Lord of all he surveys

"I KNEW I was going to I get involved in some way in construction because that's where my best results were, says Michael Walsh. "I did building construction in school and I enjoyed it and did technical drawing and mechanical drawing at school. I found it (construction) suited my skills. . . I got into the RTC course and took it from there."

Walsh studied for a National Diploma in Construction Economics at Cork RTC in the mid 1980s. After he graduated he went to London to work for a summer.

Walsh had planned to come home after the summer and get work and study in Limerick but the property boom was under way in the UK, friends encouraged him to stay and Walsh took a job as a junior surveyor with a small firm in Wimbledon which, because there was such a demand for surveyors", also paid his fees and sponsored him to study part time for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors exams.

A quantity surveyor is a cost expert who keeps a watchful eye on building projects on behalf of a client - and who guides a project through the financial complexities of modern construction.

By 1989, after two years in London, during which he passed the RICS exams, the economic climate at home had picked up. "They were looking for people again and I got the opportunity to come back." His job involved working on the Custom House Dock project, which, he says, was a very exciting job.

"It was the biggest development for a long time (in Dublin). Yes, it was exciting. I had a lot of experience on smaller developments in London so it was good to work on a prestigious project like that," he recalls.

In 1993 he moved to Levins Associates, based in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, where he is today. Here he is responsible for the development of the company in Ireland. The company also has a large office in Moscow.

"IT IS an exciting job," says I Walsh. One of the more unusual projects he mentions is a night club in New York. "As you move up the ladder, yes, it's exciting and it's interesting to get a job from inception to completion."

A chartered quantity surveyor gives practical advice on the likely cost of a construction project. He or she will produce estimates; recommend the best tender arrangement and prepare bills of quantities. The service also includes recommending intermin progress payments, cost monitoring, time management, site surveys, arbitration and litigation advice and preparing final accounts. The client is also given advice on a range of areas including contractual arrangements and construction insurances.

The hardest part of the process, says Walsh, is having to negotiate a final count with the builder. "There arc always changes that you have to keep track of and negotiate the cost of those changes." A final agreement has to be arrived at with the builder on behalf of the client. "You want good, strong negotiating skills."

"There are times, if you are just doing the mundane sort of work, when it can get a bit tedious but if you can rise above that and get involved in putting projects together and be at the cutting edge where decisions are taken, it's better. It's very interesting. And you have the opportunity to travel. Quantity surveying is recognised worldwide. There's always a role for someone to look after the money in a development."