The electrical quantity surveyor is the person who is most concerned with the financial aspects of a project.
The most important task that the electrical quantity surveyor undertakes is the financial risk assessment of the persons/company inviting the tender. There is absolutely no point in preparing a tender, winning the contract, delivering a spectacularly successful project to time and budget if the client either does not or cannot settle the invoice for the works and has insufficient assets to cover the invoiced amount. This is one reason that contracts have stage payments it will be for the electrical quantity surveyor to determine whether the stage payment regime is financially prudent. If the electrical quantity surveyor suggests that no tender should be submitted for a project then walk away.
The next key task for the electrical quantity surveyor is to read the contract terms and conditions, which are often called the contract preliminaries, again if the conditions are to onerous then either endeavour to get them changed or walk away.
Because of the manner that consultants let contracts where they do not design the projects but let contracts on concepts or basic 'ideas' where the detail design is by contractors after the contracts are let there is clearly a need to manage the project's finances as the contract price is never the final price, this is why electrical quantity surveyors are necessary. If consultants designed in detail then the contract price would also be the final account price and the need for electrical quantity surveyors would diminish.
An electrical quantity surveyor may work for either the client or the contractor, working in an office or on-site. They are involved in a project from the start, preparing estimates and costs of the work, assessing the works to permit interim payments. When the project is in progress, electrical quantity surveyors keep track of any variations to the contract that may affect costs and create reports to show profitability. Therefore an electrical quantity surveyor is necessary to manage the costs relating to the electrical works for a project, from the initial financial calculations to the final figures.