Ian McAndie, a leading consultant for QS Davis Langdon on the Scottish parliament building, has died aged 57 from cancer.

Davis Langdon senior partner Rob Smith said it was a very sad loss to the firm and to the partnership, as he was 鈥渁 very decent man known for his sharp wit鈥�.

Smith said: 鈥淗is tenacious attention to detail was noted by Lord Fraser [in his report on the Scottish parliament] and he will be remembered as one of very few QSs who will be quoted by historians looking at the Scottish parliament 50 years from now.

Smith quoted from Lord Fraser鈥檚 report: 鈥淎t relatively early stages a number of decisions were taken which were fundamentally wrong

or wholly misleading. It is the consequences of those decisions which have caused the massive increases in costs and delays.

鈥淐oupled with that the situation was admirably summed up in a curt handwritten note by Mr Ian McAndie, a partner at Davis Langdon & Everest as far back as March 1999: 鈥楴obody tells Enric to think about economy with any seriousness.鈥�

Little in this report improves on that early astute observation.鈥�