With regards to Just the job (4 February, page 110): I am a Spanish arquitecto t茅cnico who has been working as an estimator/quantity surveyor in the UK for the past year.

The interesting thing is that in Spain there are not as many different qualifications in the construction industry as there are in the UK. The roles of building surveyor, quantity surveyor, project manager and clerk of works are usually played by people with the same degree as mine.

Another difference is the social recognition of the figure of the surveyor. In Spain nobody outside the construction industry understands the difference between surveyors and architects.

This is made worse because both have the word 鈥渁rchitect鈥� at the beginning of their title. The fact of the matter is that design and construction are sometimes merged in very bizarre ways.

The consequence is that the architect is still a kind of mini-God with supreme power on site. This of course causes delays, cost overruns and other disruptions.

Oscar Martinez

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