Quantity Surveyors in the Shipbuilding Industry

Objective - This study explores the role of quantity surveyors in the procurement of vessels in the Malaysian shipbuilding industry. The study's objectives include defining the quantity surveyors' relevance in the vessels, identifying the skills required of quantity surveyors by shipbuilding companies, and identifying the professional services quantity surveyors can offer to shipbuilding companies.Methodology/Technique - This study adopts an exploratory research design, mixed-method, sequential data collection, and the simple random sampling technique to select a sample size of 52 shipbuilders out of the 59 shipbuilding companies operating in Sarawak, Malaysia. The qualitative data was obtained through an interview held with the executive director of a large-sized shipbuilding company in Sibu town.Findings - A questionnaire survey was also carried out among the shipbuilding companies operating in Sibu town. A total of 21 usable questionnaires were received, yielding a 21% response rate. Descriptive statistics were obtained with the use of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The results show that quantity surveyors are relevant in the shipbuilding industry. It was also found that quantity surveyors are required to be familiar with the shipbuilding design, materials, process, and contract.Novelty - The results suggest that the essential services that quantity surveyors can provide to the shipbuilding companies are estimating and cost planning. This study complements the existing literature on shipbuilding and provides a direction for the advancement of the quantity surveying profession.Type of Paper - Empirical