The New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors is a respected institute that has helped New Zealanders since 1978. But its history reaches back further to 1944 and the days of the Quantity Surveyors Institute of New Zealand (QSINZ).

The first quantity surveying firms in New Zealand started in the first decade of the twentieth century. Our members continue to build on this tradition of serving New Zealanders and the practice of quantity surveying.

Who we are 

The ancient roots of the quantity surveying profession

One of the oldest quantity surveying firms of modern times was Messrs Henry Cooper and Sons, founded in Reading, England in 1785. New Zealand’s first quantity surveying firm is Chas E. George & Sons (now Chas E George & Sons Limited) , established in Dunedin in 1907. But the profession of quantity surveying dates back to antiquity, as these quotes show.

Shakespeare — Henry IV Part II ‘Bardolph’

When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot, then draw the model
And when we see the figure of the house,
Then we must rate the cost of the erection;
Which if we find outweighs ability,
What we do then but draw anew the model
In fewer offices, or at least desist
To build at all! Much more in this great work,
............should we survey
The plot of situation and the model,
Consent upon a sure foundation,
Question surveyors, know our own estate,
How able such a work to undergo.

Bible — St Luke Chapter 14, Jesus

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it mock him saying, “This man begin to build and was not able to finish.”

The first professional associations in quantity surveying

Two professional associations in the United Kingdom were The Surveyor’s Institute and the Glasgow Institute of Measurers.

The Surveyor’s Institute was formed in London in 1868. It became the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, now RICS — www.rics.org

The Glasgow Institute of Measurers was formed in 1881. The institute became the Faculty of Surveyors of Scotland in 1913 and became part of RICS Scotland in 1937.

Some highlights in the modern history of quantity surveying

In 1796, Charles Hutton (1737–1823) wrote The Compendious Measurer: being a brief, yet comprehensive, treatise on mensuration and practical geometry.

In 1849 John Reid wrote The Young Surveyors Preceptor and Architect’s and Builder’s Guide.

The first UK legal decision affecting Quantity Surveying appears to date back to 1837. That year, in Moon v Guardians of the Witney Union (1837) 3 Bing (NC) 817 [132 ER 624], the court made a judgment that it was satisfied that it was the practice in building contracts for quantities to be taken out by a Surveyor and that the practice was beneficial.

The history of the first Bill of Quantities (BOQs) dates back to the 19th century. Ashworth and Hogg (2000) note that the rise of general contracting in the Industrial Revolution saw contractors employing surveyors to prepare a BOQ for the work.

Our presidents - past and present

The NZIQS would not exist without its active and past members. We acknowledge the debt we owe to all who have made the NZQIS a success, especially our presidents. They have guided the institute throughout the years.

*deceased

Presidents of our founding firms

Before the NZIQS there were the Quantity Surveyors Institute of New Zealand (QSINZ) and the New Zealand branch of The Building Surveyors Institute (BSI). They set the stage for the NZIQS, formed from their amalgamation in 1978. Below is a list of their presidents.

Life Members

*deceased