Improving the methods of description of building works in the UK

Since 1922, methods and rules of measurement have been developed to address the continual need to describe and quantify building work in the UK and revised to adapt to changes in industry practices and materials, yet not all changes have been addressed adequately. Currently, surveyors often work directly for clients and, as a result, have lost the knowledge relating to some aspects of construction cost which was historically provided by builders and merely describe the material content of elemental building designs produced by architects. Therefore, a knowledge gap exists in the belief that the current methods are efficient and effective (i.e. produce full descriptions of building work). This paper identifies key issues with these methods and develops the main criteria for a superior solution. The research method includes the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of thirteen documents, which represent the evolution of the rules of measurement in the UK, and academic literature. An improved system based on describing 'workpieces' of work on-site, including the key criteria required to produce an enhanced standard method of description of building work is offered.