ConstructIt

QS accreditation board was visiting the school today as the student council we had to help with putting together the event

We were also apart of the students they spoke to about what we would like to see in this course

This year my team and I entered the global student challenge. Global Student Challenge is an online construction business game open to students across the world, studying an honours course within the built environment.

The competition utilises MERIT, an online game which simulates the management of a construction company.

You’ll enter as a team of four, and you’ll be tasked with managing your own virtual construction company.

Our goal was to be the very first African university to make it into the finals as we researched and contacted people to help us win the game

It was an incredible experience . Our company name was InnoCon. And we were made of 2 QS students 1 CM and 1 Property. We really made the dream work and placing 2,4,5 for the first 3 rounds and 12 in the finals

Today I was tasked with accounting all the different types of ironmongery and their exact number for the CLM building which is located on the west campus of Wits University

This building was newly built

Friday was a continuation of Day works

I had to enter the working hours according to what time they clocked in and the time they leave. As well as the task they did as each task has a rate

Today I got introduced to some of the admin work of a Quantity Surveyor. This includes the calculation of the total works done in a day by a general worker

That’s a selfie of me during my break.:)

Every Wednesday we had site meetings and I was responsible for noting all the requirements of the QS. In this meeting the PrQS assigned to our site would evaluate all that we did so make sure it aligns with the payment certificate.

This required us to take her on a tour around the site as she remeasures and corrected

It’s my second week at work and the site work is becoming easier and more understandable

On this day I spent my time in the office understanding how tenders are sent out to local contractors. Something to note is that the type of contract used was the JBCC and because the client is the university there is a rule the contractor has to follow which is employing local subcontractors

After drafting the tender a set date for submission is given. they other tenders go out, the other trades also come in so the selection of the lowest and most reasonable bidder.

Orientation week is a week where first years get introduced to the world that is university. O-Week is also a time for clubs and societies to recruit members to join their clubs and societies.

Being an executive member of the WPN, we were tasked with recruiting members for the year.

Most of what I did in week 1 was site remeasures

Site remeasures are important as it is a way of checking what is on the drawings is exactly what we are paying for. There accuracy and detail is important.

Here you will see a new wall was added so I had to account for that.

When measuring payment for walls it is important to go over openings and deduct where required

Most of my time was spent on site familiarising myself with works on site and remeasuring to update the BOQ.

A good QS takes pictures and writes notes

I signed my contract a few days after the interview which was a success. It’s always nice to get into a good interview. Where you feel comfortable to ask questions and interact with the panel

My working hours were in accordance with the Quantity Surveyor on site which was from 7:00-17:00. Today I got an introduction of all the sites Tri-star construction is working on all across wits

This was exciting because one day I can tell my kids I worked on the project in the university. The sites were; Flower Hall, Gate house, CL and Geoscience building. I was mainly located at geoscience.