Welcome to the Council for the Built Environment (CBE)
The Council for the Built Environment (CBE) was established as a statutory body by Parliament (Act 43 of 2000) to provide leadership to, and ensure good governance of the professions, while serving as a two-way channel for coordinated input, into the restructuring and development process, between the professions and Government.
The Council performs a variety of functions, such as :
Setting and auditing of academic standards for purposes of registration through a process of
accreditation of quantity surveying programmes at universities and technikons
Setting and auditing of professional development standards through the provision of guidelines
which set out post-qualification requirements for registration in the categories of registration
Prescribing requirements for Continuing Professional Development and determining the period
within which registered persons must apply for renewal of their registrations
Prescribing a Code of Conduct and Codes of Practice, and enforcing such conduct through an
Investigating Committee and a Disciplinary Tribunal
Identification of work of a quantity surveying nature that should be reserved for registered
persons by the CBE, after consultation with the Competition Board
Advising the CBE and Minister of Public Works on matters relating to the quantity surveying profession and cognate matters
Recognition of professional associations
Publication of a guideline tariff of fees for consulting work, in consultation with government, the
profession and industry
What is a Quantity Surveyor?
Quantity surveyors are the financial consultants of the construction industry whose training and experience qualify them to advise on cost and contractual arrangements and to prepare contract documents.
They act in liaison with architects, consulting engineers and contractors to safeguard the client's interest. They are independent experts who operate in a specialised area of the construction industry.
The title quantity surveyor was reserved under the Quantity Surveyors' Act of 1970 for exclusive use by those who had obtained the necessary qualifications and experience prescribed under the Act. In terms of it, such persons must register with the South African Council for Quantity Surveyors before they may offer their service as consultants to the public.
Quantity surveyors are required to comply with a strict code of professional conduct which includes responsibility to their employers or clients and to their profession having full regard to the public interest, conducting themselves so as to uphold the dignity and reputation of the profession and discharging their duties to their employers and clients in an efficient and competent manner with complete fidelity and without undue delay.
The Council performs a variety of functions, such as :
