I having just read Gus Alexander鈥檚 article 鈥淎 Waste of Energy鈥� (28 October), and it鈥檚 had a fundamental effect on my view of the way we go about construction in the UK.

Having been a quantity surveyor for 30 years, I formed the opinion that the industry had become far too specialised, with QSs, architects, mechanical and electrical , lift engineers, estimators, buyers and so on all involved in the process.

Wouldn鈥檛 life be simpler, I thought, for the client and all those involved if we had, say, just three qualifications: engineers, architects and construction staff? Less co-ordination would be needed and therefore fewer mistakes would be made.

However, having read Gus鈥� view on how tenders should be dealt with, I have come to believe that the specialisations should continue for some time yet.

I certainly would not consider writing an article on design and so am not sure what was in Gus鈥� mind when he decided to produce an article about tender analysis.

Postscript

Frank A Perry

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