 INTERIM REPORT: 8 JUNE 2011
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| Dear members,
Below are some of the issues discussed at the last board meeting held on 19 May 2011 for your information.
Executive Director Position as well as new EduTec manager
An advertisement will be placed for the position of Executive Director as well as new EduTec Manager for the ASAQS. Any member who is interested could apply for the position. These positions will soon be advertised on the website as well.
Data base
Investigations to look at appointing a private company to compile and manage the data base of ASAQS members is in progress. This is currently receiving the ongoing attention of the Board and Exco, following years of problems experienced by using two systems, one for billing and the other for administration.
ASAQS office sub-letting
The need was identified for more area to be sub-let the current tenants and an agreement has been reached which will result in additional income from under utilized area. This will be completed in June.
Reciprocity agreement
A reciprocity agreement will be signed by the President of the ASAQS with the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors in Sri Lanka at the PAQS congress which takes place between 23 – 26 July 2011.
JBCC
Prof Tinus Maritz was nominated to serve as board member on the JBCC committee on behalf of the ASAQS and their members.
ICEC Congress
The 8th ICEC World Congress will take place on 23 – 27 June 2012. The ASAQS will be the host in Durban and welcome any sponsorships. Please contact Deon Vermeulen on 021-5519711 in regard to this.
Built Environment Profession [BEP] act
Research is being done and preparations are being made to investigate with various parties the proposed BEP act which will definitely effect our profession. Anyone with additional insight and/or firm opinions should forward this to the Director of ASAQS.
Municipalities / Local authorities
The ASAQS wants to target municipalities, local authorities as well as the housing market as new opportunities for its members. The ASAQS Board and Chapters are currently busy with this and Board members have been tasked investigate avenues.
Bursaries
The ASAQS wants to encourage post graduate studies with a bursary every year for a student and a adjudication method will be completed this year.
Cape Homemakers Expo
Members in the Western Cape will be allowed to enter the Cape Homemakers Expo at the beginning of September free of charge with an e-ticket which will be provided to them by the ASAQS.
Important dates
ASAQS Board & ExCo meeting
Place: Port Elizabeth
Date: 1nd September 2011
SACQSP Congress
Theme: 2020 Revisited
Place: Port Elizabeth
Date: 2nd September 2011 Yours truly, Pieter Kotzé
President of the ASAQS | |
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ESTATE AGENTS BOARD EXEMPTION | |
| An Equivalency (Exemptions) Matrix has been constructed by the EAAB as a living document, for the purposes of granting recognition to relevant qualifications previously obtained by candidates after a proper assessment process.
In the case of Quantity Surveyors, the exemption comes as a BSc QS. This exempts candidates holding the qualification from doing the NQF qualification courses.
In order to get the exemption the candidate submits a certified copy of ID, qualification (degree) and transcripts to the MDI T/A Oxford Institute (Tel: 011 646 8491 Fax: 086 538 7514 Email:trish@managementdynamics.co.za) and they issue the candidate with an exemption certificate. Cost is R1000. This certificate is then submitted to the Board by the candidate. | |
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KZN AND GAUTENG WEB PAGES UPDATED | |
| The web pages of the Gauteng- and KZN Chapters have been updated with the latest information from those regions. In order to prevent future scheduling conflicts visit their calendars and diarise future meetings and CPD events now. If you attended the KZN event you may spot yourself in one of the photographs that Nazeer sent to us. | |
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ASAQS SALARY SURVEY : 2011 | |
| An annual survey of salaried staff is conducted amongst firms in order to determine the hourly rate for principals, partners, members of close corporations and directors. As such principals are not necessarily allocated a salary, different categories of salaried personnel are used as a basis, with a factor added in order to arrive at an hourly rate.
Please be assured that only the Executive Director of the Association of SA Quantity Surveyors has access to the individual returns, thus absolute confidentiality is assured.
As soon as feedback is returned from the firms, this information is handed over to a firm of statistical analysts who are commissioned to capture the information and compute the results to finally arrive at an hourly rate. Clearly the better the response from the firms, the more reliable and representative the results will become. A special appeal is therefore made to all member firms to please assist the Association with this important survey by setting aside a little time to complete the questionnaire and returning same (preferably in electronic format) to the offices of the Association. The deadline is Friday 24th June 2011.
Please submit the information back to the Executive Director of the ASAQS, Prof. Thys Siglé, by e-mail to director@asaqs.co.za. Alternatively it can be faxed to (011) 315 3785 or posted to the ASAQS, P.O. Box 3527, Halfway House, 1685 - Alternatively it can also be submitted electronically via the ASAQS website (www.asaqs.co.za) by clicking here.
Finally it should be noted that the results of this survey will only be made available to the respondent firms of this survey in a format that will ensure absolute confidentiality. The information will NOT be made freely available to everyone on the ASAQS website. Your co-operation and assistance is greatly appreciated. | |
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THE NETSPOT : IS THIS MAGIC? | |
| We are launching a new feature this week which places the spotlight on something that caught our eye whilst surfing the Internet. We kick off the new feature with a mind-reading flash program found at Regiftable.com. This fun website was started by Money Management International to help you with the regifting phenomena. (Regifting is when you pass on a present given to you to someone else.) Regifting Robin is a pop-up program that will drive you crazy! I've tried it again and again, choosing random two digit numbers, doing a simple sum and each time it predicted the correct answer. Magic!? CLICK HERE TO TRY IT ! Let me know if you manage to figure out how it works... So far Junaid Salehmohamed and Ray Greaves have e-mailed me the answer. Have you managed to crack the "code"? Here's a clue: 9 is a "magic" number! ASAQS Webmaster | |
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CONTINGENCY SUMS, THEIR DEFINITION AND APPLICATION | |
| Contingency is probably the most misunderstood allowance in a project estimate, right from its initial definition to its application during the course of the project. Numerous companies use contingency in varying ways. The problem is, with no one systematic approach there is no actual set of rules or guidelines to follow. The application of contingency is really based upon the definition that the owner of the estimate has for contingency.
The purpose of this white paper from CMS Inc. is to share what their definition of contingency is, how they believe it should be used, and how it should be utilized as a forecast tool as part of the overall cost summary, and project forecast at completion. | |
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CONTROVERSIAL BILL IS BACK | |
| During a meeting held on the 5th of May 2011, the DPW unveiled their latest proposals regarding the future of the Councils controlling the built-environment professions. The proposals are contained in a discussion document which highlights the background to- and the changes in policy proposed by the DPW. In short, it proposes to co-ordinate the functions of the present Councils and place them under a new governing body called the South African Council for the Built Environment.
It is imperative that all professionals take note of the proposed changes and partake in the debate as the implementation of the policy will definitely impact on their future. For this reason, we publish the following: Please click here to listen to an interview (MP3) that Peter Muller, Editor of To Build had with Bheki Zulu, CEO of the CBE or click here to read an edited version of the interview online in the second edition of To Build (page 16). The interview sheds some light on the thinking of the CBE in regard to this matter. Please address your written comments and input to the Registrar of the SACQSP by fax or e-mail. The Association of SA Quantity Surveyors will discuss this at their upcoming Board Meeting next Thursday and advise their members in due course. | |
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WAY BACK WHEN... | |
| The Internet archive at the New Library of Alexandria, Egypt, mirrors the Wayback Machine which is a complete snapshot of all web pages on every website since 1996. Since the average lifetime of a page on the Internet is 100 days, this snapshot is retaken every two months. The Internet Archive at the BA (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) includes the web collection of 1996 through 2007. It represents about 1.5 petabytes of data stored on 880 computers. The entire collection is available for free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. Do you remember what our website looked like in 1999? The image below will refresh your memory. Vist The Internet archive to take a digital trip into the past. | |
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PROGRESS AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT | |
| In this white paper Aaron Buntrock ICC, Project Associate at CMS Inc, investigates effective project progress and performance reporting. It is important to realise that progress is NOT:
- Percentage money spent,
- Percentage work hours spent,
- Percentage time spent. To find out why this is so, click here to download the white paper. | |
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RESULTS OF THE COUNCIL EXAMINATIONS – 24th & 25th MARCH 2011 | |
| The Part I and Part II results are available in PDF-format and can be downloaded from the SACQSP website. The results are as bleak as they were in the past and this should be of concern to each and every professional quantity surveyor in South Africa as the number of capable quantity surveyors gaining professional status continues to dwindle. | |
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BOARD MEETING AND UPDATES | |
| The Board of the ASAQS met at the Protea Hotel near ORT on 19 May 2011. Numerous items were on the agenda. The database of the Association was discussed in detail and progress was reported on the integration of the database with the website and the accounting system. The current mBase database is able to send out personalised e-mails and sms messages to our members but it seems almost impossible to integrate it with the current accounting system and a suitable solution should be found soon. | |
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2011 YEAR PLANNER NOW AVAILABLE | |
| The ASAQS year planner for 2011 is now available. Please download the planner if you wish to know all future dates of Exco- and other meetings which involve the ASAQS. | |
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NEW ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPOINTED | |
| The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors appointed Professor Thys Siglé as Acting Executive Director during March 2011. Click here to read more. During March, Mr Pieter Kotzé took over the reigns from Mr Gert Meyer as President of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors. Click here to read more. | |
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CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT BOARD TAKES ACTION | |
| We thank Frans van der Walt of QS2000 Plus for passing on two notices published by the CIDB in the Government Gazette on 1 April 2011 which he received from the MBSA. Frans says; "I have been saying this at various forums, etc. and urging everybody, and very specifically the Department of Public Works, BEP Professionals and Representative Organizations (e.g. MBA, SAPOA, etc.) to do the same. It is up to those within the industry to assist to clean the industry, and only by reporting can the authorities take appropriate action." Please click here to read more. | |
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2020 REVISITED | |
| SACQSP Conference 2011
Call for papers
Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 2nd September 2011
CONFERENCE SCOPE
The scope of the conference is to encourage active debate amongst researchers, post-graduate students and practitioners. Submissions by students, personnel who are working in the built environment discipline and those who are concerned with the challenges that the built environment profession faces, are particularly welcome. The conference seeks to explore current advances in research relevant to the present and future state of development of the professions' and industry, nationally and globally. Papers should focus on new research themes, practices and topics, innovative research strategies or well articulated methodologies applied in the professions' context. Reporting on work recently completed or work in progress is especially welcomed. The aim is to address the role and the contribution of all who add value to the industry's and professions' performance.
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Click here for more information
Submit abstracts and papers to: qsconference@nmmu.ac.za | |
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ROI MEET REALITY | |
| ROI analysis can be an enormously valuable tool for directing project investments, but it requires an open mind, reasonable assumptions and accurate numbers. Even then, the numbers that tell the whole story usually don't appear on silver platters and rarely lend themselves to cookie-cutter templates. Here are five pragmatic rules for constructing useful, believable ROI analyses. The topic of return on investment (ROI) analyses inspires fear and loathing on the part of project professionals. Management requires them before funding projects or purchases, but few people are sure how to do them, or know where to get the "right" numbers. Many benefits are difficult to quantify in dollars, and it is often tough to meet the payback hurdles set by company policy. Besides, who really trusts an ROI analysis anyway? If the analysis comes from an outside party, it always seems to justify the product or service they are trying to sell, and if it is internally created, it just matches its author’s foregone conclusion. Many people have a way of making projects they don’t want to do fail any payback test, while personal favorites seem to generate enormous productivity returns. No wonder no one really believes ROI analyses. To read on you need to first register for free, or log in on the Projects at Work website before clicking here.
(©www.projectsatwork.com) | |
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ENERGY SAVING BUILDING SOLUTIONS | |
| The ASAQS is happy to announce that we have agreed to market and make available to our members the BuildAid publication called "Energy Saving Building Solutions". A really useful publication which in our opinion is a must for any professional QS office as a point of reference. A really worthwhile publication !!
 The application of the newly legislated South African National Standards 204 prompted BuildAid to produce a publication providing a concise and informative guide to assist the industry in getting to grips with what it means to embrace energy conscious buildings. With the SANS 204 being integrated into the new SANS 10400 building regulations, BuildAid is presenting the "Energy Saving Building Solutions – A Commentary on SANS 204" publication for the use of all. This publication will hopefully help any professional person in getting to grips with SANS 204 and its application in SANS 10400 XA.
We at the ASAQS have adopted this document as one of the items on the "ASAQS Documents List" that we will support and it is now freely available from the ASAQS office at the price of R310,00 (inclusive of VAT – member price) (Non member price R325,00 – across the counter price). Additional charges are applicable if postage requirements are involved. | |
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IT IS NEVER TO LATE TO GET YOUR CPD MATTERS IN ORDER | |
| For those of you who still need to get your CPD matters in order there is a way to make up the required time before making the necessary submission to the SACQSP. No doubt you will find something on the GoLearning website that will interest you and could assist to make up the 25 hours you need for CPD.
Hopefully you will find something on the GoLearning website that will interest you and could assist to make up the 25 hours you need for CPD 2010.
BIG things are being planned for GoLearning this year We have already sourced numerous new modules on practical issues such as how to find and keep clients, how to market your services and how to cope with business cycles. What's more, they aim to make these modules no longer that an hour in duration so that you can fit them into your lunch hour. We are currently just waiting that final programming be completed on the new GoLearning site.
Watch this space! Lunchtime CPD is where they're heading. All you will need to do is to buy a module every month for ten months and do some supplementary reading and by this time next year you will be ready to submit your CPD for the year.
GoLearning will assist to make your CPD commitments for 2011 a simple and enjoyable experience! | |
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QUANTITY SURVEYING PUBLICATION RELEASED | |
|  Having recently been presented with a complimentary copy of the publication entitled "Quantity Surveying Practice in South Africa", which was co-authored by Professors Tinus Maritz and Thys Siglé, we were most impressed with the informative content of the publication and soon realised the value of the publication to students and interested parties of the Quantity Surveying profession.
In the "Foreword and Acknowledgements" section of the publication it states the following:
It is hoped that this book will prove to be useful not only to students who may be considering Quantity Surveying as their career or have already commenced their studies, but also to all interested persons who wish to acquire a deeper understanding of the day-to-day work of a quantity surveyor.
This is a publication that is much needed in the education and training of the profession and the ASAQS would strongly recommend that this book be prescribed to all first and second year students at all tertiary institutions that offer Quantity Surveying programmes in South Africa. It is an easy to read publication, it is simply written and easy to understand. The ASAQS will certainly encourage the wider distribution and use of this publication.
This publication is now available for purchase at the ASAQS offices at the following rates (inclusive of VAT, exclusive of postage costs where applicable) : - R160,00 to members
- R170,00 to non-members
The publication is also available on the Webshop. Our compliments and congratulations to the co-authors for a fine publication. We wish them every success with the venture. | |
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ASAQS CENTENARY PUBLICATION | |
|  We would like to make you aware that the office of the ASAQS still has stock of the "ASAQS Centenary Publication" which is always a welcome addition to any organisation or office in the built environment. Should you still not have purchased your copies of this publication, please feel free to contact the ASAQS office for your copies of this publication. We will post them to you at earliest convenience.
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TIME CHARGE FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR (EXCLUSIVE OF VAT) | |
| The South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession (SACQSP) has adopted and gazetted the following recommended hourly time charge rates for principals with effect from 1 January 2011: Not exceeding 5 years experience | R 750.00 | 6 to 10 years experience | R 1 400.00 | above 10 years | R 1 900.00 | Specialist work (minimum 10 years experience) | R 2 380.00 |
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These rates may thus be used with immediate effect. | |
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RECOMMENDED TARIFF OF PROFESSIONAL FEES (2010) | |
| The ASAQS Fees Committee has reported that it was recommended that the Recommended Tariff of Professional Fees (2010) does not require any changes to be made and that it should remain unaltered for the year 2011. In the past the process was that in the event that no changes were necessary, the earlier tariff would simply remain in place without the need to re-gazette same simply with a new date on it. This was the process that was again adopted for this year and the Recommended Tariff of Professional Fees (2010) will thus remain applicable and in full force during the year of 2011. | |
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MISSED THE NEWS? | |
| We have archived all news stories from 2008 and 2009 in the News Section. You can also glance back at more recent news by following the links at the bottom of this page. | |
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WHERE TO PURCHASE YOUR CONTRACT DOCUMENTS ? | |
| Following on numerous enquiries from members as to where they can purchase the various and different forms of contract, we have prepared the following easy-to-read schedule that will assist in this regard. CONTRACT DOCUMENTS | AVAILABLE FROM | CONTACT DETAILS | JBCC CONTRACTS | ASAQS | 011 315 4140 | PROCSA CLIENT/CONSULTANT AGREEMENTS
(entire suite of documents) | ASAQS | 011 315 4140 | NEC (New Engineering Contract) | SAICE | 011 805 5947/8 | FIDIC | CESA | 011 463 2022 | GCC (General Conditions of Contract - Civil) | SAICE | 011 805 5947/8 |
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This schedule can also be downloaded in PDF-format by clicking here. | |
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ANNOUNCEMENT OF FORTHCOMING CONGRESSES | |
| In order to assist members to plan their diaries this year in terms of forthcoming congresses and conferences they may wish to attend, attached the preliminary dates of some of these congresses for your attention (more details to follow): PAQS Congress 2011
• July 2011
• Colombo, Sri Lanka ICEC World Congress 2012
23 to 26 June 2012 – Durban, South Africa PAQS Congress 2012
• July 2012
• Brunei Members are encouraged to plan ahead and to support these conferences/congresses !! | |
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JOIN ASAQS | |
| Click here to find out more about becoming a member of ASAQS and gaining entry to our Closed Users Group.
Membership forms, fees, etc. | |
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CHAPTER CHAIRPERSONS | |
| ASAQS have chapters in all the provinces in South Africa - if you need to contact our chapters download their contact details by clicking here. | |
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION NEWS | |
| | | | Register to receive our weekly newsletter "Weekend Property & Construction News" containing both local- and international news and articles delivered to your e-mail. |
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USEFUL TOOLS | |
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Use the ASAQS Buddy to find information quickly | | |
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Need to remove the password from a PDF document?
Then visit http://www.guapdf.com
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CONTACT ASAQS | |
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The Association of South African Quantity Surveyors
Postal address:
P.O. Box 3527
Halfway House 1685
Physical address:
Suite G6, Building 27
Thornhill Office Park
Bekker Road,
Vorna Valley Ext 21,
MIDRAND
Contact details:
Telephone : 011-3154140
Fax : 011-3153785
E-mail : association@asaqs.co.za
Office hours:
08h00 to 17h00
Click here to view a map to our offices | |
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WE CURRENTLY HAVE VISITORS FROM: | |
| The map above indicates the origin of current visitors to our website |
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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY | |
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Quote of the Day
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