Appraisal of the Competency Gap between UOM Quantity Surveying Degree Programme and IQSSL Competency Standards

Abstract

Quantity Surveying is one of the prominent professions in the construction industry which fulfils varied and comprehensive duties to support cost-effective construction and property development. Thus, Quantity Surveyors (QSs) should adorn with competencies to deal with complex situations in the construction industry. The Quantity Surveying profession has become an emerging profession due to the increasing number of Quantity Surveying degree programmes offered by many Sri Lankan institutions. However, many construction professionals claim that Quantity Surveying education in Sri Lanka has not distinguished the actual needs of the profession, thus the graduates are presumed to not being up to the standards expected by the industry. Institute of Quantity Surveyors Sri Lanka (IQSSL) is the local professional organization that has set out competency standards for QSs under the Act of parliament. Assessment of Professional Competency (APC) is being evaluated by the IQSSL. IQSSL will only accredit any degree programmes which comply with specified competencies. On the other hand, the University of Moratuwa (UOM) is one of the government institutions that conduct the Quantity Surveying education in Sri Lanka and IQSSL has accredited its degree programme. Thus, this study intends to ascertain to which extent the IQSSL competency standards are being satisfied by the UOM Quantity Surveying degree programme to address the above claim of industry practitioners. To attain the aim, an extensive literature synthesis was piloted to develop a theoretical competency mapping framework upon the key findings of the literature. This research outlines a 'competency' as the ability of an individual to follow a set of professionally agreed standards. Due to the rapid evolvement and complexity in the construction industry, it is much required to enhance QSs' competencies. The literature synthesis identified that the UOM's competencies are slightly different from IQSSL competency standards. Hence, the research outcome has successfully argued that there is a competency gap between the UOM Quantity Surveying degree programme and IQSSL standards through competency mapping techniques. Thus, identifying such a competency gap would enhance any knowledge requirement of the UOM graduates in line with the construction industry.