The 19th Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors Congress May 29 – June 1, 2015 | Yokohama, Japan The 19th Annual PAQS Congress was held in Yokohama, Japan at the end of May this year. Canada was well represented by Ian and Tyra Duncan, David Lai, Dave Burns and Matt Weber. The following is an overview and individual reports from the Congress.
OVERVIEW OF BOARD MEETING By Dave Burns, PQS(F) During the 2015 PAQS Conference held in Yokahama, Japan, PAQS held its 19th Annual Board Meeting on May 30, 2015 with representation from its Member Organizations in attendance. In addition to Canada, professional bodies from Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Africa were in attendance at the meeting. In addition, some observer organizations were present, including similarly-mandated, multi-national organizations such as the Conseil European Des Economistes de la construction (CEEC) and the International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC). Representing Canada at the meeting were Dave Burns, CIQS Chair and David Lai, CIQS Education Director. This Conference was the last meeting to be chaired by the outgoing Chair from China, Ms. Xu Huiqin, who was completing her last term in the Chair. During the meeting, standard organizational business was conducted such as the review of past meeting
minutes and the reading of prepared reports inclusive of the Chairman’s Report, Secretary’s Report, Treasurer’s Report, PAQS Iwata Foundation Report and the Council of Advisors Report. In addition, standard PAQS items such as award recipient details, essay competition winners, website updates and individual member country reports were also discussed. Within the organization, a number of specially-formed committees, which focus on commonly shared member themes, had prepared individual reports for presentation. Accordingly, the Education Committee, Research Committee, Sustainability Committee, and the Young QS Group presented their report findings and recommendations, from which mandates and objectives were further developed. Towards the end of the Board Meeting, PAQS held its Election of PAQS Officers for the 2015-2017 term. This segment of the meeting was particularly exciting for the CIQS, as one of our designation holders and a Past CIQS President, Ian Duncan, PQS was elected to sit as new the Chairman for PAQS. Effectively, Ian will Chair the next PAQS Conference in Christ Church, New Zealand in 2016 and in Vancouver, BC in 2017. In traditional form, the 19th Annual PAQS Board Meeting closed with gift exchanges and a Board Photo session with all attendees.
10 | CONSTRUCTION ECONOMIST | www.ciqs.org | Summer 2015
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SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE REPORT By Dave Burns, PQS(F) During the PAQS Conference, the CIQS participated in the Sustainability Committee Meeting discussions through Dave Burns, PQS who represented Canada. This committee was recently established as one of the newer working groups and was chaired by Michael Manikas, of the AIQS (Australia). During the meeting, discussions led primarily to developing the mandates of the group as relating to efficiencies in construction, the reduction of energy consumption, the relationships between carbon footprints and construction and sustainability in general.Interestingly, it transpired during committee discussions amongst the various group members that a common means of assessing building efficiencies achieved on a project is difficult (if not impossible) to discuss, simply because a common measuring standard (for energy savings /building efficiency) among the various countries is not in place. Different countries utilize different systems, with different benchmarks and with different rating systems, to conduct their reporting. For instance, efficiency achievement standards were measured in a variety of methods such as through utilizing LEEDS (Gold, Silver, Platinum), an R-Rating system (R-20, R-30, etc.), a Star Rating System (1 Star–5 Star,) or perhaps using a Number Rating System (1–10). All of the discussed measurement
