Global coalition formed to unify construction standards

The Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors joined over 30 construction and cost engineering professional bodies from around the world last month at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C. to launch a major initiative which seeks to create international standards in construction.

The International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) Coalition was established by organizations representing professionals in more than 140 countries. Collectively, the group aims to create an overarching international standard that will harmonize cost and measurement definitions in order to enhance comparability, consistency and benchmarking in the construction industry.

In an industry worth a staggering $8.5 trillion in 2015, according to Global Construction Output 2020, inconsistency in something as fundamental as construction measurement can create huge uncertainty and risk.

The ICMS Coalition will continue to grow as further professional organizations come forward to join the effort to align high-level principles. By early July 2015, the coalition will be formally launched. Industry and key stakeholders too will be encouraged to contribute to and lead adoption of the new international framework in their markets.

The work to draft and consult on the new international standard will be delegated to an independent committee of experts, due to be appointed by the coalition in the coming weeks.

The Washington meeting represented a landmark moment for the construction and quantity surveying sector as a whole. This is the first time professions have come together in this way to develop standards which reflect and enhance the increasingly international construction market.

The coalition has stated its ambition to make tangible progress immediately and to arrive at an internationally agreed and adopted standard in the near future.

“I was proud to sign the International Construction Measurement Standard (ICMS) Coalition declaration on behalf of CIQS,” said Craig Bye (PQS), who represented the organization at the meeting in Washington, D.C. “I was impressed by the level of commitment of the participants and enthusiasm expressed.”

Organizations that have signed declaration to become joint members of ICMS Coalition:

• • • Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE)
    • Association of Cost Engineers (ACostE)
    • Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS)
    • China Engineering Cost Association (CECA)
    • Construction Economists Europe Council (CEEC)
    • Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS)
    • Federation Internationale des Geometres (FIG)
    • Ghana Institute of Surveyors (GhIS)
    • African Association of Quant Surveyors (AAQS)
    • International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC)
    • Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)
    • Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS)
    • Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS)
    • Philippine Institute of Certified Quantity Surveyors (PICQS)
    • Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
    • Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI)
    • Union Nationale des Economistes de la Construction (UNTEC)

The Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors is the premier professional association that sets the highest standard for construction and infrastructure economics in Canada. The Institute oversees the designation of Professional Quantity Surveyors (PQS) and Construction Estimator Certified (CEC) professionals. In 1959, a group of quantity surveyors in Toronto founded the CIQS and today, the organization represents 2000 members across the country