It’s no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping industries, and surveying is one of many professions which is presented with the opportunities it can bring in revolutionising traditional practices.
Over the years, the built environment has increasingly embraced the technology, which offers insight and analysis to optimise and predict.
Across the entity of the built environment, from residential through to public sector work and commercial property, quantity surveyors are responsible for precisely costing buildings from conception through completion while ensuring each project meets all legal and quality requirements.
Quantity surveyors have a range of responsibilities including analysing repair or maintenance costs, conducting feasibility studies to vet proposed projects, and managing risk, value engineering and cost control measures.
So, how can quantity surveyors in Northern Ireland leverage the wide range of opportunities that AI presents, whilst also mitigating the risks it also imposes?
Throughout the built environment AI-driven tools and algorithms can be beneficial in making processes more efficient, enhancing the decision-making process, and opening doors to new opportunities.
For example, quantity surveyors can employ AI to assist with data collection. Through the use of automated sensor networks, AI-driven monitoring systems and predictive analytics, AI can be used in many ways to allow for continuous insights which can in turn help save costs and time over the building’s life cycle.
We’ve also seen an increase in the number of surveyors using AI to conduct virtual inspections. These inspections employ the likes of drones to assess structures remotely, which enhances efficiency, and data accuracy as well as safety measures as there is no need for a physical presence.
However, the lingering fear that AI can ultimately override tasks, such as planned preventative maintenance surveys, still remains. How does this innovative, disruptive technology shape the future of quantity surveying and how will it redefine the role of professionals across the construction landscape?
We must not forget the value that quantity surveyors play in the built environment. They are experts in cost management, contract oversight and procurement, and with the assistance of AI, can enhance their knowledge and skills further.
At Rics’ Northern Ireland conference next month, we will be discussing the impact of AI on quantity surveying and how we can conquer challenges together in the evolving landscape that is our built environment.
- Martin Doherty is Northern Ireland regional board chair of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
