initial outlay; a project is economically acceptable at NPV > 0 for the given discount rate.

Discount rate selection is a policy input, not a design choice: public infrastructure appraisals typically use a social discount rate, while private clients use their weighted average cost of capital; state the rate and its source in the report.

Payback period ignores cash flows after the break-even point and the time value of money, so it is a screening indicator only; internal rate of return (IRR) is the rate at which NPV = 0 and can mislead when comparing projects of very different scale.

Cost escalation differs from discounting: escalation adjusts nominal to real terms, discounting converts future to present value. Mixing the two (escalating then discounting with a nominal rate) double counts inflation.

Unit rate build-up: rate = labour + material + plant + subcontract + preliminaries allocation + temporary works + risk allowance + overhead + profit; measured quantities come from a standard method of measurement, not from the drawing scale.

Preliminaries are time-related and project-related, not quantity-related: they scale with duration and site conditions, so programme changes alter preliminaries even when measured work is unchanged.

Value engineering follows a job plan (information, function analysis, creativity, evaluation, development, presentation); it targets function per unit cost, and savings claimed must be tested against whole-life cost and quality impacts.

Risk pricing in a tender uses expected value = probability x impact for identified risks, plus a contingency for unidentified risk; a risk transferred to a subcontractor is priced back into the subcontract rate, so transfer is not free.

A conflict of interest exists where a personal, financial, or family interest could improperly influence professional judgement; declare it in writing to all affected parties as soon as it is identified, and record the declaration.

Confidentiality survives the end of an engagement: client data, tender prices, and third-party information are not disclosed without authority or a legal requirement, and are protected when stored or transmitted.

A quantity surveyor certifying payment must act impartially on the valuation, not as an advocate for the payer; the certified amount reflects measured work and contract entitlement.

Bribery and facilitation payments are prohibited regardless of local custom; gifts and hospitality must be modest, transparent, recorded in a register, and refused where a decision is pending.

Competence limit: accept instructions only within your training and experience, and where a task exceeds it, disclose the limit and recommend a qualified specialist rather than proceeding unsupervised.

Tender confidentiality: sealed prices are not disclosed to competing tenderers, and a QS who has prepared one tender cannot later act on evaluation of the same competition without disclosure and consent.

Records supporting a valuation, variation, or claim must be contemporaneous, dated, and retained for the period required by contract and law; reconstruction after the event weakens evidential weight.

Whistleblowing on suspected fraud, unsafe work, or corruption is a professional obligation that overrides internal loyalty; report internally first where a safe channel exists, and externally to a regulator where it does not.

Fees and commissions must be disclosed and agreed before work; undisclosed payment from a supplier, contractor, or software vendor to a QS is a conflict that voids independence.