We turn our spotlight on project managers, facilities managers and quantity surveyors, lesser-known but vital professionals who link developers, engineers, architects and contractors together in complex development projects.

By John Yip & Michelle Lim

Photographs Courtesy of Singapore Tourism Board

We live in them, work in them, and play in them. They range from concrete towers that reach into the sky, to tiny corner shops nestled cosily between their taller cousins. They are the structures that make up our urban landscape.

It’s curious that we don’t know much about the complex processes that created these structures. We are even less aware of the professionals that build and manage these facilities. High-profile professions like the architects and engineers come to mind when you mention construction and buildings. But there are professionals in this industry who perform crucial roles that most of us aren’t aware of.

Do you know what a Project Manager does? How about a Facilities Manager? Or a Quantity Surveyor? No clue? Read on and you may just be surprised what you are missing out.

How do buildings get built?

We know buildings cost a lot to build. Millions of dollars in many cases. There is a reason for it. A building is extremely complex and it takes many sets of skills and a few years to construct one. So how does a building actually get built?

Assembling the Consultant Team and Choosing a Leader
Developers, like City Developments Limited and CapitaLand Limited, first assemble a team of consultants to develop the project. Typically, the consultant team consists of an architect, mechanical and electrical engineers, structural engineers, quantity surveyors and sometimes, other sub-specialists such as indoor-air specialists and landscape designers.

For large projects, a Project Manager is appointed. He is the leader of the team. He leads the entire project process, from pre-conception through the design to the completion and commissioning phases.

Managing the Design
The Project Manager leads the consultant team in providing advice on all aspects of the project such as project feasibility, architectural and engineering design,
cost and contract management and compliance with statutory requirements. The Quantity Surveyor advises on the value of the development and the selection and appointment of contractors to undertake the physical construction work.

Managing the Construction
The Project Manager continues to lead the consultant team and contractors at the construction stage. One of the critical success factors of a project is a strong Project Manager who is able to manage the team members and other resources, so that the project can be completed on time, within budget and at an acceptable level of quality. Other issues include considerations of safety, the health of the workers and of people who live or work in buildings nearby.

Project Managers undertake important and challenging tasks of organising, coordinating and leading the team which combines manpower, materials, equipment, time and monetary resources to achieve project success.

The team also works together to solve issues as they come up. And many issues do come up - from developers changing their mind about the colour of the marble floor to practical problems like poor soil conditions.

Post-construction
When the construction work is completed, the project is handed over to the developer. The Facilities Manager steps in to professionally manage the whole building or infrastructure so that the health and comfort of building users and occupiers are taken care of.

This role is important because a building that is well looked after fetches higher sales prices or rents. The occupiers are more productive and the businesses within them are more efficient. With his experience, the Facilities Manager is able to provide useful inputs during the design of future buildings.

The Project Manager
“The key to any successful project is having a good project leader. And such project management skills are highly transferable from one sector to another,” says Associate Professor Florence Ling Yean Yng, who lectures on the subject at NUS’s Department of Building.

The Project Manager is the leader of the whole development process. He must have strategic competencies to manage complex and large projects. This role utilises management skills that include planning, organising, influencing and controlling. Softer skills in negotiations, relationship and crisis management are also important.

While you may need many years of experience before you manage a large and complex project, certain companies and statutory bodies like the Housing Development Board (HDB) do take in fresh graduates as project managers who work on smaller, less complex projects.

The Quantity Surveyor
Often dubbed the Chief Financial Officer and Adviser on Contractual Matters of the consultant team, the Quantity Surveyor, or QS for short, has more responsibilities than just minding the dollars and cents. He provides clients with complex, solution-based services relating to cost, value, contract and procurement.

The QS gives strategic advice on the entire capital programme, helps clients prioritise spending, and recommends construction and development strategies that help clients “do more for less”. His work involves cost analysis, value management, estimating and life-cycle costing. He also advises on procurement matters, and prepares contract documents. The contract creates a legal relationship between the contractor and the developer.

Besides providing services on cost and contract management, the QS offers services in dispute management. A QS is not a lawyer but an experienced QS is often consulted by clients and other members of the design and construction teams as he possesses knowledge in this field of contract law as it relates to construction projects.

The Facilities Manager
According to Associate Professor David Cheong Kok Wai, who lectures in Facilities Management at the Department of Building at NUS, “The greatest challenge for facilities management today is about how to make the best use of available space from the user perspective, especially for commercial assets.

Other challenges include managing the indoor environmental quality and the energy sustainability of buildings. In recent years, there is also greater attention on designing and preparing security measures against terrorism.”

The Facility Manager (FM) is responsible for the strategic and operational management of facilities which may include large and complex shopping malls and commercial buildings. The FM’s job involves making high-level decisions within an organisation, contributing to strategic planning, and managing the operations of the facilities.

A key decision-maker in the areas of communications, utilities, maintenance and other workplace services, the FM is also responsible for improving safety and efficiency, protecting and enhancing a facility’s value, and creating a people-friendly work environment that improves productivity.

“Not many people are aware of the real discipline of facilities management. They think that it refers to day-to-day maintenance tasks,” observes Christine Low, 34, who works in the area of facilities management. She graduated from then NUS School of Building and Estate Management in 1996, and currently serves as the Head of Infrastructure Planning at SingHealth, the eastern cluster of public hospitals that includes Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where Christine’s office is located.

A large part of her daily work is best described as strategic planning. “I bridge the gap between what the doctors want and what we can actually build,” explains Christine.

Never stuck for choices

The best thing about being a project and facilities management graduate is that you can do very well in many different fields. “You are equipped with strategic competencies which you can transfer from career to career, and sector to sector”, says Associate Professor Ling.

“Many of my friends have dropped out of the construction industry to do teaching, to do sales, to do events, to do design even. The list goes on,” says Khairuddin (Khai for short), the Director of his own company, KTMK Interiors. Khai, now 36-years-old, graduated from NUS in 1994.

Christine agrees that the broad-based education in NUS has allowed graduates not to be stuck in one profession for life. “It’s actually quite funny. When we graduated, many of us thought, ‘Am I going to do this job for the rest of my life?’ But because of our training, our ability to see across different industries and specialties, it makes it very easy for us to fit into any organisation.”

The Future

The imminent arrival of the Integrated Resorts, commercial development of Marina Bay, and the on-going construction of the MRT Circle Line — all these projects require talented people who are knowledgeable in all aspects of project management and facilities management.

As Singapore matures into a highly-urbanised society, many organisations, especially those from the private sector, employ highly trained facilities managers to help them to make the best use of their available space.

Project and Facilities Management graduates will discover that their skills are highly sought after overseas. Other than China, India and Southeast Asia, graduates are also venturing to the Middle East to put their experience to good and profitable use.




Christine Low, 34
Head of Infrastructure Planning,
SingHealth
B.Sc. Building, NUS, 1996

Christine worked briefly as a QS for two years with Davis Langdon and Seah, one of the largest QS firms in Singapore. During that time, she was fortunate enough to have worked on a wide range of commercial and residential projects.

“A huge part of that work involves making sense of drawings and translating what an architect draws into ‘solid’ quantities. To do that, you need to be able to envisage a 3D image of the building by simply looking at the floor plan! You quantify the project by measuring that 3D image in your mind. That’s what makes the theory you learn very real,” says Christine with a smile.

“I still remember when I was a young quantity surveyor. For the life of me, I couldn’t visualise what the architect was trying to draw. So we sat down for discussion, and it turned out that he himself had missed out certain areas. He had a roof that didn’t quite connect with the building!” laughs Christine.

“The most valuable part of my education is the broad-based education that NUS gave me. We are required to understand everybody else’s specialty. That is our core strength.”

“In contrast, it is difficult for a specialist to pull teams together and to manage them, because he doesn’t see beyond his area of specialty,” says Christine.


Khairuddin, 36
Director, KTMK Interiors
B.Sc. Building, NUS, 1994

Khai worked with the Housing and Development Board (HDB) for six years upon graduating from NUS in 1994. He served as a project manager and handled construction as well as upgrading projects. He then went on to join Kienta, a local construction company. He helped the company penetrate markets in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Batam. Khai has also set up his own company, KTMK Interiors, in late 2003.

“The company essentially takes on commercial and institutional turnkey projects,” says Khai. “These are design-and-build projects where we’re given a space and we take charge of managing all the activities needed to develop that space. On top of design and construction, we are also responsible for contract administration. We act as a one-stop shop for all potential clients.”

Khai gives credit to the training at NUS for having given him a strong foundation in management skills.

“Three out of our four years at NUS, we learnt about contract and project management. We may not be trained lawyers but we’re adequately trained to draft contractual clauses that would protect our clients’ interests,” says Khai.




How much do Building graduates earn?
Fresh graduates - $1,800 to $2,500
Quantity Surveyors (5 years’ experience) - $3,500 (excludes OT pay)
Project Manager (5 years’ experience) - $4,000
Facilities Manager (5 years’ experience) - $3,700


The Programme - Project and facilities management
The Bachelor of Science (Project and Facilities Management) (Honours) programme offered by the Department of Building in NUS prepares graduates to be industry leaders who make decisions, shape policies, solve strategic and operational problems, and implement best management practices in the built environment. While graduates are directly educated and trained to be project managers and facilities managers, they are also equally proficient to take on the roles of quantity surveyors, contract managers and construction managers, among others, but with a new mindset which is more appropriate for the current and future challenges of industry.

The Department of Building of the National University of Singapore (NUS) has produced over 1,400 building professionals over the last 33 years. Many of them are graduates of the former building programme that has now been revamped into the B.Sc. (Project and Facilities Management) programme. The revamped programme highlights the growing importance of project and facilities management as a discipline.

Over the course of the four years in the programme, students will be equipped with knowledge from a broad range of academic subjects covering building technology, mechanical and electrical services, structural engineering, contract/law, cost and project management. Few degree programmes in Singapore offer such broad exposure and academic grounding across so many disciplines.

For more information about the B.Sc. Project and Facilities Management programme, please visit www.bdg.nus.edu.sg or contact Ms. Suriani at 6516 3474 or bdgsbs@nus.edu.sg