Home /
About PAQS
Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors
An international association of national organizations representing Quantity Surveyors in the Asia and Western Pacific region.
Our Mission
- The promotion of the practice of Quantity Surveying (QS) in the region
- The promotion of "best practice" for QS in the region
- The promotion of dialogue between member organizations
- Encouragement of regional co-operation in the practice of QS
- Fostering of research appropriate to the better understanding of building practice in the region
- Rendering of assistance to members of member organizations working in each other's countries
History of the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors
The Beginning
In the early 1990s, a number of professional QS and academics in various countries of the Pan Pacific region started to discuss the feasibility and benefits of closer co-operation between members of the profession in different countries.
On the invitation of the AIQS and the NZIQS, a number of professional organizations representing QS in their countries attended a regional Co-operation Workshop in Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 May 1994.
The original signatories to that Letter were:
Mr Michael Langley for the Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (AIQS)
Mr Adrian Smith for the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS)
Mr Isao Tokunaga for the Building Surveyors Institute of Japan (BSIJ)
Mr Theo Marlow for the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NZIQS)
Mr Andrew Heng for the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV)
A copy of this letter is shown elsewhere on this page.
Formation of PAQS
Following the 1994 Workshop, the AIQS hosted a Pan Pacific Congress at the Gold Coast in Queensland in May 1995 and all the signatories to the 1994 Letter were invited to attend.
At this meeting it was agreed to form the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors and to establish various working groups to prepare for the formal establishment of the new body. Approximately 250 delegates attended the technical program which followed the representatives meeting.
Establishment of PAQS
In May 1996 another PAQS meeting and professional seminar were held in Hong Kong, during which the Chairman was appointed and a draft Constitution prepared by the NZIQS was formally accepted for the establishment of the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS).
Professor Dennis Lenard from the AIQS, who had chaired the meeting in 1995, was confirmed as the first Chairman of the PAQS and the AIQS accepted the role of the PAQS Secretariat.
First PAQS Congress
The 1st PAQS Congress was held in Singapore in June 1997 and this included the PAQS Annual Board meeting and a technical and social program.
The Congress was opened to delegates from all the PAQS member countries and approximately 160 attended the program. At this meeting the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia attended officially for the first time as a full member and Mr. Edward Tang from the SISV was elected as the PAQS Chairman.
At this meeting the member countries agreed to support a research project by the HKIS into Professional Ethics in the Region and also established the annual rotation of the PAQS Congress between the member countries.
Cape Town Meeting
On 17 April 2004 the PAQS Board met in Cape Town in conjunction with the ICEC meeting. The 8th PAQS Congress was concurrently held with the ICEC Congress as in 2002.
Being only 6 months since the Tokyo meeting, the PAQS Board was able to continue the work agreed in 2003 and a time table was set for the revision of the competency standards and the introduction of the proposed joint accreditation scheme for university courses.