Value management practice by South African quantity surveyors

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the nature and extent of value management (VM) practice by professional quantity surveyors in South Africa. The survey explores practitioners' awareness and understanding of VM and the nature and extent of the use of VM techniques within their organisations. Design/methodology/approach: A web-based, online questionnaire survey is employed to establish VM practice by South African registered quantity surveyors. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse the survey response data. Findings: The results suggest that, while VM (and more particularly its value engineering antecedent) is generally known among quantity surveyors in South Africa, it is less widely practiced. VM is seen predominantly as a cost reduction tool. This misperception, and the lack of awareness of the potential benefits of VM, must be remedied if quantity surveyors in South Africa are to provide clients with services that meet world's best practice standards. Quantity surveyors also need to know what those standards are. Practical implications: Refresher courses in contemporary VM theory and practice are recommended, as well as exploration of the impacts on VM of other techniques such as risk, quality and environmental management. Originality/value: The findings are important given the increasing globalization of construction services, especially given the international ties between designers, quantity surveyors and other built environment professionals.