There is a sense, however, in which the firms appear to be responding to the medium-term outlook rather than a grand, strategic vision. In the commercial sector, where clients still value independent QSs, output is forecast to fall 7% this year and next; in infrastructure, which is more suited to one-stop shops, it is likely to rise 7%. But it is possible to put a more positive spin on events. It was only four years ago that QSs were written out of the picture altogether 鈥� literally so, in the case of the Egan report. There was a growing consensus that their core skills would soon be taken over by computers, and they started rebranding themselves as project managers or construction economists. 鈥淐all us what you like,鈥� one senior partner blustered, 鈥渂ut don鈥檛 you dare refer to us as a QS.鈥� Ouch. By its actions, Mott MacDonald appears to have acknowledged that they do have a place in the new order. It鈥檚 not the old-fashioned role of man-marking contractors, of course. According to one client, QSs will need to be integrated into the design process, where 80% of the cost decisions are resolved, and be chief guardians of value for money. In football parlance, they must become the industry鈥檚 liberos 鈥� more Franz Beckenbauer than Tony Adams.
Other developments mean that clients will increasingly rely on QSs. One is risk management, which has hitherto been the preserve of contractors. Then there鈥檚 the experimental use of off-site manufacture and logistics, all of which will make it imperative to track costs accurately. So, from being a profession in search of a role, QSs may well emerge as the glue holding the whole supply chain together. It鈥檚 a funny old world.
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