Prof Fanie Buys

BSc Building, BSc Quantity Surveying, MSc Quantity Surveying, PhD Construction Economics.

 

Professor
Department of Quantity Surveying
Fanie.Buys@mandela.ac.za
041 504 2669
North Campus, Block C, Room Nr E102

Biography / Background


Fanie Buys is a Professor at the Nelson Mandela University and holds a MSc degree in Quantity Surveying and a PhD degree in Construction Economics, both from the Nelson Mandela University.

Apart from lecturing and research he is well known in South Africa amongst quantity surveying and construction management students and practitioners for his publications on quantity surveying. This consists of three books, namely ‘Measuring Building Work’, Quantity Surveying, Pre-contract Administration’ and ‘Quantity Surveying, Post-contract Administration’.

Measuring building work is a core technical competence of the quantity surveyor. Measurement is also an essential competence for other built environment professionals, including construction managers and property professionals. It is not surprising then that practitioners complain when graduates struggle with simple measurement tasks. Even present day electronic and automated measuring systems require a clear understanding of building quantities that are generated from a systematic approach to measurement. As there were no other books to assist quantity surveying practitioners and students a book was compiled, titled ‘Measuring Building Work - Worked Examples’.
Quantity Surveying Pre-contract Administration places the measuring of building work within the context of assessing the feasibility of a project. The reader is taken through the key components of the quantity surveyor’s cost advice roles at pre-contract stages including: establishing early estimates of project cost, assessing the feasibility of the project, refining the estimate through elemental analysis as more design and specification information becomes available; then producing and pricing the full Bills of Quantities for project procurement. In doing so, it provides a comprehensive collection of the fundamental ‘measurement’ building blocks required in a professional quantity surveyor’s ‘toolbox’.  Moreover, it highlights the underlying philosophical differences in one’s approach to the measurement of building works at the different stages of design, thereby providing a useful benchmark for students and practitioners alike in making the connections between the fundamental theory of measurement and its practical application.
Apart from being one of the few fundamental reference resources for the South African quantity surveying education and professional practice, the uniqueness of the book Quantity Surveying Pre-contract Administration is its focus on learning from practical examples thereby presenting an easy and pedagogically sound approach to knowledge acquisition and practical skill-enrichment. Yet, additional unique features of the book are the exemplification of pro-formas used for professional practice and the content compliance with the South African standards, regulations and professional best practice. The contents are based on industry guidelines especially those issued by the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS) and the Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC).  These local features set the book apart from the foreign resources that predominate the resource reference lists in South Africa and other commonwealth countries. The worked examples are a comprehensive guide for contract administration from tender stage to completion of the contract encompassing standard pro forma documentation, certification of main contract and subcontract payments, calculation and inclusion of contract price adjustment provisions, preparation of cost reports and cash flows and preparation of the final account including adjustment of preliminaries and final reconciliation of the contract.

Professional Activities


1997 to 2020 Member: Association of South African Quantity Surveyors. Registration Nr 1995

1981 to 2020 Registered Quantity Surveyor: South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession. Registration Nr 1498

1983 to 1991 Member: Eastern Cape and Border Junior Organisation: Association of South African Quantity Surveyors

1986 to 2002 Alternate member: Education Advisory Committee: South African Council for Quantity Surveyors

1990 to 1991 Member: Eastern Cape and Border Chapter Committee: Association of South African Quantity Surveyors

  • Secretary/Treasurer (1990)
  • Vice-chairman (1991)


1997 to 2004 Member of the Advisory Committee: Port Elizabeth Technikon Department of Building

1997 to 1998 Consultant to QS Edutech Centre (Technical/Professional Advice Centre)

2005 to 2006 Member of the Education, Standards and Research Committee of the South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession

2007 to 2020 Member: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Registration Nr 1252923

2007 – 2010 South African Council for the Architectural Profession: Professional Architectural Draughtsperson. Registration Nr D2877
 

Teaching Interests

His extensive professional experience both prior to and following his appointment to the academic staff at the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University) as senior lecturer in the Department of Quantity Surveying in 1985, has equipped him for the task of presenting a wide range of courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students at all levels of the courses in quantity surveying and construction management including Quantities (Measurement), Quantity Surveying (Professional Practice), Building Drawings, Information Technology and Research Methodology. In most of these courses his lecture material includes a large library of building construction images to ensure that students get a clear image of ‘real life’ construction.
 

Research Interests

His research interests include Maintenance Management and Quantification, and he has supervised several honours, masters and doctoral students.
 

Representative Publications

1997 Presentation / Publication COBRA Research Conference,  Portsmouth, England, 10 -12 September 1997

The urgency of building maintenance management in South Africa, with specific reference to housing”

2002 Published Article (International Conference) COBRA Research Conference,  Glasgow, England, 3 - 5 September 2001
Title: 'A survey of approaches to maintenance management in tertiary institutions in South Africa”. (Co-author Prof RN Nkado)

2004 Presentation
Published article
10-12 October CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) 2nd Post Graduate Conference, Cape Town
Title: “Sustaining the assets of tertiary institutions”

2006 Published Article (International Conference) COBRA Research Conference,  London, England, 7 - 9 September 2006
Title: 'A benchmarking model for maintenance management systems in South African tertiary educational institutions”. (Joint paper with Prof RN Nkado)

2006 Published Article (International refereed Journal) Construction Management and Economics. Volume 24, No 10, pages 1997- 1005. 2006
Title: “A survey of maintenance management systems in South African tertiary educational institutions”. Co-author: R. Nkado.

2007 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 14 No 2, pages 76-90
Title: “Reasons for the Transformation of Facilities Management in the Public Sector”. Co-author: E Tonono

2008 Presentation
Published Article
16-18 March 5th Post Graduate Conference on Construction Industry Development, Bloemfontein.
Title: “A need for a transformation strategy for Facilities Management in the Public Sector”. Co-Author: E Tonono

2008 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 15 No 2, pages 29-44
Title: “Comparative analysis of design management procedures in manufacturing and architecture”. Co-author: X Sidloyi

2009 Published Article (International Conference) COBRA Research Conference,  Cape Town, 10-11 September 2009
Title: Performance of tertiary institutions in terms of managing their asset’  (Joint paper with R Cumberlege & G Crafford)

2010 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 17 No 1, pages 1-24. Title: The effect of Chinese construction companies on the Namibian construction industry; a construction and design team members’ perspective.  Co-author: S Hallick

2011 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 18 No 1, pages 81-101. Title: Green Buildings: A Mauritian built environment stakeholders’ perspective. Co-author: R Hurbissoon

2012
Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 19 No 2, pages 74-88. Title: The potential of built-environment professionals’ contribution towards emerging contractor development. Co-author: D Ludwaba

2013 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 20 No 2, pages 78-99. Title: Causes of defects in the South African housing construction industry:  Perceptions of built environment stakeholders. Co-author: M le Roux

2013 Published Article (International Conference) SACQSP Conference, Cape Town, 20 June 2013.  Title: Consultant team members’ performance evaluation against incentives towards the achievement of green building principles.
Co-authors: R Ndihokubwayo & G Crafford

2014 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 21 No 2, pages 1-21. Title: The strategic management of construction companies during recessionary cycles. Co-author: R van Rooyen

2015 Published Article
Refereed Acta Structilia. Volume 22 No 2, pages 81-102. Title: The relevance of ethical conduct in creating a competitive advantage for entry-level emerging contractors. Co-author: T van Schalkwyk

2015 Publication:  Conference Proceedings 4th Construction Management Conference, Central University, Bloemfontein. 30 Nov to 1 December 2015, p 168-173. The influence of inflation targeting monetary policy framework on the construction sector’s contribution to the South African economy.
Co-authors: A Babalola, R Ncwadi

2015 Publication:  Conference Proceedings International Conference, 25-26 March, 2015, at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. The Influence of the Macro-economic Environment on the Infrastructural Development in South Africa. Co-authors: A Babalola

2016 Publication:  Conference Proceedings ICIDA, 2016, 5th International Conference on Infrastructure Development in South Africa, 10 – 12 July, 2016. p589-595. Influence of Interest Rate on the Contribution of the Private Sector to the Infrastructure Development in South Africa.
Co-authors: A Babalola, R Ncwadi

2017 Published Article
Refereed Journal of Construction in South Africa. Influence of Interest rate on Private Sector Spending in the South African Construction sector: An Auto –Regression Distributed Lags (ARDL) Approach
Co-authors: A Babalola, R Ncwadi