SEC 2 - Ceylinco - ICC

REPORT
ON
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
IN QUANTITY SURVEYING
AT
CEYLINCO HOMES INTERNATIONAL (LOTUS TOWER) LTD

No 79, Hyde Park Corner,
Colombo 02.
FROM 24TH MARCH TO 18TH JULY 2007
AND
INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM (PVT) LIMITED

No. 70, S de S. Jayasinghe Mawatha,
Kohuwala, Nugegoda.
FROM 24TH JULY TO 15TH NOVEMBER 2007
BY
DISSANAYAKA D.M.S.R.
(062014 P)
THIRD YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
SUBMITTED ON 18TH DECEMBER 2007
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS

FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF MORATUWA
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT
PREFACE
Quantity surveying profession is significantly important for any building or civil engineering contracts.
It is comparatively new profession for Sri Lankan construction industry, comparing with the other
professions like Architecture, and Engineering. According to RICS definition, a quantity surveyor
need to ensure that resource of the construction industry are utilized to the best advantages of society
by providing financial management, for project and cost consultancy to the client and during the whole
construction process.
I, as a juvenile in the field of Quantity Surveying, have a long way to pass through to reach or at
least see the sierra of it. After spending eight months of training as a trainee, the things I witnessed,
extorted and decided are explained in this report within certain limitations. But as far as Quantity
Surveying is concerned, it will certainly convince the reader about how much the ideal theories had
diverged from the practical situations or what we call the 'real thing'.
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With no doubt I can say that the so called ‘training’ is not something that we gain or
accomplish on our own. As a trainee Quantity Surveyor, rudiments like teamwork and good
communication skills helped my self to extract knowledge and experience from the industry as much
as possible because of the inestimable assistance, which I had from a number of people.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Head of the Department Dr.
R. Rameezdeen, former Head of the Department Arch. Lalith De Silva, the Training Coordinator Mrs.
Anuradha S. Waidyasekara for making our industrial training, a reality.
And I like to deserve my sincere gratitude, to Mrs. Kanchana Perera for priceless
knowledge given to me during Measurement lectures & Mr. Lalantha Amarasekara and Mrs. Anuradha
S. Waidyasekara for invaluable knowledge & guidance given me under Price Analysis subject, which
leads to establish a better estimator out of me, within the training session. I am also very grateful to all
other academic staff of the Department of Building Economics for endless support & encouragement,
given to achieve the paramount success at the industrial training.
I must also convey my earnest appreciation to the Senior Industrial Training Engineer Mr.
N. A. Wijewickrama & Mr. S. Mohanachandra who visited work sites to evaluate me and the staff of
the Special Industrial Training Division of the NAITA, since they were the people who facilitated and
monitored the whole training program with the collaboration of the Department of Building
Economics, University of Moratuwa.
I must also thank the Contracts Manager, Mr. Lalantha Amarasekara, Chief Engineer Mr.
R. Fernando, QS Miss. C. Wijekoon, Mr. R. Thilakanga, Mr. S. Ranatunga and all other officials
working at the QS Division of International Construction Consortium Ltd, for providing me the
opportunity to gain experience in most of the Contractors Quantity Surveying work.
Also my grateful acknowledgement is made to Deputy General Manager Consultancy Mr.
M.W.J.L. De Silva, QS Mr. Thilak Kolonne, Mrs. M. Jayasinghe, Mrs. U. Salagalaarachchi, Mr.
S.G.N. Rex, Mrs. A. Gajanayake and to all other staff of the State Engineering Corporation, for
supporting me in order to reach the goal of success during the second session of my training under
consulting organization. The final tribute and appreciation are reserved for my family members, my
colleagues and my senior students for the help they gave me in the preparation of this document.
Balasuriya K.S.
December 2007.
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE................................................................................................................................................................................................... I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT........................................................................................................................................................................ II
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................................................................ III
LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................................................................................... V
TABLE OF FIGURES............................................................................................................................................................................. VI
ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................................................................................ VII
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER 1
1. THE CONTRACTING ORGANISATION..........................................................................................................................................2
1.1. THE ORGANIZATION................................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE ICC ORGANIZATION...................................................................................................4
1.3 ICC QS DIVISION............................................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOLDEN KEY EYE HOSPITAL PROJECT.......................................................................................5
2. EXPERIENCE GAINED AND OBSERVATION MADE...................................................................................................................6
2.1 EXPERIENCE GAINED.....................................................................................................................................................6
2.1.2 SELECTION OF SUB CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS.....................................................................................................8
2.1.3 PROJECT PLANNING............................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.1.4 SITE ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES...............................................................................................................................9
2.1.5 PREPARATION OF INTERIM VALUATIONS.......................................................................................................................10
2.1.6 SUB CONTRACTORS PAYMENTS.......................................................................................................................................11`
2.1.7 VARIATIONS AND EXTRA-WORKS......................................................................................................................................12
2.1.8 PREPARATION OF CLAIMS.................................................................................................................................................13
2.1.9 PROGRESS MONITORING AND COST CONTROL.............................................................................................................14
2.1.10 WORK STUDIES.................................................................................................................................................................. 15
2.1.11 DOCUMENTATION & RECORD KEEPING.......................................................................................................................16
2.1.12 USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS..........................................................................................................................16
2.1.13 GOOD DISCIPLINE AND PUNCTUALITY.........................................................................................................................17
2.2 OBSERVATIONS MADE..............................................................................................................................................................17
2.2.1 INCOMPLETENESS OF THE DRAWINGS...........................................................................................................................17
2.2.2 ACCURACY IN ESTIMATING AND TENDERING................................................................................................................18
2.2.3 QUALITY ASSURANCE......................................................................................................................................................... 18
2.2.4 AVAILABILITY OF COMPUTER FACILITIES......................................................................................................................18
2.2.5 COMPETITIVENESS AT TENDERING.................................................................................................................................18
2.2.6 DEALING WITH SUBCONTRACTORS.................................................................................................................................18
2.2.7 QUALITY STANDARDS......................................................................................................................................................... 19
3. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS TAKEN........................................................................................19
3.1 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN PREPARATION OF RATES................................................................................................19
3.2 UNFAMILIARITY WITH CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS....................................................................20
3.3 DEALING WITH DOMESTIC SUBCONTRACTORS................................................................................................................20
3.4 UNFAMILIARITY WITH NEW COMPUTER APPLICATIONS.................................................................................................20
3.5 DIFFICULTIES IN SITE DOCUMENTATION & RECORD KEEPING...................................................................................21
3.6 HIGH WORK LOAD ATTACHED.............................................................................................................................................21
3.7 DIFFICULTIES IN DAY WORK RECORDING PROCESS.......................................................................................................21
3.8 WORKING FOR LONG HOURS...............................................................................................................................................21
4. STEPS TAKEN TO OBTAIN BETTER EXPERIENCE..................................................................................................................22
5. ASSESSMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION.....................................................................................................................................23
5.1 STRENGTHS................................................................................................................................................................................. 23
5.1.1 ISO 9001:2000 ACCREDITATION.........................................................................................................................................23
5.1.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION...................................................................................................23
5.1.3 MODERN WORKING ENVIRONMENT................................................................................................................................23
5.1.4 BETTER COMMUNICATION & COORDINATION..............................................................................................................23
5.1.5 THE QUALIFIED STAFF...................................................................................................................................................... 24
5.1.6 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT..................................................................................................................................24
5.2 WEAKNESSES.................................................................................................................................................................................. 24
5.2.1 INADEQUATE COMPUTER FACILITIES.............................................................................................................................24
5.2.2 INSUFFICIENT STAFF CAPACITY IN QS DIVISION..........................................................................................................24
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE iii
5.2.3 DEFICIENCY IN ACCURACY DUE TO HIGH WORK LOAD..............................................................................................25

5.2.4 FACILITIES ALLOCATED FOR ONGOING SITES..............................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 2
6. THE CONSULTING ORGANIZATION...........................................................................................................................................27
6.1 STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION OF SRI LANKA........................................................................................................27
6.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE SEC ORGANIZATION.................................................................................................28
6.3 CONSULTANCY DIVISION............................................................................................................................................................29
6.4 SEC QUANTITY SURVEYING DIVISION.....................................................................................................................................29
7. EXPERIENCE GAINED & OBSERVATIONS MADE....................................................................................................................30
7.1 EXPERIENCE GAINED....................................................................................................................................................................30
7.1.1 PRELIMINARY ESTIMATING...............................................................................................................................................30
7.1.2 PREPARATION OF PRELIMINARY PROJECT ESTIMATES...............................................................................................32
7.1.3. PREPARATION OF BILL OF QUANTITIES.........................................................................................................................33
7.1.4. SPECIFICATION WRITING.................................................................................................................................................34
7.1.5. TENDER DOCUMENTATION..............................................................................................................................................35
7.1.6. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE...............................................................................................................35
7.1.7. TENDER EVALUATION....................................................................................................................................................... 38
7.1.8 PREPARATION OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS..................................................................................................................40
7.1.9 INTERIM VALUATION.......................................................................................................................................................... 40
7.1.10 PROCESSING OF VARIATIONS & EXTRA WORK.............................................................................................................42
7.1.11 ADJUDICATION & ARBITRATION....................................................................................................................................43
7.2 OBSERVATIONS MADE..............................................................................................................................................................43
7.2.1 LACK OF A CHIEF QUANTITY SURVEYOR........................................................................................................................43
7.2.2 PRICE LISTS ARE NOT CURRENTLY UPDATED................................................................................................................44
7.2.3 INADEQUATE USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS..................................................................................................44
7.2.4 INCOMPLETENESS OF THE DRAWINGS...........................................................................................................................44
7.2.5 ABSENCE OF STAFF MEMBERS.........................................................................................................................................45
8. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS TAKEN........................................................................................45
8.1 FREQUENT CHANGES IN DRAWINGS..................................................................................................................................45
8.2 UNFAMILIARITY WITH SLS573..............................................................................................................................................45
8.3 NON-FAMILIARIZATION WITH THE DIRECT BILLING METHOD..................................................................................45
8.4 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN CHECKING VARIATIONS AND EXTRA WORK RATE BREAKDOWNS...........................46
8.5 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN TAKING OFF PLUMBING DRAWINGS............................................................................46
8.6 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN TENDER EVALUATION PROCESS...................................................................................47
8.7 UNFAMILIARITY WITH COST DATA......................................................................................................................................47
8.8 INADEQUATE USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS.....................................................................................................47
8.9 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN CHECKING PRICE FLUCTUATION CLAIMS..................................................................48
8.10 TIME CONSTRAINTS............................................................................................................................................................. 48
9. STEPS TAKEN TO OBTAIN BETTER EXPERIENCE..................................................................................................................48
10. ASSESSMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION...................................................................................................................................49
10.1 STRENGTHS............................................................................................................................................................................... 49
10.1.1 MANAGERIAL STRUCTURE...............................................................................................................................................49
10.1.2 QUALITY OF WORK........................................................................................................................................................... 49
10.1.3 THE QUALIFIED & EXPERIENCED STAFF.....................................................................................................................50
10.1.4 WORKING ENVIRONMENT................................................................................................................................................50
10.1.5 ABILITY IN HANDLING LARGE WORK LOAD..................................................................................................................50
10.2 WEAKNESSES................................................................................................................................................................................ 51
10.2.1 LACK OF A CHIEF QUANTITY SURVEYOR......................................................................................................................51
10.2.2 LESS AWARENESS TO COMPUTER BASED APPLICATIONS..........................................................................................51
10.2.3 INCOMPLETENESS IN DRAWINGS...................................................................................................................................51
10.2.4 LESS CONCENTRATION FROM OTHER DIVISIONS........................................................................................................51
CHAPTER 3
11. SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING............................................................52
11.1 ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY THE TRAINEES........................................................................................................................52
11.2 ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN BY THE AUTHORITIES................................................................................................................52
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................................................................................................... 53
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................................................................... 54
ANNEXES................................................................................................................................................................................................ 55
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE iv

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 1 : ICTAD GRADES OF ICC LTD....................................................................................................................................2
TABLE 2 : GOLDEN YEARS OF ICCS EXCELLENCE......................................................................................................................3
TABLE 3 : AWARDS ACHIEVED BY ICC LTD..............................................................................................................................3
TABLE 4 : GOLDEN KEY EYE HOSPITAL PROJECT DETAILS.......................................................................................................5
Table 5 : Authority of Procurement Committees.....................................................................................................................36
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE v

TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1: MAIN DIVISIONS OF ICC LTD...................................................................................................................................2
FIGURE 2: MAIN DIVISIONS OF STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION......................................................................................28
Figure 3: Coordination of the QS Division of SEC with other work sections.........................................................................30
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE vi

ABBREVIATIONS
AQS - Assistant Quantity Surveyor

BOI - Board of Investment
BOQ - Bills of Quantities
BSR - Building Schedule of Rates
CQS - Chief Quantity Surveyor
DGMCY - Deputy General Manager Consultancy
GOSL - Government of Sri Lanka
ICC - International Construction Consortium
ICTAD - Institute of Construction Training and Development
IFAWPCA -International Federation of Asian & Western Pacific Contractors Association
NCT - National Certificate in Training
NDT - National Diploma in Training
NPA - National Procurement Agency
PC - Procurement Committee
PPE - Preliminary Project Estimate
PQS - Project Quantity Surveyor
QS - Quantity Surveyor
SAQS - Senior Assistant Quantity Surveyor
SBD - Standard Bidding Document
SEC - State Engineering Corporation
SLS - Sri Lankan Standards
SMM - Standard Method of Measurement
SQS - Senior Quantity Surveyor
TEC - Technical Evaluation Committee
TO - Technical Officer
TRW - Tender Response Workbench
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE vii

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT
INTRODUCTION
T he professional called Quantity Surveyor has key roles to play with the usage of his knowledge
in construction technology, economical aspects and legal aspects in the contemporary
construction industry, within the constraints of time, cost and quality rather than acquiring the
traditional Quantity Surveying competencies. The industry has now realized the value of the Quantity
Surveyors and hence job diversification for the Quantity Surveying profession has been evolved. As
one of the results of that, nowadays most of the client organizations appoint Quantity surveyors on
their safeguard.
Practical training is paramount importance, while gaining the theoretical knowledge, to be

a qualified professional in any kind of field. This will greatly assist to produce professionals, who are
not only equipped with the technical knowledge within the industry but also who are ready to execute
all managerial and procedural aspects of quantity surveying. We were able to enjoy the period of 32
weeks of training in both consultancy and contracting organizations for the first time as a result of
great emphasis placed on getting practical skills and experience.
With the intention of satisfying the demand in the profession of Quantity Surveying within
the Sri Lankan construction industry, a four-year Bachelor of Science degree course was established at
the Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa in 1986. This degree course was
continuously shaping and restructuring in order to meet the recently changing demand in the industry
and finally to suit the international standards & quality levels.
This document basically emphasizes my experiences through the works I was entrusted
and through my own observations. In this report, I have introduced the two establishments for which I
was attached for my training, and also I have elaborated the experience gained, observations made
while executing the works assigned, problems encountered and the remedial actions taken, steps taken
by me to obtain a better experience, and assessment on the organization in relation to the two
establishments within two separated chapters. Then I have proposed some constructive comments on
the trainees’ exposure to the industry, under suggestions to improve the training. And it is my
satisfaction if this report is of importance to any reader.
*********
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE 1

CHAPTER 1
PHASE I
INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM LTD

NO. 70, S.D.S. JAYASINGHE MAWATHA,
KOHUWALA.
THE CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION

INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM LTD INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT
1. THE CONTRACTING ORGANISATION

1.1. THE ORGANIZATION
International Construction Consortium Ltd was established in 1980 under the mother
company FINCO Group and since then the company has become one of the largest and most respected
Building and Civil Engineering contracting organizations in the country. The last decade and a half has
been a period of rapid expansion and sustained growth for ICC. ICC today is functioning under seven
main divisions.
Infrastructure Water Supply and
Development Sanitation
Division Division
Project Supportive
Development Services
Division Division
Housing
Piling Development
Division Division.
Road Building
Construction Construction
Division. Division
Figure 1: Main Divisions of ICC Ltd
Although its beginnings were to undertake the construction of building projects such as
housing schemes, shop & office complexes and factory buildings etc. ICC expanded and diversified to
undertake the construction of large infrastructure projects in the field of Water Supply & Drainage,
Highways & Bridges, Diesel & Hydro Power Plants, and Irrigation Structures etc. Following ICTAD
grades were achieved by the ICC for it’s performance in the construction industry
Buildings Highways Bridge Water Supply & Irrigation & Land Dredging &
Drainage Drainage Reclamation
M-1 M-1 M-1 M-1 M-5 M-5
Table 1 : ICTAD Grades of ICC Ltd
The Multi Sector Capability of the company had been further enhanced by number of fully
developed supports services that were established such as the Ready Mixed Concrete Plant, Precast
Concrete Yard Quarry & Crusher operations, Carpentry and Steel Fabrication Yard and an Asphalt
Concrete Production unit. The following are the golden years of ICCs excellence.
1983 Stepped in to water supply

1992 Established the Ready mixed plant at Bokundara
1994 Established the Precast yard at Madapatha
1996 Established the Asphalt plant at Madapatha
1996 Established the Metal quarry & the Crusher at Oluboduwa, Horana
2000 1st joint venture CD Piling Ltd at Jayawardenapura
2001 1st subsidiary Nivasi Developers (Pvt.) Ltd. At Ekala
2004 Established the Metal quarry & the Crusher at Tudugala &
Mahiyangana
2005 2nd subsidiary Durra
Table 2 : Golden years of ICCs excellence.
ICC’s commitment to excellence in construction has been well recognized both locally &
internationally with the number of Awards achieved as follows.
1992 Construction Merit Award
1994 ICTAD Award for construction Excellence
1997 Construction merit award
2002 FAWPCA Gold medal for ‘Excellence in Civil Engineering
Construction’
2002 ICTAD Award for construction Excellence
2006 National Business Excellency Award
Table 3 : Awards achieved by ICC Ltd
 Vision of the Organization

“Commit to provide a quality service at an affordable price and on time”
 Aims & Objectives of the Organization
 To grow from strength to strength
 To satisfy client requirements
 To innovate for continuous improvement
 To optimize financial performance
 To improve the quality of life of our people
With the ISO 9001: 2000 Accreditation in the year 2003, ICC Quality Management
systems had been further fine tuned and today, ICC has become the hallmark for quality in
construction.
1.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE ICC ORGANIZATION

Management Structure of ICC denotes matrix structure. It has a well detailed
organizational hierarchy which defines the duties & responsibilities of each & every employees in the
organization by clearly defined functional divisions which responsible for different nature of work.
Today it is believed such an organization design like this is more suitable to provide the achievements
of company objectives and implementation of strategies. In dealing with the organizational structure
adopted all the professionals required for the Head office and projects had been appointed on contract
basis except some professionals who provide their services permanently for the ICC.
As ICC is a sub company of the FINCO Group, the chairman of the group becomes the
chairman of the ICC. Therefore the vice chairman of ICC is the strategic director of the company. But
the role of the main decision maker is performed by the Chief Executive Officer. With the direction of
the vice chairman he leads all the operations of the company.
The board of directors are the implementers of the decisions. They are responsible for all
the operations of their divisions. All the projects are grouped in to five functional units, which are
headed by five Directors called Director Design and estimate, Director roads and Bridges, Director
Financial & Administration, Director P & E. and General manager Constructions.
The role of the Divisional Coordinator comes in to play after the director. He is the
strategic personnel who should see whether the instructions given by the top management implements
properly. The Site Managers carry on the construction work based on the directions given by the
Divisional Coordinator, with the contribution of fully qualified professional site staff.
(For organization structure of ICC Ltd., refer Annex –I)
1.3 ICC QS DIVISION

There were six of trainees who had been attached to ICC for the first phase of our
industrial training and all of my colleagues were appointed for training at various construction projects
of ICC, which are scattered all over the island and I was asked to be trained at the Golden Key Eye
Hospital site for my first two months of training. And after two months of time I was lucky to be
trained at the ICC QS division for period of two months. The QS division of ICC is operates by the
contracts manager & the chief engineer under the directions given by Executive Director of Design &
Estimates. Within my training period at QS division there were eleven QSs & two trainee QSs which
were assigned for pre contract management, post contract management, claims management & for
subcontractors work. ICC head office, through which the all other projects are facilitated and
monitored thereby giving me the opportunity to have the exposure to a numerous and diverse set of
tasks which would be described in latter pages of this report.
(For organization structure of ICC QS Division, refer Annex –II)
1.4 INTRODUCTION TO THE GOLDEN KEY EYE HOSPITAL PROJECT
The Golden Key Eye Hospital building is 10 storied building with 5100m 2 of gross floor
area. This project is a BOI approved project. It is invested by the Golden Key Eye Hospital Ltd. The
building consists of channeling rooms, wards, pharmacy, rest rooms, OPD, operation theatres, lunch
rooms, administration division…etc. Car parking space provided externally at level 1&2. A generator

room, manifold room, water treatment plant, water sump…etc were to be constructed as external
works. There are services installation works such as lifts, liquid chillers, air handling unit, fire fighting
system, modular theatres, CCTV system, public address system, data cabling system, nurse call
system…etc. All walls are constructed using hollow block walls except operation theatre walls.
(For organization structure of Golden Key project site , refer Annex –III)
Employer : Golden Key Eye Hospital Ltd, No. 2A, R.A. De Mel Mawatha, Colombo 04
Consultants : Structural – STEMS Consultants
: Electrical – NJ Consultants
: Water Supply – Associated environment consultant & sewerage (Pvt.) Ltd
: Fire Protection System – Mr. Malcom Perera
Quantity Surveyor : Cost Consultancy Service (Pvt.) Ltd
Contractor : International Construction Consortium Ltd, No. 70, S.D.S.
Jayasinghe Mawatha, Kohuwala.
Engineer : Rukshan Widyalankara (Pvt.) Ltd, No. 461, Thimbirigasyaya road,
Colombo 05.
Contract Sum : Rs. 431,441,468.00 (Excluding VAT )
Duration : 365 days
Date of Commence : 2006 January 27
Date of : 2007 June 08 ( The planned project hand over date is January 27 & it was
Completion extended up to June 08 due to ongoing variations & extra works.
Type of Contract : Measure & Pay
Conditions of : FIDIC (4th Edition of 1987)
Contract
Performance : Five percent (5%) of the Contract sum
Security
Retention : Five percent (5%) of the Contract sum
Table 4 : Golden Key Eye Hospital project details

2. EXPERIENCE GAINED AND OBSERVATION MADE

2.1 EXPERIENCE GAINED
2.1.1 ESTIMATING & TENDERING
 Studying Tender documents and Project’s information
Careful study of tender documents are important to achieve a successfully responsive bid
at a timely manner. Therefore it gave me the opportunity to read and understand the documents such as
instructions to bidders, contract data, particular conditions of contract, particular specifications and
drawings. Within my training period at ICC I was involved in tendering for following projects.
 Proposed water supply project at Arugambay.
 Proposed building for General Hospital at Badulla.
 Proposed swimming pool for Technical Training Institute at Beliatta.
 Preparation of Bills of Quantities

During my training at ICC QS division there were some ICC owned ongoing projects. For
those projects design & building works are performed by the ICC. I prepared the BOQs for following
ICC owned projects.
 Proposed Gym & Squash court building for Digana Housing complex.
 Proposed multi storied building for Isipathana Apartment project.
While doing the taking off work I was required to make close relationships with the project
architect & the project engineer. Because the design was not finalized & I had to work in coordination
with the architect to identify the recent changes done to the drawings.
 Compiling Cost Information

Using updated source of cost data is the key to achieve a realistic and a competitive
estimate. Hence compiling of cost information is imperative to any construction related organization as
all the inputs for constructions are subjected to inflation & all other economic matters. At ICC all the
cost data bases were developed in a software called TRW which is described in a latter page of this
report. Recent prices were updated to the price list in the TRW software time to time & it will lead to
achieve realistic BOQ rates.
 Analysis of Rates
During my training at ICC head office at last 2 months of my training under contractor’s
organization, I was appointed to prepare rate breakdowns for the Polonnaruwa Water Supply project.
The rates were already submitted with the bidding document & at that moment consultancy firm was
asked for rate breakdowns for submitted rates. It was a difficult task because I’m not familiar with the
BOQ items in this water supply project. I was confused when identifying relevant labour usage for
each rate. Since this work was carried out by the involvement of Excel features, the lessons I had
during the second year lectures was very cooperative to me to work without any trepidation. I took the
guidance from the QS to carry out my work accurately.
 Familiarized with Contractor’s Bidding Strategies

I could also familiarize with such bidding strategies which were unique to the ICC. In
order to be the successful bidder contractor have to submit a competitive bid. The contractor has
clearly to take up his own bidding strategies and those strategies should be quite successful against
consultant’s evaluation criteria.
 Participation in Tender Openings

During my training period I was appointed to submit the bidding document for the
proposed swimming pool construction project at Beliatte technical training college. After closing time
of the tenders, the tender opening was took place at the same place. The consultancy organization of
the project was the State Engineering Corporation. The contract was based on the Design & Build
contracts. At first they have recorded the validity of the bid bonds submitted by the contractors.
Consultants perform their all tasks according to a pre determined working order. The financial bids
were opened at a latter date. According to the procurement procedure, five contractors were
disqualified & their financial bids were return unopened. ICC was the second lowest & Sierra was the
contractor with the lowest bid. It was a valuable opportunity to participate in that meeting, because it
was a new experience to me & it gave me better knowledge on tender action.
 Involvement in Civil Engineering projects

During my training session at ICC my first task was to prepare rate breakdowns for the
Polonnaruwa Water Supply project. And also later I was ordered to take off quantities in culvert &
bridge crossings in Arugambay Water Supply project. The given drawings were different from normal
building construction drawings. The BOQs for above two projects were prepared in a different format.
At the beginning it was difficult me to understand them, because I had never seen that type of
drawings or BOQ before work which was carried out for pricing the BOQ and pricing risk is high due
to the high requirement of temporary works and very large scope of work. Another characteristic of
civil engineering projects is fewer details are provided at the time of preparation of tender document.
Therefore I was requested to take off quantities & meanwhile composite rates for the each work, such
as culvert crossings, were prepared by the QS.
2.1.2 SELECTION OF SUB CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS

 Involvement in calling quotations
Prior to call quotations from the potential sub-contractors, the quantity & quality of work
that will be assigned upon the selection of the sub-contractor is to be decided first and then the
potential sub-contractors are listed for that part of work from whom the priced quotations will be
called upon followed by the pre-qualification test. Within the period of my training at ICC I was able
to evaluate quotations received from sub contractors for installation of hand rails, GI pipe works &
ancillaries, waterproofing work for toilets & balconies, anti termite treatment work…etc.
 Negotiation and selections

After receiving the priced quotations, they are evaluated in order to select the most
appropriate and the profitable sub-contractor. Negotiations can be made when the rates quoted by the
sub-contractor are unrealistic or not acceptable and after that the most profitable sub-contractor is
selected. I could directly involve in this process of negotiation and selection of a specialized sub
contractor for supply & installation of stainless steel hand rail for General Hospital at Badulla. And
negotiations were made with the subcontractor on several unrealistic prices & non priced items.
 Preparation of sub-contract agreements

After the selection of a particular sub-contractor to perform the subcontract work
practically at site, an agreement has to be signed by the both parties, which secures the obligation of
the two parties towards the contract. At ICC specialized subcontract agreements are prepared by the
design & estimate division. Subcontractor can initiate his practical work at site after receiving the
Letter of Acceptance from the main contractor. I have referred those agreements cautiously & gained
valuable knowledge.
2.1.3 PROJECT PLANNING

 Preparation of construction Programs & method statements
The construction program is used to establish the sequence of the operations. Using a
construction program can predict the required time period where additional invest is necessary at
various stages of construction & also helpful to prepare the cash flow forecast. The construction
program & method statements relevant for the each bidding projects have to be submitted with the
bidding documents.
I was given the task of preparing the cash flow forecast for Linear Acceleration at Cancer
Hospital, Maharagama. At the same time I was able to learn about master programs. Which was
prepared using the software application called, Microsoft Project, a quite easy and an accurate mode of

preparing construction plans. At ICC all the project planning works were performed by the planning
engineer. Method statements also form a part of Project Planning as they define the work tasks and
specify the choice of technology. Therefore to gain knowledge in preparing method statements I read
the method statement for the construction of elevated water towers for Polonnaruwa Water Supply
project.
 Preparation of Cash flows.

A good Project plan is the basis to develop the budget for that project and the Cash Flow is
the basis for arranging finance for the implementation of the project. When the construction work of
the project proceeds, it is important to identify whether contractor’s cash flow is in positive side or
negative side. And also we can forecast the contractor’s cash flow statement before commencing the
project using construction master program.
Within the period of my training at ICC I was able to prepare a cash flow forecast for
Linear Acceleration at Cancer Hospital, Maharagama. Before performing my task QS gave me good
explanation on value, income & cost curves which lead to result a “S’ curve. I was allocated the task of
preparing cash flows and can be successfully gained the experience to overcome problems. Probably
the most common example of project delay is that caused by weather. The statement of cash flows
presents the sources and uses of the cash by classifying each type of cash inflow and cash outflow
according to the nature of the type of activities. I got the great opportunity to get myself involved in
gaining knowledge of cash flow forecasting and following the SBD clauses mentioned on retention,
advance payment, advance recovery…etc.
2.1.4 SITE ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES

 Familiarized with Site Layouts and Management
Within my training period I was attached to Golden Key Eye Hospital site for period of
two months. So I was able to be familiarized with the site layout & management carried out by the
project manager. At Golden Key site management was in a high level due to the dedication &
punctuality of the project manager. The site layout was changed according to the construction master
program. When construction works are required to perform at each locations site office & main at
stores were transferred to other locations. And at once due to drain construction it was required to
move the toilets to other location, then that part of drain was ordered to construct at last. Due to better
site layout there were no site congestion occurred when unloading goods to the stores which is a daily
activity.

 Studied Working Drawings and Technical Schedules

Throughout the training period in this company I had the exposure to refer the working
drawings and technical schedules of main building construction, generator room construction,
manifold room construction, external drainage works…etc. Its important to have a better picture in
mind when measuring work done to evaluate monthly progress.
 Familiarized with Construction Techniques and Quality Control

As far as the construction techniques are concerned I could experience the,
 Liquid chiller air conditioning installation work
 Operation theatre construction
 Generator room construction
 Fire fighting system installation
 Water treatment plant construction
 Steel framed building construction
 Types of storm water drains & manhole construction…etc
The site quality control process was carried out by the technical officers & once a month
5S officer is visiting the site & ensures whether the quality procedures used at site were follows the 5S
concepts. And the quality of the site documents were checked by a ISO officer once a month. It was
great opportunity to engage in working with various construction professionals at Golden Key site & it
leads to gain priceless knowledge & experience on modern construction techniques.
2.1.5 PREPARATION OF INTERIM VALUATIONS.

 On Site Measurements
I was ordered to take on site measurements of the construction progress & prepare
measurement sheets for external works, Manifold room & Generator room which are treated as extra
works, storm water drains & manholes, sewer man holes…etc. other than that in the first week of each
month I have measured & noted the progress of all ongoing works for interim bill preparation such as
door & window fixing work, block work, plastering work, painting work, water proofing work, tiling
work, partitioning work, ceiling work…etc. Several measurements are jointly taken with the consultant
QS to avoid recurrence of the same procedure in taking measurements thus minimizing the time taken
by the consultant to check and certify the Interim Valuation.
 Preparation of Interim Bills

The main function of a site QS is to prepare the interim valuation bills including
measurements. I was involved in the preparation of monthly interim bills on the first week of an every
month with the site QS. I was involved in preparation of the 12th interim bill, and until to the 14th
interim bill. With the actual work done quantity in the preparation of the interim valuation is carried
out including all the other extra works and variations on a cumulative basis.
During my training session several responsibilities of the site QS was given to me. As a
trainee it was a great opportunity to hold those responsibilities. The Golden Key project was a complex
nature one, but I was able to perform them up to the maximum satisfaction of the QS. The total day
work recording process was carried out by myself & for interim bills I have modified the day work bill
& attached all the approved day work sheets to the interim bill. Within the first week of the each
month I have collected all the necessary details to identify construction progress & work done for the
period. At the beginning it was a difficult & confusing task but with the help of the QS later I was able
to familiarize with the routing bill preparation process.
 Preparation of Price Fluctuation Claims

If the contract price is subjected to adjustments due to fluctuation of prices, rise or fall in
the cost of labour, materials, plant & other inputs shall be added or deducted from the payment to the
contractor. As a contractor’s QS, working with price adjustments is a very essential and frequent work.
The Golden Key Eye Hospital was a fixed price contract & contract price was not subjected for the
price fluctuations. But during my training session at ICC head office I have re-prepared the price
escalation adjustment for a given month for proposed training centre for Migrant workers at
Mathugama with the guidance & help of the QS. Monthly indices were obtained from the ICTAD
bulletin. While preparing the adjustment I have referred ICTAD publication related to the price
adjustment calculation & was able to gain valuable knowledge on ICTAD formula method.
 Assessment of Materials at site

At Golden Key site in the first week of each month I was required to prepare material
reconciliation reports. While collecting information relevant for that I have to separately identify the
quantities of mentioned materials in interim bill to calculate 80% of materials at site value. I have
obtained those quantities from material BIN cards by identifying total received qty & the available qty
at site. Golden Key project was a BOI approved project. Most of the expensive materials were supplied
by the client, such as cement, doors & windows, tiles…etc. Those items were not considered in
materials at site calculations for interim bills.

2.1.6 SUB CONTRACTORS PAYMENTS

 Checking with Sub Contractor’s Measurements
During construction work going at site the main contractor have to be involved in checking
all the measurements submitted by the Domestic, Specialized & Nominated subcontractors & the
actual work done for the given month of them. It was a difficult task to take site measurements for the
domestic, specialized & nominated subcontractors monthly work done. Because there were more than
30 domestic subcontractors, I have to take site measurements for work done of the domestic
subcontractors twice a month & for work done of the specialized & nominated subcontractors once a
month. Joint measurements were taken by AQS & I for the specialized & nominated subcontractors
work done with their QSs. When they submitted their measurement sheets I checked them with the
joint measurements which took in a earlier date. I have scrutinized nominated & specialized
subcontractors measurements for cladding work, mineral fibre ceiling work, granite work at staircases,
staircase hand rails, partition wall erection work…etc.
 Certifying Sub Contractor’s Payments

At Golden Key site for domestic subcontracts basically for labour contracts, payments are
made on twice a month based on the site measurements taken from myself. Payment is made as a
advance payment & a bill payment at the end of the month by the ICC head office. For specialized
Subcontracts, monthly bill is prepared by the subcontractor according to the joint measurements & I
have to check & certify them for due payment from ICC head office. For nominated subcontracts
contractor is bound by the conditions of contract to check the monthly valuation bill & submit the
certified bill to the engineer for the further approval. Then payment was made by the client. During my
training session at Golden Key site I was involved in certifying all the 3 types of above mentioned
subcontractors payments.
During my training session at ICC head office I was involved in preparing domestic sub
contract payment sheets for various ongoing projects. There were over hundreds of sub contractors
executing works at sites. The bills were settled on measure and pay basis as well as on day work basis.
My task was to enter the subcontractors monthly work done details to the specially made MS-DOS
program. Then it automatically calculates the amount due to the domestic subcontractor.
2.1.7 VARIATIONS AND EXTRA-WORKS

 Preparation of Rates (Rate Analysis)
I have practiced in preparing rates for some variations and extra works at Golden Key site.
My first rate analysis task was to prepare a composite rate for the requirement of labour, material,
plant and tools for the construction of roof for manifold room which is treated as a variation. For this
sound knowledge of construction techniques is essential. At the beginning this was little difficult to me
because of the lack of knowledge about construction and material market prices. But I was able to
perform my task by obtaining labour norms from the QS & material prices by calling to several
suppliers.
 Usage of Day Work Schedules
Day works are applied for work of a minor or incidental nature. In case of a variation or an
extra-work when the work is minor in nature and if it cannot be measured, day work Schedules are
used for that work to be paid as Day-works. Day works are priced based on the rates given under
contract document. Within my two months training session at Golden Key site I was given the total
responsibility by the QS to identify, record & prepare day work schedules for the day works which
currently occur at site. For that purpose I had to make close communications with the technical
officers. Because they are the persons who are actually performing the work from the labours. At the
early stage I have collected details for all the day works performed from the TOs. But they had
remembered to inform me before performing the day work. Therefore I was able to make several
photographs in walls which going to be demolished in some occasions. I have entered all the labour,
machinery & materials involved for the day work in separate day work sheets for each day work &
submitted them to the engineer for approval.
2.1.8 PREPARATION OF CLAIMS

According to the conditions of contract, SBD-02, contractor is eligible to receive any
additional payment under the clauses specifies in the contract. A claim could be simply explained as a
request for any additional payment with interpretation of contractual conditions while reviewing
contractual correspondence & formulation of the required payment including cost estimating. So
before preparing a claim document, it is important to collect all supporting documents & records which
relevant for the claim.
During my training session Golden Key Eye Hospital site as the contractor’s organization I
got a valuable opportunity learn about an ongoing claim which was prepared by the site QS based on
reimbursement of costs incurred to the contractor with respect to the following.
1. Additional cost incurred by the contractor for the imported materials due to the depreciation
of the Sri Lankan rupee against the foreign currencies.
The background of this claim was based on a clause in Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU). The base rate of the US Dollar equivalent on 28 days prior to closing of the
tender was increased at the present circumstance. According to MOU entered between
the employer & the ICC Ltd, requests to include additional costs incurred by the

contractor on the imported materials due to the fluctuation of the Sri Lankan rupee
against the US Dollar in the valuations to be submitted in the future.
2. Additional cost incurred by the contractor due to the EDB CESS imposed by the government
on certain imported materials subsequent to the award of the tender.
The background of this claim was based on a letter which specifies a request for
payment due to VAT & CESS playable at the time of clearing the cargo of solid doors
imported for the project. At the time of submission of the tender CESS was not included
in tender offer. However due to a gazette notification published on a latter date CESS
amounting to 10% has been imposed on the importation of timber doors.
The site QS gave me good guidance to understand the background of the claim & the
contractual correspondence of it. I was able to gain valuable knowledge on BOI approved projects &
the taxes which imposed on the several imported materials at the goods declaration at Customs.
2.1.9 PROGRESS MONITORING AND COST CONTROL

 Preparation of Material Reconciliation statements
At Golden Key site, at the end of the each month QS has to submit a material
reconciliation on the previous month material usage to the ICC head office. Material reconciliation is
an important analysis which provides the details related to the balance materials quantities at site,
material wastage amount, actual material consumption…etc. The material reconciliation is prepared
for the principal materials at site, such as cement, sand, concrete, reinforcement, plywood, wall tile,
floor tile, blocks are accounted separately.
I was ordered by the QS to prepare material reconciliation for two months. It was prepared
on cumulative basis. So I have collected all the material records on received material quantities &
balance material quantities from “Material BIN Cards”. To perform my task storekeeper gave me a
good guidance & it was a good experience to me. Actual consumption was calculated by deducting
materials used for temporary works, material at site, material transfer quantities from the total supplied
quantity. Theoretical quantities are directly taken from the interim bill. If any considerable variation
happen the site QS need to submit the reasons for variation.
 Attending Site progress Meetings

Site progress meetings in Golden Key site were held on every Friday. And also every
Monday project progress meeting was held at ICC head office. Within my training session I was able
to participate in several site progress meetings with the QS. During that time Architect, Consultant

Quantity Surveyors, Divisional Coordinator and site engineer, if necessary, major sub contractors and
supplier’s representatives attend the meeting. In a meeting, all queries regarding the following would
be discussed:
 Progress
 Drawing, bills of quantities and specification
 Payments
 Contractual claims, day-works, variations, etc.
 Quality of main contractor’s work
 Quality of subcontractor’s work
 Any other queries or problems to maintain good working relationships between all
other parties involved in the contract.
 Material ordering
I was involved in material ordering works for the construction works going at site. Several
times I took off quantities to order materials, specially paint. When ordering paint wastage factor is
also considered. After I calculated the required quantity, QS checked it and ordered it from head
office. And at once I was appointed to calculate &order the required doors & windows for whole
building. It was difficult to count them from shop drawings because there were no recently updated
one, because at that moment modifications are always results. So I have to visit all 10 floors & count
the number of doors & windows required. Before doing a concreting work I was requisite to calculate
the required cement, sand & aggregate for the concrete mixture.
2.1.10 WORK STUDIES

 Productivity Studies
I was able to carry out productivity studies whenever I had the opportunity to observe the
construction activities especially for storm water drain construction, storm water & sewer manhole
construction, waterproofing work at roof terrace, balconies & toilets, heat insulation sheet installation
with the protective floor screed at roof terrace & plastering work to a beam which was difficult than
normal plastering work…etc. I have recorded all the observations related to my productivity studies in
the work study recording book.
 Establishment of Labour, Plant and Material Norms

Based on the above productivity studies I was able to set up norms for the resources which
are the labour, plant and material. Some of the productivity studies are carried out when QS requests
me to perform them. When there was a requirement to identify new rates for domestic subcontractors
work, were obtained from the work studies which I have performed. Then the new rates, which used to
prepare subcontractors monthly bills, were sent to the ICC head office with the bill sheets.
2.1.11 DOCUMENTATION & RECORD KEEPING

 Assist in Site Documentation & Record Keeping
Not only at the ICC head office but also in the Golden Key Eye Hospital Project site, the
‘5S’ method has been applied to achieve quality and productivity which leads to obtain company
goals. Therefore all the document and record had to be maintained in specified way. While staying in
the Golden Key site office the first task which was given by the QS to me was to assist in site record
keeping works with AQS. Every day I have to visit whole site & record the labour force of domestic,
specialized & nominated subcontractors. And also I have to display those labour force records in a
display board. During my first week of training it was a difficult task because I’m not familiar with the
subcontractors names. But later I was well known among them & able to make formal relationships
with them. It makes my work easier.
There were various record keeping books which need to be updated daily, weekly or
monthly manner. At the beginning it was a time consuming work because I’m not much familiar with
those documents. Later with the guidance of the AQS I was able to perform it expeditiously. The
Quality & the timely updating of the record keeping documents will be evaluated by the ISO officer
once a month. I was involved in record keeping & updating following documents
 Nominated & Specialized Subcontractors records
 Domestic Subcontractor’s records
 Daily work done record book
 Day work record book
 Machinery usage record book
 Weather record book
 Records of concrete usage
 Domestic Subcontractor’s payment summary book
 Rectification cost book
2.1.12 USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

The QS division of ICC is highly aware of new computer applications & softwares which
will easier the quantity surveying work performed at the organization. Basically manual taking off
works are not practiced & all the taking off works are performed using MS-Excel & Autocad
softwares. During my training at ICC head office I was required to take off & prepare BOQs for
several ICC owned projects. The measurements were taken from the Autocad drawings & I have

directly transferred them to the excel sheets. Not like manual method I was able to save large time
using this computer based method.
The domestic subcontractors bill preparation work was preformed at ICC QS division
using MS-Dos software based application. Per month it is required to prepare more than 2000
subcontractor bill sheets. If its done manually large time will be wasted.
During my training at ICC I gathered priceless knowledge on special software called
Tender Response Workbench (TRW). The TRW is an expert system developed for the construction
industry to enable companies to rapidly process complex BOQ documents and devise an accurate cost
estimate for tender responses. TRW is a computer based software which basically used for preparation
of material, plant & labour rates. There is a separate library which can be used to accumulate all the
resource norms for material, labour & plant. So it provides it’s service as a Building Schedule of Rates
(BSR).
In the standard BSR no provision is allocated for predicted difficulties in the project & no
locational adjustment for resource requirement of the project. Therefore ICC is using their own
material, Labour & plant resource norms which obtained from the work studies performed at ongoing
sites. Those resource norms were used in TRW software. The current material, labour & plant prices
are updated to the TRW prices library time to time. TRW makes use of exiting rate and material
libraries and can be integrated with MS Excel for tender capture and reporting. It’s a great advantage,
because in a later time we can easily identify the rate breakdown used for that specific rate when
pricing the tender.
(For overview of TRW software, refer Annex –V & VI)
2.1.13 GOOD DISCIPLINE AND PUNCTUALITY
As a Quantity Surveyor punctuality is a very important matter. The good discipline and
punctuality are the basic principles which supersede all the other, they are not practiced by a greater
part of people in this country irrespective of their position. Therefore I was providential enough to be
trained at ICC head office a place where the excellent discipline and punctuality were the foremost
issues.
2.2 OBSERVATIONS MADE

2.2.1 INCOMPLETENESS OF THE DRAWINGS
While I’m training at ICC head office Due to the incompleteness of some drawings given
by architects & structural engineers I have being confused in taking off. Because in some cases
architect provided incomplete & not finalized drawings to QS division. Due to the incompleteness of
the drawings QSs could be misled. It was observed that a considerable items & details could be absent

in the BOQs or quantity variation could be resulted due to the assumptions made by the QS in taking
off stage.
2.2.2 ACCURACY IN ESTIMATING AND TENDERING

At ICC The maintained accuracy level in estimating & tendering is appreciable. This is
primarily important because the desired ultimate results of carrying out a project lies to a great extent
with the accuracy in estimating. When tender results were established they were recorded in necessary
documents & I have seen that not like other bidders always the bids submitted by ICC were with
minimum of errors. It was another secret of success of the ICC.
2.2.3 QUALITY ASSURANCE

The significant effort taken to preserve the reputation for quality output is one important
thing that I observed in ICC. There were instances where they had decided to use more reliable, long
lasting, expensive construction materials instead of cheap ones available in the market, which serve the
same function. Especially when it comes for the pricing of sanitary appliances, pipe fittings…etc.
Using expensive materials profits will be minimized, but keeping up with the reputation by maintain
quality construction work can be much more appreciated.
2.2.4 AVAILABILITY OF COMPUTER FACILITIES

Most of the computers available at ICC QS division were running under lower resources
(processing speed & memory capacity) and frequently got malfunctioned by viruses. It cannot be
satisfied with the available computer facilities. Because there were very experienced persons in using
Excel with its maximum capability, but the given computers were stuck at all times & so management
can’t extract the maximum working capacity of the QSs. And the number of computers were not to the
current demand at the office. I also waited for hours to use a computer to perform my works.
2.2.5 COMPETITIVENESS AT TENDERING

ICC is with quarry, crusher, Precast concrete yard, ready mixed concrete supply unit…etc.
Therefore ICC has been able to gain advantages from low overheads through full utilization of
resources. Actually human resources of the QS division were fully utilized. There were only two QSs
involved in bidding for building projects & only two QSs were involved in bidding & handling post
contract works for large number of ongoing road projects. It leads to minimize the head office
overheads & to come up with competitive rates for the tendering purposes, which is a valuable
advantage to archive a lowest bid figure.

2.2.6 DEALING WITH SUBCONTRACTORS

The ICC company policy of dealing with subcontractors should be appreciated. While I
was trained at Golden Key site, I have experienced that very kind & friendly manner is used to deal
with the labourers of subcontractors. No threaten force is required to be adopt for labour handling.
Another important advantage is ICC always doing subcontractors bill payments on timely manner.
And also when a subcontractor asked for any additional amount as a advance payment, the site
manager always try to certify after checking the subcontractors background. So there is a good
impression on the site staff from labourers point of view.
2.2.7 QUALITY STANDARDS

ICC was accredited as ISO 9001: 2000 certified organization. I was fortunate enough to
undergo the training in such organization, which maintained quality standards and maintained “5S”
systems not only internal office works but also in all types of ongoing construction projects scattered
all over the country. It was a pleasant experience to work in a neat and proper working environment
under those quality systems especially while I was working at Golden Key site.
3. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS

TAKEN
3.1 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN PREPARATION OF RATES
Under training at Golden Key site, QS was asked to prepare rate analysis for the roof work
of the manifold room, which was a variation. I found it difficult at the initial stage and the rates
prepared by me were unrealistic so that I understood that there is a lot to be learnt in this discipline. I
referred several catalogues & gained assistance from QS to prepare the rate analysis. While pricing the
roof plumbing items I called several material suppliers & asked for prices & quotations for the
particular work. I used catalogues to identify the items coming under roof plumbing work such as
running heads, end caps, down pipes…etc. To identify the material prices for timber fascia boards I
have visited near timber dealer shops.
At ICC head office I was appointed to prepare rate breakdowns for the Polonnaruwa Water
Supply project. It was a difficult task to me because I’m not familiar with the BOQ items in this water
supply project. Construction methods were almost different from the building projects. I was confused
when identifying relevant labour, plant & material norms for each rate. But I was able to finalized the

work gathering required details from the QSs. The tasks which were given me, was useful to gain the
experience on pricing for a work and the practical involvement of labour, plant and equipment for a
particular work.
3.2 UNFAMILIARITY WITH CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

The unfamiliarity with civil construction techniques leads to generate several problematic
situations. Especially the terms & techniques involved in water supply projects were totally different
from building projects & careful concentration on work was required to carry out the tasks without
making mistakes. When I was appointed to take off items in bridge crossings, culvert crossings &
water sumps in Arugambay water supply project it was a time consuming work to perform. Due to my
less knowledge at first I made several mistakes & QS corrected them by providing me a better
explanation on the work. Later I was able to speedup my taking off work with the guidance provided
by the QS.
3.3 DEALING WITH DOMESTIC SUBCONTRACTORS

During my training session at Golden Key site I was required to prepare subcontractors
bills at the end of each month after measuring their work done. There were more than 30 domestic
subcontractors working under labour contracts, at first it was a difficult task to dealing with them
because I’m new to the site. Actually dealing with them was interesting. Because I have learned the
importance of personal relationships to perform my service to them as a QS. Industrial training was my
first time in exposing to real construction background. Within my training I met various types of
human characters. Some are efficient & like to work but some are cunning and always guidance from
TOs were required. While after the subcontractors bills were finalized they come & check their bill
values. Most of them were satisfied with their value of work done & only few were always asking
additional advance payments. I was allowed by the site QS to approve only limited amount of advance
after considering their future works. When they asked me more advance I let them to talk with the site
QS. Actually within Golden Key site good discipline was maintained by the site manager. It leads to
do my work accurately & efficiently.
3.4 UNFAMILIARITY WITH NEW COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

When I was required to prepare a cash flow forecast I need to study construction programs,
which prepared using MS-Project. I found that work is little bit difficult because I had not the
knowledge on the software applications such as Microsoft Project. The design engineer was a very
experienced person in MS-Project & given me good knowledge on the software.

When I was need to work with TRW software, it was very difficult to understand, because
it was a totally new software. Only 3 QSs were awared on that software. The cost data stored in that
software was very important, so it was treated as confidential software. I kept my loyalty to the
satisfaction of the QSs & was able to study the TRW software from a QS. In that manner I could
develop my ability in working with such applications which are in much demand.
3.5 DIFFICULTIES IN SITE DOCUMENTATION & RECORD KEEPING

Preparing site documentation & updating record keeping books were another important
matter. At Golden Key site I was ordered to update record keeping books daily. But when it comes for
subcontractors bill preparation situations, it was a difficult task to perform the daily routine. At the
beginning of my training due to high work load at the bill preparation stage, some of the labour
attendance records were misplaced due to my mistakes. But later I recorded all details which required
to be updated daily in a field book & updated them in necessary books after finalizing the bill
preparation works.
3.6 HIGH WORK LOAD ATTACHED

At Golden Key site high work load was attached to my self. Because involvement of
subcontractors were very much higher in Golden Key site. When it comes to prepare domestic
subcontractors bills at the same time I have to scrutiny specialized & nominated subcontractors
measurement sheets. And also I was required to aware of all construction activities to identify day
works & monthly work done at site. So at the end of the months I was needed to work with my
maximum capability. Especially at the end of the months I was required to work long hours until
7.30pm. As a trainee I was able to find out my performance level under various exposure conditions &
I was capable enough to satisfy total the work load attached to me.
3.7 DIFFICULTIES IN DAY WORK RECORDING PROCESS

The Golden Key Eye Hospital project was a large scale project. At the moment the total of
the day works carried out was accounted as nearly 4million. Per day various day works were
performed at various levels in the main building. Within my first week of my training I was appointed
by the QS to record the day work details. I was get confused at first because at that moment I’m not
much familiar with them. Basically most of the records were obtained from the TOs. Within small
period of time I was able to be friendly with all the staff & I was well known person to them. It makes
my work more easier.

3.8 WORKING FOR LONG HOURS

During my training period at Golden Key site I was supposed to work from 8am to 6.30pm
in a day and likewise 6 days per week. And also it took another one and half hours to travel to my
house. Anyway I had no other option but to set my mind in that manner. Actually it was not hard for
me to calm myself with this exercise when I overlooked the positive aspects that I could gain by
undergoing such a concentrated training.
4. STEPS TAKEN TO OBTAIN BETTER EXPERIENCE

At ICC organization I could experience a diversified set of quantity surveying activities
and therefore working long hours was a favourable condition to me. Within my training session at ICC
organization I was able to cover most of the training modules that should be covered during training at
contracting organization than expected at the beginning. I was always being conscious about the scope
of my training and therefore I could explore the untouched areas of study. Within my first month of
training at Golden Key site I was almost loaded with subcontractors works & interim bill works & I
was not hesitant to suggest the site QS, the other fields of studies, on which we needed more
experience as B.Sc. QS undergraduate because he always try to produce a better quantity surveyor out
of me.
Where I had found difficulties when I was carrying out some tasks for the first time I get
connected to the AQS, civil engineer & TOs and discussed my matters with them because they were
always corporative in manner. Not only within my training at Golden Key site but also at the ICC QS
division I only took minimum number of leaves although other QS trainees taking more leaves per
month. It leads to provide me with a better training & a good impression on my work behaviour.
When I was ordered to be trained at ICC head office by the contract manager, site QS was
unsatisfied with such direct orders, because at the moment I was well familiarized with the ongoing
works at site. But I was able to inform him the importance of having such a training at ICC QS
division for my future carrier as a professional QS.
Within my training session I was able to overcome the communication barrier between the
staff of QS division. Even though ICC QS division consists with few professional QSs, they were
specialized in various work sections & I was able to work with almost every one of them within my
small period of training to enlighten my industrial training. The chance which I got to undergo such
concentrated training at both Golden Key site & ICC head office was a valuable opportunity which I
earned within my training period.

5.0 ASSESSMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION

5.1 STRENGTHS
5.1.1 ISO 9001:2000 ACCREDITATION
Acquisition of international recognition is the goal of most of the organizations and thus
ICC has been able to achieve the ISO 9001:2000 accreditations for which the company is entitled with
its dedication towards the improvement of infrastructure of the country in the recent past whilst
adhering to the best quality standards. In addition to that, the company has been able to complete a
number of projects successfully and with all of these the company has been able to conserve its
recognition in the construction industry which is a big strength of the company.
5.1.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION

The management structure of ICC as shown in Annex I is energize the strength of the
organization which identifies the organization’s objective. All construction activities are to be
performed as team work of various individuals & those interrelated activities could only be satisfied
with a supporting & enforcing management structure. Therefore the proper management structure of
the organization can also be considered as a strength which can endeavour to hunt the desired goals of
the organization.
5.1.3 MODERN WORKING ENVIRONMENT

The modern working environment at ICC head office which creates a pleasing attitude
leads to increase the productivity of employees. The newly constructed four storied office complex
building for ICC creates a modern environment and in addition to that in the project level also I have
seen how the site staff is encouraged and supported to improve the environment around them. As
humans we always demand for the comfortable working space & environment which will leads to
generate positive ideas in minds. And also having a sophisticated environment exhibits the strength of
that particular entity.
5.1.4 BETTER COMMUNICATION & COORDINATION

At ICC head office it was practicing a better communicating system among all the staff
members. The communication barrier was overcome by the close coordination among all functioning
divisions at a transparent working space. At Golden Key site there were sound communication
between civil engineers, TOs & QSs. So it leads to do our work more easier by working in together to
produce a quality output while neglecting communication barriers.

5.1.5 THE QUALIFIED STAFF

At ICC all the executive positions were governed by the qualified people with at least a
degree for particular field. Not like other companies more of gradates were placed at the top level of
the hierarchy. And also graduate QSs are the people who are positioned at top level of QS division. As
a well known & distinguished company in the industry, the highly qualified staff is a secret of their
success.
5.1.6 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The role carried out by the HR department at ICC is appreciable. Not only for the company
staff but also for the labours of the subcontractors ICC facilitates various recreational facilities, while
all are working for the common goal of the ICC. Once a year the subcontractors with best performance
were awarded with money prices & gifts. During “Vesak” season various competitions were carried
out at functional units & the ongoing sites. ICC QS division was achieved 2 nd place In one competition
& awarded by a one day trip to Kitulgala. When ongoing project was completed most of the cases
company let the site staff few holidays or provide with them a staff trip. And also once a year,
performance of the ICC staff will be appreciated & awarded on their performance. These unique
features are also represents the strengths of the company.
5.2 WEAKNESSES
5.2.1 INADEQUATE COMPUTER FACILITIES
It cannot be satisfied with the available computer facilities at ICC QS division. Most of the
available computers were running under lower processing speed & memory capacity. And frequently
got malfunctioned by viruses or hardware failures. Because there were very experienced persons in
using Excel with its maximum capability, but the provided computers were stuck at all times & so
management can’t extract the maximum working capacity of the QSs. QS division is one of the main
divisions in the company & further concentration is necessary than other divisions.
5.2.2 INSUFFICIENT STAFF CAPACITY IN QS DIVISION

The current staff capacity at ICC was not adequate for the present demand of work. When
it comes for tendering, only two QSs were not enough for tender the all undertaken jobs. When it
comes to the end of the month QSs were stuck at subcontractors bill preparation works & there will be
high work load for the QSs who were doing pricing for tendering. Because there is no one to support,
because all are busy with their work. Company can expand its productivity by bidding for more jobs
simultaneously by recruiting some new QSs.

5.2.3 DEFICIENCY IN ACCURACY DUE TO HIGH WORK LOAD

I have experienced that in some cases when the work load for the estimating purposes were
exceeded QSs get overloaded due to the insufficient staff capacity at ICC QS division. So in some
cases they were far away from SMM because they were adopting short & fast methods to prepare the
estimates within less time. Accuracy of such estimations will depend on the experience of the
estimator. The risk involved on those estimations will vary based on the value of the final estimate. If
any underestimate or overestimate resulted, it will influence not only the final tender result but also the
productivity of the company.
5.2.4 FACILITIES ALLOCATED FOR ONGOING SITES

When I was trained at Golden Key site, as a ongoing site, facilities provided to that site
was not to the required capacity. As it is a large scale project which lasts for more than one & half
years, there were no photocopy & fax machine. Those services were provided by the private shops
near to the site. Large money was spent on that manner & if the head office able to facilitate separate
new photocopy & fax machine to large scale ongoing sites, not only those can be used in future
projects but also it may be more beneficial to the company than expected.

CHAPTER 2
PHASE 2
STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION OF SRI LANKA

NO. 130, W.A.D. RAMANAYAKE MAWATHA
COLOMBO 02
THE CONSULTING ORGANIZATION

STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

Human Resource
Consultancy
& Administrative
Division
Division
Mechanical &
Finance Division
Electrical Division
Construction
Construction Component
Division Division
Figure 2: Main Divisions of State Engineering Corporation
I spent my training phase at the SEC in the Consultancy Division which was governed
under the supervision of the Deputy General Manager of the organization (who is also the acting
General Manager). Herein afterwards every detail I try to focus on is related to the training I had under
the Consultancy Division of the State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka.
6.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE SEC ORGANIZATION

Similar to most of the government organizations, SEC has also a Bureaucratic
management system to maintain its strict regulations and rules. It emphasizes on the need for a strictly
defined hierarchy governed by clearly defined regulations and lines of authority which may
sometimes lead to an expectation of an impersonal efficiency upon the employees. But during my
training period I got to know that the top level management always makes sure an intimate
environment between the employees of the organization, which I think that it is some thing that the
managers have learnt from their experience of bureaucracy. At the top of the hierarchy, there is the
Board of Directors including the Chairman and the General Managers which have six other
subordinating Deputy General Mangers for each above mentioned each functional division.
When it comes to the Consultancy Division, it is under the supervision of the DGM and
he has been involving in number of construction projects and providing consultancy services regarding
all the fields of Engineering, Architectural & Quantity Surveying.
By involving in assorted types of building and the civil projects, the Construction and M
& E Divisions are supposed to elevate the organization up to a higher grade. The Construction
Components Division operates with the market by producing various pre cast construction items in
certain quality standards. Furthermore the Finance, Human resource and the Administrative
Divisions facilitates the whole organization to conduct their work efficiently and smoothly.
(For organization structure of Consultancy Division of SEC., refer Annex –IV)
6.3 CONSULTANCY DIVISION

The Consultancy Group has among its ranks a large number of fully qualified and
experienced professionals in the fields of Architecture, Structural Engineering, Sanitary Engineering,
Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, communications Engineering and Quantity
Surveying. They are supported by a large compliment of Construction Superintendents, Draughts
men, Assistant Quantity Surveyors etc.
The services offered by the Consultancy Group include Architectural & Structural
Engineering Designs, Sanitary Engineering Designs, Electro Mechanical Engineering Designs,
Quantity Surveying, Landscaping, Interior Decor and Project Management on Building and Civil
Engineering projects.
The Consultancy Group which comes under the direct purview of the Chairman and
Board of Directors and the General Manager of the State Engineering Corporation if headed by
the Deputy General Manager (Consultancy) and functions as an independent, self-sustaining
entity for all intents and purposes
6.4 SEC QUANTITY SURVEYING DIVISION

SEC consists of a separate QS Department and it’s providing specialized QS services.
Within my training period CQS post was remain vacant & DGMCY is the person who directing the
QSs for particular works. Under the authority of the DGMCY, there were three SQSs and eight
SAQSs, eighteen AQSs & five data entry operators. At the present scenario QS Division is providing
it’s consultancy service for approximately hundred & fifty number of ongoing projects. The whole
office is always in a competitive environment which generates due to the high work load attached &
the close coordination with other sections as below.
Electrical
Division
Structural Quantity Surveying Architectural

Engineering Division Division Division
Ongoing Sites
Figure 3: Coordination of the QS Division of SEC with other work sections

In SEC organization the Consultant Quantity Surveyors play their unbeatable role in the
Quantity Surveying Section inside the Consultancy Division which I was selected as a trainee for my
second phase of the in-plant training.
7. EXPERIENCE GAINED & OBSERVATIONS MADE

7.1 EXPERIENCE GAINED
7.1.1 PRELIMINARY ESTIMATING
The function of Preliminary Project Estimate is to produce a forecast of the probable cost
of a future project, before the building has been designed in detail & contract particulars prepared. In
this way the client is made aware of his financial commitments before the detailed design work is
undertaken. First estimate is the one client remembers the most. Therefore it is necessary to give an
accurate estimate with the available information.
After receiving a consultancy job for a particular project, the SEC consultancy service
starts with the client’s project brief. After it presented to the consultancy team & discussed, the
Project Manager appoints a Project Architect, Project Engineer & a Project Quantity Surveyor. Then
Architect starts to design the building. Design will be developed by the Architect according to the
client’s brief. But the design cannot be finalized until the PPE is prepared by the PQS. After
preparation of the PPE client can identify the cost of the Architect’s design.
 Identification of Cost Elements from Project Brief

While preparing the PPE it is required to identify the Cost Elements from the Project Brief
first, so that we are in a position to have a more reasonable estimate on the total cost of the project. I
was appointed by the PQS as the representative from QS division to participate in preliminary project
meeting for the Proposed Building for “Malwathu Maha Viharaya”, Kandy with Project Architect &
Project Engineer. My task was to identify the cost elements from project brief which given by the
client & acquire necessary site information which required to prepare the PPE.
According to the brief I was able to identify the project requirement & the major objectives
of the project which require large portion of the budget. As a example I was understand that Concrete
walkway & Retaining wall structure can be considered as major cost elements other than building
requirement. Later on I was able to understand this process of identifying the whole of the Cost
Elements. At SEC most of the PPEs were prepared by myself according to the project information
given by the PQS & Project Architect. They explained & advice me about cost elements & I was
prepared the PPEs under their guidance.

 Visit the Work Site to Ascertain Site Information.

To achieve a realistic & accurate Preliminary Project Estimate, we must have to collect
important information which related to the site conditions. These information only can be obtained
from a preliminary site visit. As above mentioned before participating the preliminary project meeting
for the Proposed Building for “Malwathu Maha Viharaya”, Kandy, we, Project Architect, Project
Engineer & myself went to the site & acquired the important site information with the help of the
client.
Before going there PQS gave me valuable knowledge on importance of site information & the
required site information which have to be collected from the site visit. At the moment I am with better
knowledge on required site information for preparation of Preliminary Project Estimates, because I
was prepared two PPEs. Some of the necessary site informations for preparation of PPEs can be
categorized as below.
 Access roads to site
 Demolition works
 Existing trees, stumps or rocks which have to be removed
 Whether rock excavation required
 Soil condition
 Required external works
Client’s project brief was obtained during the preliminary project meeting Architect &
Engineer asked from the client about the necessary details relevant for structure & design features. I
have asked about the client’s budget, other required specialized works & necessary external works.
Participate in a preliminary project meeting can be considered as a valuable opportunity which I got
during my training period. Because I was got a chance to work among construction professionals in
real working environment.
 Familiarized with various Estimating Methods

In dealing with several projects it was needed to employ different methods of estimations
and the knowledge gained from the university was a great avail to me to apply the methods such as
Superficial Area Method and Approximate Quantities Method. While preparing the PPEs cost of the
buildings were estimated using Superficial Area method, and the cost of the specialized works were
estimated using the Approximate Quantities method.
 Usage of Cost Information for Preliminary Estimating

Cost Information is very important for preliminary estimating and it can be in different
forms. For example when we followed the approximate quantities method for preliminary estimating
we used current market prices, rates from the other similar types of projects as Cost Information and
when we followed the superficial area method we had to refer past projects of a similar kind and to
take the cost for a square unit, for which the adjustments were to be made considering the location,
year of construction, and the other factors.
7.1.2 PREPARATION OF PRELIMINARY PROJECT ESTIMATES

After having identified the cost elements from the project brief, and following the methods
and cost information mentioned above I could involve in preparing Preliminary Estimates for the
following projects with the guidance of the Project Quantity Surveyor, Project Architect & Project
Engineer.
1) Proposed three storied building for the Works Engineers Office for Ceylon German
Technical Training Institute.
2) Proposed building for Islamic Cultural Complex for Ministry of Religious Affairs.
3) Proposed Building for “Malwathu Maha Viharaya”, Kandy.
At SEC Quantity Surveying, Architectural & Engineering divisions were located in 3
separate floors. While preparing above estimates I was able to develop close relationships with lot of
professionals in those divisions. Those relationships helped me lot to perform my other tasks easily.
 Usage of Cost Checking Procedures

I was appointed by the PQS to perform a cost checking work for the previously prepared
preliminary project estimate for the proposed Islamic Cultural Complex. The problematic situation in
this project was that the project is more than delayed & the given price escalation amount won’t be
sufficient to cover the increment in the contractors estimate from previous estimate to present estimate.
The contract type was a Negotiated contract. At the present stage client can’t afford the amount
specified in the previous PPE, for the construction of the superstructure & the external works. The
proposed building was a twelve storied building.
My task was to check the cost of the building & identify the workable building
area that can be completed at the moment with the available funds. First of all I was find out the cost of
the external works, because those costs could be categorized under initial costs. Only the remaining
cost can be used for the construction of the building. According to my work finally I came with a
conclusion that construction work can only be carried out up to the slab level of the 4 th floor including
required external works. Then I prepared the revised PPE & submitted it to the PQS.
 Collection and Compilation of Price Lists

A realistic Engineers Estimate could be obtained only using a recently updated price list of
Material, Labour & Plant. And also price lists are very important during scrutinizing variation & extra
work rate break downs. But most of the price lists available at SEC office were very old. Quantity
Surveyor asked me to collect some prices from suppliers. I gave calls to the main suppliers, hardware
shops and collect price lists for different kinds of materials such as plywood, steel, paints, tiles,
sanitary fittings, roof covering materials, roof drainage items etc. Some of the prices were obtained
from the Quantity Surveyors in the construction division.
I was gained good knowledge about current market prices by collecting those lists. I
recorded them in a logical order, so then any one could easily access the price details whenever they
needed.
7.1.3. PREPARATION OF BILL OF QUANTITIES

 Taking off Quantities
In preparation of the BOQ the initial step is taking off quantities from the drawings for
building & plumbing works and this was particularly a new experience for me as it was needed to
work with drawings which were in the both forms of scale, metric and imperial. All the taking off
works should be carried out according to the SLS573 which is less familiar to me. But while doing
taking off for several projects I was able to understand the difference between SLS573 & SMM7.
Most of the QSs in SEC are performing their taking off by manually. During my training
period I saw only few QSs using computers for taking off. The drawings were updated recently by the
Architect & when new drawings were submitted I have to modify my measurements again. I explained
the problem to the QS & he guided me to take the Autocad files from Architectural division & to
perform the taking off using MS-Excel.
While performing the taking off for Media Centre project I was able to develop a special
standard taking off format using MS-Excel which can be used to take off Finishes & Architectural
items in any type of a project. And I’m proud to say that some QSs use my format to minimize their
taking off time.
 Identification of Preliminaries, Prime Cost and Provisional Sums

I became familiar with the Preliminary items, Prime Cost and Provisional Sums especially
in relation to the building projects because of the involvement in preparing preliminary estimations and
Bills of Quantities thereby gaining the knowledge on how to incorporate them in the Bills of
Quantities.
 Billing
I could get involved in finalizing the BOQs for the following mentioned projects and in
that process I could engage in dealing with the pricing preambles. Apart from that I could learn many
things in the Billing process starting from numbering the work descriptions and trades and was also
able to enhance my knowledge on MS –Excel.
 Proposed building for the Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management,
University of Wayamba.
 Proposed Girls Hostel, University of Rajarata.
 Proposed Media Centre Building for Government Information Department
7.1.4. SPECIFICATION WRITING

 Compilation of Specification for Tender/ Contract Documents
I could get involved in compilation of specification for the tender document for proposed
Media Centre Building, Government Information Department & for the contract document for
proposed Renovation to the Main Building at National Museum. Specifications consists of written
information for determining & communicating the nature & quality of each element, system, assembly,
component, material & workmanship. Specification information is the written description resulted
from the design process & may include in tender & contract documents.
The particular specifications for Architectural items are provided by the Project Architect,
specifications for structural works are provided by the project Engineer & specifications for Electrical
works are given by the Project Electrical Engineer. For General specifications contractors have to refer
the specification documents published by the ICTAD.
While preparing the specifications close coordination with the project Architect is
important. At once I was required to prepare the specification for special type of a Acoustic Ceiling
system. QS guided me to find similar specification from previous projects. But I was unable to find
relevant specification because this was a new type of a ceiling. So I got the help of Architect & he
guided me to prepare the specification, providing me with a supplier’s quotation & method statement
for the work.
7.1.5. TENDER DOCUMENTATION

 Preparation of Tender Documents
A tender document outlines the goods and services required to complete the project, tender
procedures and contract terms. It was a good chance for me to prepare the tender document for
Proposed Building for Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management, University of Wayamba.
Even though the tender documents are unique to each and every firm the contents of it remain the same
in order to standardize the procedures. So that I referred some past project’s tender documents and

made the necessary changes especially in Form of Bid, Instructions for Bidders and Special Conditions
of Contract. It was little bit difficult, because I didn’t have proper knowledge about the tender
documents & Standard Bidding Document-1. While carrying out the work I studied the SBD-1
carefully. Contract Data was updated according to the project details & SBD-1 First the draft
document is prepared and it is checked and corrected by the PQS. So, that the first document took
more time and enabled me to understand the process.
 Preparation of Input Percentages

The SEC is one of the organizations which precisely adopt the price fluctuation adjustment
introduced by the ICTAD. The ICTAD formula for the above adjustment required some figures called
the “Input Percentages” which need to be unique for each project. Within the contract period
contractor will eligible to provide price fluctuation claims for the items, which the input percentages
given.
These input percentages were prepared while preparing the tender documents & entered
with the list of non adjustable elements, under clause 13.7 in Contract Data. Simply they are
percentages of the costs of material, labour plant, compared to the total project cost. To find out these
percentages, the SEC used MS Excel based worksheet which was prepared by the QSs in the division.
I did calculation for the several projects and they are,
 Proposed Multi Storied Married Quarters Complex – Phase II, Guwanpura
 Proposed House Blocks for Laboratory Building, Rathmalana.
7.1.6. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE

SEC is an semi government organization & it follows the government procurement
process. The government procurement procedures are detaily explained in following documents.
 Government Procurement Guidelines – 2006
 Government Procurement Manual.
According to the government procurement procedure, the entire procurement process will
be controlled by the Procurement Committees in coordination with Technical Evaluation Committees.
The responsibility of procurement actions shall be governed by the secretaries of the respective line
Ministries, who are deemed to be the chief accounting officers of such ministries, called as “Procuring
Entity”.
As a example when procuring a construction project at a university, the responsibility of
procurement actions are governed by the secretaries of the Ministry of Higher Education. When open
competitive bidding procedure or direct contracting procedures are followed, procuring entity shall
decide which Authority of procurement committee should be required for the procurement based on

guideline clause 2.14.1. The procuring entity shall request for appointment of a Procurement
Committee & Technical Evaluation Committee to the NPA. The composition of the PCs & TECs will
be determined by the NPA, according to the Authority of the PC.
Authority Size of the GOSL Funded Project (Rs.)
1. Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee – (CAPC) >100 Mn
2. Ministry Appointed Procurement Committee – (MPC) <100 Mn
3. Department Procurement Committee – (DPC) <25 Mn
4. Regional Procurement Committee – (RPC) <5 Mn
Table 5 : Authority of Procurement Committees
All the tendering works were carried out according to the guideline clauses, especially
during tender evaluation. When I was ordered to perform a tender evaluation I was referred
Procurement Guideline chapter 7 in conjunction with the Procurement Manual under guidance of the
QS. Later I was able to familiar with the both documents very well.
Government Procurement Guidelines – 2006

The government procurement guidelines are issued with the approval of the cabinet
ministers in order to enhance the transparency of government procurement process to minimize delays
and to obtain financially the most advantageous and qualitatively the best services and supplies for the
nation. These Guidelines have two components The Guidelines & The Manual.
Government Procurement Manual.

The procurement guidelines constitute the GOSLs’ policies on procurement. Intension of
the issuance of this manual is to provide assistance, advice, directions & procedures to be followed in
carrying out procurement activities by the public sector procurement entities.
 Participating Technical Evaluation Committee Meetings

Under my training session at consultancy organization I got valuable opportunity to
participate in three TEC meetings. Those were some great opportunities which I got during my training
period.
Description of the Meeting Venue
1) TEC meeting based on the Bid Evaluation Report for Open University, Nawala
▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Applied Science - Stage II
▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Livestock & Fisheries
And to discuss about the drafted Tender Documents for
▪ Proposed building for Faculty Agriculture, Makandura
▪ Proposed building for Hostels - Stage III
2) TEC meeting based on the Bid Evaluation Report for University of Kelaniya

▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Commerce & Management

3) TEC meeting based on the TEC Report for Tender Award for University of Kelaniya
▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Commerce & Management
The Bid Evaluation Reports for all the above mentioned projects were prepared by myself.
So at the moment I was more familiar with the bid documents & the post qualification documents of
the bidders. And also I prepared the BOQ for Faculty Agriculture, Makandura. Due to these reasons
PQS appointed me to participate above meetings with him. During the meetings I was also contributed
to solve some problematic situations arose on post qualification details of the bidders. I explained the
TEC members the reasons for rejection of the several bidders according to the evaluation criteria
provided from procurement guidelines.
 Participating Procurement Committee Meetings

I had a chance to participate in the following Ministry Appointed Procurement Committee
meeting with the PQS. It was another memorable experience which I got during my training session.
Description of the Meeting Venue
1) TEC meeting based on the Tender Award for Ministry of Higher Education
▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Applied Science - Stage II
▪ Proposed building for Faculty of Livestock & Fisheries
Various experienced professionals were participated in that meeting & I also had a chance to explain
my recommendation on Tender Award, from the consultant’s point of view to the chairman of the
MPC. The authority of the tender award was governed by the chairman. According to procurement
guidelines there were no rule that chairman should rely on the recommendations of the consultant’s
report or the TEC report. Those were considered as a guide to make the final decision on tender award
for the chairman of the PC. As the successful bidder for the tender award for Proposed building for
Faculty of Applied Science - Stage II, we both consultant & the TEC nominate the same bidder. But
when chairman made his decision we got surprised, because he selected another, who is the lowest
bidder but has lot of unrealistic rates according to consultant’s & TECs’ point of view.
7.1.7. TENDER EVALUATION

 1. Pre Qualification of Contractors
During my training period I was not involve in any pre qualification procedure, because
there were no ongoing pre qualification works. So I have referred the Pre Qualification Document &
Evaluation Report for the construction of proposed Head Quarters Building for Sri Lanka Customs.
And Pre Qualification Document for the construction & completion of proposed science &

Technology building for the Open University, Nawala (ADB funded project). And then I was able to
solve the clarifications after discussing with the Senior QSs. They detaily explained me how they
carried out the pre qualification procedures for above two project.
Pre Qualification is generally required for large & complex works, turnkey plants, private
sector infrastructure projects, some special goods & complex information technology systems. I was
understood that when Asian Development Bank or World Bank funding a particular project they may
guide the procurement committee to use a pre qualification procedure to award the contract. For Sri
Lankan government funded projects pre qualification documents should be prepared according to the
Procurement Guideline Clause 3.12 in conjunction with Procurement Manual.
 Evaluation of and reporting on Tenders including Rates Comparison

During my training session under consultancy organization I was able to gain vast
knowledge on government tender evaluation process. The evaluation process was carried out with
accordance to the conditions mentioned under Government Procurement Guidelines chapter 7. QSs
gave me good guidance to perform the evaluation with according to the guideline clauses & I was
very interested on bid evaluation process.
Bid evaluation should be carried out expeditiously, because the contract must be awarded
within the bid validity period, according to the Procurement Time Schedule. A bid with the all the
requirements of bidding document may be an extremely rare situation. So during the evaluation we
have to identify how critically the non submission of required documents will affect to the outcome of
the procurement. Hence substantially responsive concept shall be used rather than full responsive bids.
I was adopted the following major steps to perform the bid evaluations
i. Preliminary Examination of bids

The purpose of this preliminary examination is to reject any bid from further consideration
if it does not meet the minimum requirements set out in the bidding documents & therefore not
substantially responsive.
ii. Detailed Evaluation & Comparison of Bids

The purpose of the detailed evaluation is to determine the substantially responsive bid with
the lowest evaluated cost, during this stage bids were compared with each other.
iii. Post Qualification Verification

The purpose of the post qualification verification is to examine the bidder who submitting
the lowest evaluated bid, has the capacity & capability to perform the contract.

iv. Bid Evaluation Report

All the observations & information obtained during the above bid evaluation stages, were
recorded in the report. If any bidder was subjected for rejection, reasons for rejection should be clearly
stated with the relevant procurement guideline reference clause.
While preparing the bid evaluation report the complicated part was to describe the
consultant’s recommendation for the award. When I was preparing my first bid evaluation the
recommendation was described by the QS. Later I was able to familiar with the procurement
guidelines & was able to describe the recommendation from my self. The finalized evaluation reports
were then further checked by the QS. During my training period I was able to prepare bid evaluation
reports for the following projects.
1. Proposed building for Faculty of Applied Science Stage II, University of Wayamba
Participated in TEC meetings & PC meetings
2. Proposed building for Faculty of Livestock & Fisheries, University of Wayamba
Participated in TEC meetings & PC meetings
3. Proposed building for Faculty Commerce & Management, University of Kelaniya
Participated in TEC meetings
As above mentioned I was able to participated in technical evaluation committee meetings

& procurement committee meetings which hold to discuss about consultant’s bid evaluation report. I
was gained valuable lifetime experience from participating to above meetings. Those can be
considered as the most valuable chances which I got during my training session.
 Participating Pre Bid Meetings

I was able to attend a pre bid meeting which was hold for the tender of construction of
proposed building for Faculty of Agriculture & Plantation Management, University of Wayamba. It is
important to say that the BOQ for this tender was prepared by myself. Meeting was hold at above
university premises. During a Pre Bid meeting contractors were able to find out required information
to price the preliminary bill accurately. And also they will get chance to inform & discuss the problems
encountered during pricing the BOQ, referring the drawings in conjunction with the BOQ, referring
the specifications…etc.
Representatives from the tenderers raised technical issues & other issues which they will
be encountered during execution of the project. The issues were discussed & the PQS promised to

issue an addendum regarding the issues obtained. After the meeting all tenderers were visited the site
& had the necessary site information. Usually after a Pre Bid meeting, minutes of the meeting will be
sent to all the bidders by PQS.
7.1.8 PREPARATION OF CONTRACT DOCUMENTS

I was appointed by the PQS to prepare the Contract Document for the Renovation of the
roof of Main Building at National Museum. The contract was a design & build contract, so the contract
document was required to prepare in accordance to the SBD-04. Before I involved in to this job, the
knowledge I had about the preparation of contract document was not sufficient. It was very difficult
and time-consuming task to understand about each document in a contract. Lot of problems which
were arose during the preparation of contract document was clarified by PQS. Also I was able to
understand to some extent by referring the old contract documents and conditions of contract. At SEC
there are common contract document format, and I was required to modify the documents according to
the given project. Particular Conditions of Contract & Contract Data were modified under guidance of
the QS.
7.1.9 INTERIM VALUATION

 Taking Measurements including Joint Measurements
Throughout my training period I have involved in scrutinizing several interim bills in
projects, listed below.
1) Proposed Bus Stand & Commercial Complex at Panadura
In this project I have taken quantities from the construction drawings for most of the items
such as concrete work, masonry work, waterproofing work & metal work. Then I was ale to check
whether the contractor’s claimed quantities in measurement sheets are realistic or not.
2) Proposed Headquarters building for Sri Lanka Customs at Charmers Quay, Colombo Fort
I was involved in scrutinizing reinforcement measurements in pile caps of Customs
project. I was able to went the above site with the PQS. Some of the joint measurements were taken
with the contractor’s QS. And he guide us to identify the progress of the site. This site visit was a good
experience to me & I was able to gain valuable knowledge on pile hacking work, construction of pile
caps & waterproofing work at around pile caps.
3) Proposed multi storied married Quarters Complex for Sri Lanka Air Force at Guwanpura

I went to the Guwanpura site with the PQS to identify the progress in piling work. I have
noted the details of completed piles with the help of the consultant resident engineer. During this visit I
was able to gain good knowledge on concreting techniques used to concreting the piles.
 Scrutinizing Interim Valuation Bills

First I went through the bills and marked all the relevant information, which were not
submitted and asked them to submit that information as soon as possible. Normally I took off all the
quantities and check whether contractor provided realistic quantities. Arithmetic corrections, finding
out reasons for changes, checking of quantities of accumulated work done and checking of summary
sheets were very important in checking of interim bill. The interim payment certificates was modified
carefully & I show it to PQS to recheck the final figures.
 Assessing Price Fluctuation

Physical works of the contract normally proceed after few month of completing the
tendering process and physical completion of project will also takes few months or even few years.
Price of material, labour, plant and equipment charges will fluctuate through out the period of
construction. Actual cost of construction incurred by the Contractor will not be same as priced BOQ
value, Therefore possibility should be available to claim against such amount other than fixed price
contracts. I was appointed to check the price variation for the valuation-08 in the Customs
Headquarters building project. The difficult part was to identify & calculate the value of non adjustable
elements for the relevant valuation. For that I referred the SBD-02, adjustments for changes in cost,
section & took the help of the PQS. The work which I performed was interesting & gave me a good
knowledge on using ICTAD formula for price fluctuation calculations.
7.1.10 PROCESSING OF VARIATIONS & EXTRA WORK
 Checking Variations & Extra Work Rate Breakdowns
Under the guidance of the PQS I have scrutinized several variations & extra work rate
breakdowns related to the Customs Headquarters building. At first it was a difficult task, because I’m
not much familiar with the current material rates & BSR norms. So I have checked the rate
breakdowns with the relevant BSR norms. QSs given me good hand to check the rates & some of the
claimed material prices were checked by calling to material suppliers.
 Reporting on Effect of Variations

A variation could be defined as any changes to the quantities, quality & other
characteristics of any item of work included in the contract, omission of any work, changes to the
sequence or timing of the completion of the works, any additional work, plant, materials or services
necessary for the permanent works within the contract period. Variations can be commenced by the
engineer at any time before issuing Taking Over Certificate. It is important to note that contractor shall
not make any modification to the permanent works, unless & until the engineer instructs or approves a
variation.
For each item of work the appropriate rate or price for the item shall be the rate or price
specified for such item in the BOQ. If there is no such item, the rate specified for similar work. A new
rate or price shall be used for an item of work if,
a) i. The measured quality of the item is changed by more than 25% from the quantity of this
item in the BOQ.
ii. Change in quantity multiplied by such specified rate for the item exceeds 1% of the
initial contract price.
b) i. The work is considered as a variation
ii. No rate or price specified in the BOQ for the item.
iii. No rate is appropriate in the BOQ for the item because there are no similar items of
work.
I was involved in preparation of the “Request for Approval of Variation Value” for
variation No.01 in proposed Bus Stand & Commercial Complex , Panadura. During the construction,
contractor was ordered to remove the excavated mud soil off site. But in the BOQ no such item is
mentioned & no similar work is specified. Work is considered as a variation. The final value of this
variation was determined by the actual works carried out at site.
When I’m preparing the “Request for Approval of Variation Value” I have to transfer the
compensating amount from the variation 01 to one of the following categories.
1) Contingency
2) Day work
3) Savings
4) Provisional & Prime cost sums
5) Additional funds
I got confused when identifying the suitable category. At first I have transferred the
amount to the additional funds category. But then QS guided me to transfer it to the Savings category
& he inform me the reasons for that transfer. If I had transferred the amount to the Additional Funds,
then I had to specify the reasons for requesting additional funds. Most of the cases consultant tries to
show that additional fund as a saving. Under QSs’ guidance I understood that more savings could be
obtained from several BOQ items which are executed before. The additional cost arose from the
variation was deducted from the above savings & shown as a saving to the client. Then I have adjusted

the contract price according to the net amount incurred by proposed variation & finally it was send for
necessary approval from the client.
7.1.11 ADJUDICATION & ARBITRATION

Adjudication & Arbitration fields can be considered as some of the new directions for
quantity surveying profession. Those fields were not familiar to me, because those fields will be
discussed at our final year of the university. During my training period I was able to meet Mr. Thilak
Kolonne, who is the Consultant QS of the Construction Division & well known professional in the
industry. And also he is providing his service as a Adjudicator to several projects at present. I
discussed & solved some issues on adjudication & arbitration which I obtained during my studies
related to the adjudication & arbitration clauses in SBD-02, with the guidance from Mr. Thilak
Kolonne. He gave me valuable knowledge on dispute resolution procedures which are currently
practiced in Sri Lanka. It was another valuable chance which I got during my training period.
7.2 OBSERVATIONS MADE

7.2.1 LACK OF A CHIEF QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Within my training session at SEC for period of four months the Chief Quantity Surveyors
position was remain vacant. The CQS is the person in charge of the cost aspects of all ongoing projects
of SEC. All the QSs receive the directions & expertise needed in the discipline of consulting there. We
trainees were also under his authority but at the time I was there as a trainee, position of the CQS was
empty. At the present scenario all the QS actions were directed by the DGMCY.
7.2.2 PRICE LISTS ARE NOT CURRENTLY UPDATED.

Most of the price lists available at SEC office were very old. There were no specified
person at the moment to update the price lists. When a Quantity Surveyor pricing an Engineers
Estimate he or she is preparing the rates using updated price lists. But they are not updating the
common price list. So when particular price is required QS cannot get the use of common price list. He
has to search it by himself. So most of the QSs asks for new rates from SQSs or construction division.
I have seen that in some cases current concrete work, brick work rates are obtained from the recently
submitted bid documents. When I was required to find some material prices I have to obtained them by
calling to material suppliers.
7.2.3 INADEQUATE USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

As a trainee according to my point of view, the QSs at SEC were less awared on latest &
modern computer softwares & applications. Basically the taking off work can be easily performed with
the use of Autocad & Excel softwares. Autocad software is not currently used in the division. It is a
major disadvantage when considering the costs involved in large amount of blue prints used for
manual taking off. I have seen only few QSs practicing Excel in their taking off work. But it has to be
said that QSs at SEC were very much efficient & professionals in their manual measurements.
At SEC There were no specific method or software to maintain & store price lists & cost
data. As I experienced at ICC head office if TRW software is used for preparation of rates & maintain
resource norms & price lists for SEC various advantages could be earned for day to day practice.
Using TRW, after updating the current prices anyone can prepare BOQ rates & identify current market
prices easily.
7.2.4 INCOMPLETENESS OF THE DRAWINGS

Due to the incompleteness of some drawings given by architects, structural engineers, etc,
it was observed that a considerable part of the work could be absent in the BOQs. Therefore too much
confidence needed to be kept on contingencies, which is not normally favorable to the client. I have
experienced in several occasions at SEC only the preliminary drawings were submitted to the taking
off purposes for BOQ preparation. The drawings they processed always contained errors which needed
to be corrected so I always had to complain rather than making a use of it. When it comes for tendering
stage most of the cases the details or some parts of the drawings were changed. So several newly
added items might not in the BOQ & there will be a necessity of issuing an addendum.
7.2.5 ABSENCE OF STAFF MEMBERS

It is a drawback regularly happen in SEC. Assigning one quantity surveying work to
another due to his absence will put second person in difficult. This is because he want to be familiar
with the project and it took more duration to get familiar with it. And also in some circumstance
superiors requiring immediate response upon there order. Due to those reasons in some cases delays in
works will be resulted. A delay is a mark of unpunctuality & it is not appropriate for the gained good
image of the SEC.
8. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS

TAKEN
8.1 FREQUENT CHANGES IN DRAWINGS.

In all the projects that I had carried out in this firm, was occurred lot of frequent changes
to the drawings. These were mostly done by the Architects to come out with a product, comprising
with high aesthetic appearance and better arrangement. Further more PQS also introduced some
changes to the drawings to finalize the project within the client’s budget margin.
These frequent changes caused lot of problems to the Quantity Surveying works. To
avoid this problem, I confirmed the drawing by discussing with all the relevant people before I started
to take off it. At first I have done the take off manually. So when frequent changes done to the
drawings I got confused because it took more time to identify & adjust the calculations. But later I
used to perform taking off work using Excel & it only took less time to adjust the previous
measurements according to changes in the drawings.
8.2 UNFAMILIARITY WITH SLS573

Most of the projects under took by the SEC, was building projects & all the measurement
works are followed & based strictly to the SLS573. The measurement studies that I did in the
university, was carried out by familiarizing with SMM 7. This matter resulted in making mistakes by
me when writing BOQ descriptions according to the practice here in few occasions. In such situations
the SAQS observed my difficulty and taught me the importance of paying more emphasis to the work
descriptions. While doing taking off work for various building items using SLS573 I was easily able to
be familiarize with SLS573 standards.
8.3 NON-FAMILIARIZATION WITH THE DIRECT BILLING METHOD.

While preparing the BOQs I directly transferred the squared quantities to the bill without
doing abstracting. Even though, I grouped similar items together, without using a separate abstracting
sheet, I was not quite satisfied with this method. I am aware that, if we do abstracting in a separate
sheet, there is no chance to miss even a single item.
I was very careful when transferring quantities directly to the bill because; the missing of
an item may cause a big difference in the total amount, because the total numbers of final products
were large in most cases that I involved. All the time I was careful to have a cross check on the
accuracy of the quantities. However, I completed my work by getting help from the PQS & project
architect.
8.4 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN CHECKING VARIATIONS AND EXTRA WORK

RATE BREAKDOWNS
I was involved in scrutinizing several variations and extra work rate breakdowns for the
customs headquarters building. It was a difficult task to identify the current material prices to check
whether the contract for claimed for realistic material prices. For that purpose I have to call for several
material suppliers to obtain the cement prices. It was a time consuming work.
Most of the variations rates were prepared according to the BSR. At the moment I am not
much familiar with the BSR. To perform my task I had to refer the BSR according to imperial
measurements. While checking the rates I read the BSR carefully and took the guidance from QS to
speed up my work.
Another problem, which I faced, was that some of the rates were established not according
to the BSR norms. As an example formwork rate breakdown was not similar to the BSR norm. QS
solved my clarifications by explaining me that BSR norms are very old and some new construction
techniques, which used in today was not used in old BSR. According to his opinion we have to check
the rate considering the method used for that work by the contractor and not to the BSR. As a trainee I
was less experienced and less awared on construction techniques, BSR and current material prices. So
it was difficult and time consuming task for me to check variation rate breakdowns.
8.5 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN TAKING OFF PLUMBING DRAWINGS.

At once I was ordered to take off quantities in the plumbing and drainage works in the
Computer Science building for University of Ruhuna. At first I was given various drawings and I got
confused when referring isomeric drawings, which were given for internal water supply work. I was
able to overcome the obstacle with the guidance of the QS. He clearly explained me how to refer the
isometric drawings and the problems involved in taking off above work. While performing my task I
also referred to several plumbing drawings of some previous projects.
8.6 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN TENDER EVALUATION PROCESS

During my training session at SEC I was ordered to prepare 3 tender evaluation reports. At
the first instance it was a very much complicated work to me because it requires a sound knowledge on
bid evaluation criteria mentioned under government procurement guidelines. At SEC office only SQSs
& SAQSs were awared on those guidelines. Therefore I referred the both procurement guidelines &
manual carefully & got a better knowledge on bid evaluation criteria.
The credit facility letters submitted by the most of the bidders were not for the particular
project. I was confused & QS guided me that letter must be especially for the particular project. And
also in some bidding documents the managing director’s signature specified in the form of bid was non
of the directors’ signatures specified under power of attorney letter. According to the knowledge of the
QS I have treated the situation as a non submission of power of attorney & recorded it in the
evaluation report.
While checking the annual accounts reports of several bidders it was difficult to identify
the actual contract income. Because they have only mentioned the total income including their
incomes from other businesses. In that case I have calculated the income especially from contracts to
come up with a figure for average annual turn over.
8.7 UNFAMILIARITY WITH COST DATA

When preparing project estimates and engineers estimate the awareness of cost data was a
key factor with what I was not much familiar and therefore I faced difficulty in pricing those works,
especially when pricing PPEs. In PPEs some composite items which coming under specialized services
were priced with the help of the SQS. To overcome this problem I concerned on gathering cost data
which resulted in making calls to sub-contractors and referring to the rates of previous projects which
are of similar kind. After pricing the PPEs I always show them to SQS to check the rates and he
modified some of the rates. During the checking and he taught me how to make an accurate rate for
particular item. When carrying the tasks in that way, it let me to be familiar with the construction cost
data.
8.8 INADEQUATE USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

At SEC the taking off works are performed by manually. For me it is a time consuming
work. Because I was well practiced in performing taking off work by using Autocad & Excel from
ICC head office. When I used to work at SEC my first task was to taking off quantities for proposed
building for Agriculture & Plantation Management, University of Wayamba. I was guided by the QS
to take off quantities for excavation & earth works manually. It took me more time to finish it than
expected. Because lot of time was wasted to do the calculations manually. Then I have informed my
problem to the QS & he advised me to take the soft copies of the drawings from the Architectural
division & to perform the work using Autocad & Excel. Then I was able to speed up my work.
8.9 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN CHECKING PRICE FLUCTUATION CLAIMS

Within my training session I was appointed to check the price variation for the valuation-
08 in the Customs Headquarters building project. While scrutinizing the contractor’s calculations I
have noticed that amount of the preliminary bill was not categorized under value of non adjustable
element & so it was subjected for price escalation. Basically according to my practice I have seen that
in most of the times for price escalation calculation, amount of the preliminary bill was considered as a
non adjustable element cost. When I asked for the reasons for the different scenario in this case, the
PQS inform me that while preparing the contract document for the above project it was forgotten to
mention the non adjustable elements list under clause 13.7 in contract data by mistake.

8.10 TIME CONSTRAINTS

The ability to work under stress is an added advantage when we work in a competitive
environment and therefore, it was my goal to work against this obstacle also. As a result of that I was
required to carry out the works carefully with much commitment. Hence in a number of days I
involved in the works till I get the end result without leaving that job to the following day.
In this session time constrains was a crucial obstacle to me .Due to the large amount of
projects that the firm had to perform within the given time schedule. Due to that the duration I had for
certain work was not enough to complete that work without a separate computer. Due to high work
load & less number of computers in the facility. The computers always got occupied by someone and
leaving the other people to wait until he or she gets free. At the end, when I had a separate computer I
had the opportunity to overcome this problem in greater portion.
9. STEPS TAKEN TO OBTAIN BETTER EXPERIENCE

Within my training session at SEC organization I was able to cover most of the training
modules that should be covered during training at consulting organization. Actually at SEC QS
division it was always loaded with various works. I always try to do a new work which is not familiar
to me because I have understood that then only I can efficiently used my small training period to
enlighten my future carrier. Otherwise four months were actually not enough to be learned & be
experienced as a consultant QS. So I always did my maximum effort finish each tasks within minimum
time to move another activity. Within my training period I was able to work with almost every QS in
the office. I made good relationships with them & they always try to provide me with a new
experience to my carrier by giving me chances to participate in pre bid meetings, preliminary project
meetings.
The SEC staff is very much corporative, supportive & just like one big family. They
always tend to help me more when I deliberately ask them to appoint me with certain works such
as tender evaluations, preparation of PPEs, preparation of input percentages…etc. It helped me to
gain knowledge at the first few days of the training. Afterwards I think they understood that I am
capable of doing some thing with a certain responsibility and risk so I was later loaded with works
related to various types of quantity surveying works.
When I asked to visit the work sites with them to gather construction knowledge, they
always warmly welcome me. And also after preparing several tender evaluation reports I asked from
QS for a chance to participate in TEC meetings. And she is kind enough, not only providing me chance
to participate in TEC meetings but also in PC meetings with her. During my last few weeks of my
training at SEC, I showed the industrial training handbook to the SQSs & they were gave me works
related to uncovered modules & provide me with necessary explanation for the modules which are at
the moment not practicing at SEC. I have gained access to Engineering, Architectural, IT, Construction
division…etc and able to make several formal relationships with various professionals. I have
maintained goodwill with everyone, and within that friendly environment I was able to carryout my
studies with fewer difficulties & succeeded in extracting better experience to my carrier.
10. ASSESSMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION

10.1 STRENGTHS
10.1.1 MANAGERIAL STRUCTURE
The management structure of the SEC is appreciable because of many reasons and one of
that is the decisions made by the top level management are very strategic. Since each long term
decision is made after getting the approval of the board of directors, the organization is much confident
about what they do. Also I have noticed that the role of the DGMCY of Consultancy Division is very
significant. That means the Consultancy Division is usually lead by a very experienced person since
the division deals with high risk works because each and every project is under the DGMCY’s
supervision so that they can operate without any obstruction.. Although Bureaucracy does not entertain
innovations, the authority of the Consultancy Division is always alert to new technologies, new
methods and adoptions. It is a characteristic of an organization with a potential to develop rapidly.
10.1.2 QUALITY OF WORK

The SEC deals with a number of projects simultaneously but they usually do not get
confused with their work load. Hence they have a certain standard of their final output and each
person is willing to stand alone for any circumstances occurred by his or her actions. As I saw the
division, I think that most of the people there were very much experienced about all the
procurement works and they are capable of assuring the Client a quality output for each project.
Another important aspect is the organization system also consists of number of standard
forms which is formatted for each procedure in the Consultation of Quantity Surveying works
related to PPEs, tender documents, contract documents, tender evaluation, post contract management
including variation procedure…etc. The organization strictly follows the SLS573 to preserve their
quality and standards in measurements and other quantity related maters. This professional service
is famous in both local and foreign industries due to its best quality production of work.
10.1.3 THE QUALIFIED & EXPERIENCED STAFF

The SEC is consists of qualified & highly experienced QSs. Even though there were only
two graduate QSs at the office but there were more than fifteen of NCT or NDT qualified QSs with
twenty years of experience at SEC QS division. The quality working performance of them were
actually outstanding. It is a major strength in the consultancy division.
10.1.4 WORKING ENVIRONMENT

This training period that I have undergone would not be this much worth if it were not for
the pleasant working environment of the SEC. The employees there had a mutual understanding in-
between them which enabled them to perform their duties with much accurately and punctually. I think
that even though it may exist some personal disputes among them, they certainly did not cross over the
line because they knew that it will interrupt the work flow. Frankly I have never seen an employee
there who was under a tension due to his or her work load because that they are very much confident
about their selves. This continuity of the SEC's professional ethics along the past 45 years is very much
inspiring to others and I think that it is one of their secrets of success.
10.1.5 ABILITY IN HANDLING LARGE WORK LOAD

Within the available staff of the SEC, consultancy division was able to manage to
provide consultancy service for more than hundred and fifty projects. It basically could be expanded
to two hundred projects because as a example, when considering Wayamba University project there
were more than five sub projects categorized under it. The secret of this success of the SEC is the
experienced staff at SEC who have the capacity with the efficiency & ability to work under various
exposure conditions. Most academics deem that the State Engineering Corporation is not that
suitable to be trained at because government bodies usually work inefficiently and ineffectively when
it comes to dealing with money. But I must say that the SEC is driven by people who are more
talented and experienced and must not be underestimated with their governmental profile.
10.2 WEAKNESSES
10.2.1 LACK OF A CHIEF QUANTITY SURVEYOR
As far as Quantity Surveying is concerned regarding the management structure, the Chief
Quantity Surveyor is in charge of the cost aspects of pre contract & post contract stages of all
ongoing projects of SEC. All the QSs receive the directions and expertise needed in the discipline of
consulting there. At the time I was there as a trainee, the position of the CQS was empty & the CQS’s
works were carried out by the DGMCY.
10.2.2 LESS AWARENESS TO COMPUTER BASED APPLICATIONS

It is better to increase the computer facilities available at site. so that the efficiency will
get improved. Even though they increase the number of computers, there still may be a problem
because many employees do not have a sound knowledge in them although they really want to know.
So if the management is able to carryout workshops to improve the knowledge of the modern
computer based techniques & software applications, it will definitely help them to walk towards
success. Especially the employees must be aware of the current information sources like internet,
foreign journals related to Quantity Surveying, Engineering and Architecture. The quality of works
can be more improved.
10.2.3 INCOMPLETENESS IN DRAWINGS

I strongly think that the quality of drawings must be improved because it is the only basis
for the Contractor to understand what is to be built. The drawings of the Engineering and Architecture
Divisions have the characteristic of getting updated all the time which made the Consultancy Division
to update their figures and calculations at each time. This weakness must be eliminated or reduced in
order to perform more efficiently and effectively.
10.2.4 LESS CONCENTRATION FROM OTHER DIVISIONS

SEC QS division is the main sub division coming under consultancy division. It cannot
satisfy with the devoted concentration to improve the QS division. Although the working employees in
the Consultancy Division are much experienced and admirable in quality, there is no such attention to
them by the administration division. Even the remuneration they obtain from the organization is not
satisfactory compared to their quality of work. Because at the moment lot of experienced QSs were
planned to move to the private sector due to the insufficient salary scale. Rather than recruiting various
employees to the administration & other divisions it’s advisable to increase the salary scale of the QSs.

CHAPTER 3
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF

THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE TRAINING INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

CONCLUSION




ANNEXES INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT
ANNEXES
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS REPORTPAGE
i
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE
i
ORGANISATION CHART OF THE ICC

QUANTITY SURVEYING DIVISION
Contract Manager Chief Engineer
Senior Senior
Coordinating Coordinating QS
Graduate QS
Senior Graduate Senior QS

QS
Graduate QS Senior Assistant

QS
Trainee Quantity
( B.Sc ) Surveyor
Assistant QS
Trainee
(NCT, HNDE,
NDT, ICBT…etc)
SITE ORGANISATION CHART OF THE GOLDEN KEY EYE

HOSPITAL
PROJECT
Divisional Coordinator
Site Manager
Store Junior Admin: Technica Quantity Electrical Mechanical

Keeper Engineer Officer l Surveyor Site Foreman
Q/A Officer Agent
(Main Building
Planning Structural
Work)
Draftsma Junior Assistant Electrical

Technical Quantity
n Officer Foreman
(Setting Surveyor
Out)
Junior Work Junior Junior

Technica Supervisor Technica Technica
l (General l l
Cleaning)
Officer Officer Officer
(R/F) (Formwork & (Finishes)
Concreting)
ORGANISATION CHART OF THE CONSULTANCY DIVISION OF STATE ENGINEERING CORPORATION

Deputy General Manager Consultancy
Chief Chief Chief Chief Manager

Architect Engineer Engineer Quantity (Projects)
(Designs) (Electrical) Surveyor
Senior Senior Senior Senior

Architect Engineer Engineer Quantity
(Electrical) Surveyor
Drawing Architects Drawing Engineers Drawing Electrical Quantity Resident Accountant Mgt.
Office Office Office Engineers Surveyors Engineers (Consultancy) Assistant
Assistant Assistant Assistant (Cy)
Senior
Chief System Draughts Draughts Book
Assistant
Architect Analyst Person Person Keeper
Quantity
Surveyors
Clerk Clerk Clerk Accounts Clerk

Clerk
Steno Typist Data Data

Typist Entry Entry Steno
Operator Operator Typist
(English)
Plan
printer
KKS KKS KKS
Office Office Office Office Office

Laborer Laborer Labourer Laborer Laborer
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE iv

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS

PAGE v
v
DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS i
PAGE vi
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REPORT

CEYLINCO HOMES INTERNATIONAL (LOTUS TOWER) LTD

FROM 24TH MARCH TO 18TH JULY 2007

INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM (PVT) LIMITED

FROM 24TH JULY TO 15TH NOVEMBER 2007

SUBMITTED ON 18TH DECEMBER 2007

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE i

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE ii

5.2.3 DEFICIENCY IN ACCURACY DUE TO HIGH WORK LOAD..............................................................................................25

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE iv

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE v

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE vi

AQS - Assistant Quantity Surveyor

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING ECONOMICS PAGE vii

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

Practical training is paramount importance, while gaining the theoretical knowledge, to be

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INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CONSORTIUM LTD

THE CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION

1. THE CONTRACTING ORGANISATION

Figure 1: Main Divisions of ICC Ltd

Table 1 : ICTAD Grades of ICC Ltd

1983 Stepped in to water supply

 Vision of the Organization

1.2 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE OF THE ICC ORGANIZATION

1.3 ICC QS DIVISION

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2. EXPERIENCE GAINED AND OBSERVATION MADE

 Preparation of Bills of Quantities

 Compiling Cost Information

 Familiarized with Contractor’s Bidding Strategies

 Participation in Tender Openings

 Involvement in Civil Engineering projects

2.1.2 SELECTION OF SUB CONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS

 Negotiation and selections

 Preparation of sub-contract agreements

2.1.3 PROJECT PLANNING

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 Preparation of Cash flows.

2.1.4 SITE ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES

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 Studied Working Drawings and Technical Schedules

 Familiarized with Construction Techniques and Quality Control

2.1.5 PREPARATION OF INTERIM VALUATIONS.

 Preparation of Interim Bills

 Preparation of Price Fluctuation Claims

 Assessment of Materials at site

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2.1.6 SUB CONTRACTORS PAYMENTS

 Certifying Sub Contractor’s Payments

2.1.7 VARIATIONS AND EXTRA-WORKS

2.1.8 PREPARATION OF CLAIMS

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2.1.9 PROGRESS MONITORING AND COST CONTROL

 Attending Site progress Meetings

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2.1.10 WORK STUDIES

 Establishment of Labour, Plant and Material Norms

2.1.11 DOCUMENTATION & RECORD KEEPING

2.1.12 USAGE OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

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