Computers And Quantity Surveyors

Computers and Quantity Surveyors Macmillan Building and Surveying Series Series Editor: lvor H. Seeley Emeritus Professor, Trent Polytechnic Advanced Building Measurement, second edition, lvor H. Seeley An Introduction to Building Services Christopher A. Howard Applied Valuation Diane Butler Asset Valuation Michael Rayner Building Economics, third edition lvor H. Seeley Building Maintenance, second edition lvor H. Seeley Building Quantities Explained, fourth edition lvor H. Seeley Building Surveys, Reports and Dilapidations lvor H. Seeley Building Technology, third edition lvor H. Seeley Civil Engineering Contract Administration and Controllvor H. Seeley Civil Engineering Quantities, fourth edition lvor H. Seeley Civil Engineering Specification, second edition lvor H. Seeley Computers and Quantity Surveyors A. J. Smith Contract Planning and Contract Procedures B. Cooke Contract Planning Case Studies B. Cooke Environmental Science in Building, second edition R. McMullan Introduction to Valuation D. Richmond Principals of Property Investment and PricingW. D. Fraser Quantity Surveying Practice lvor H. Seeley Structural Detailing P. Newton Urban Land Economics and Public Policy, fourth edition P. N. Balch in, J. L. Kieve and G. H. Bull 1980 )CT Standard Form of Building Contract, second edition R. F. Fellows Series Standing Order If you would like to receive future titles in this series as they are published, you can make use of our standing order facility. To place a standing order please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address and the name of the series. Please state with which title you wish to begin your standing order. (If you live outside the United Kingdom we may not have the rights for your area, in which case we will forward your order to the publisher concerned.) Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 2XS, England. Computers and Quantity Surveyors A.J.Smith Department of Surveying Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham M MACMILLAN © A. J. Smith 1989 All rl.ghts reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted sa.ve with written permission or in accordance with the proviSions of the Copyrl.ght Act 1956 (a.s amended), or under the terms of a.ny licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyrl.ght Licensing Agency, 33-4 Alfred Pla.ce London WC 1E 7DP. Any person who does a.ny unauthorised a.ct in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and clvll claims for damages. First published 1989 Published by MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD Houndmllls, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world La.serset by Panting-Green Publishing Services, London British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Smith A. J. Computel'S and Quantity Surveyors 1. Great Britain. Quantity surveying. Appllcations of micro computer systems I. Title. 624.1'042'0285416 ISBN 978-0-333-49161-4 ISBN 978-1-349-10857-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-10857-2 Cover photograph of a dlgitiser kindly supplled by Techsonlx (U.K.) Ltd. For Christine, Joanna and Elaine Contents Preface Acknowledgements ix xi 1 GENERAL CONCEPTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Quantity Surveyor and the Computer- a Short History Computer Hardware The Selection and Management of an Office Computer System Computers and the Law General Purpose Software Public Information Systems The Development of In-house Systems 'Expert systems' -the Future? 3 17 42 65 80 93 101 115 2 COMPUTERS APPLIED TO QUANTITY SURVEYING 133