The International Construction Measurement Standards: transparency and best practice
A professional body made up of some of the leading organisations and experts in the construction industry have come together and formed the International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) to bring about transparency and best practice world-wide.
Institutions including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES) and the Institute of Quantity Surveyors and International Cost Engineering Council are just a few of the 40+ organisations that are represented within the ICMS.
ICMS is a “new, high level international standard which aims to provide greater global consistency in classifying, defining, measuring, analysing and presenting construction costs at a project, regional, state, national or international level.”
While not a detailed method of measuring construction works, ICMS is a “high level” benchmark and reporting framework for international cost classification, reporting and comparison.
So, what is the ICMS trying to solve?
The construction industry, despite rapid globalisation and investment funds “flowing” across borders and money being poured into constructed assets, is one that currently lacks a current language and framework that will classify construction costs.
Estimating construction costs causes major problems for a number of people, including consultant, surveyors, economists and engineers.
“For the first time at a global collaborative level, ICMS will introduce a standard structure and format that will lead to greater consistency in classifying and reporting of capital costs for construction projects.”
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How will ICMS be implemented across the world?
ICMS will be a publicly accessible standard. Anyone is free to download it. Members of the ICMS Coalition can develop their own guidance or rules that will ensure that the requirements of ICMS are fully complied with.
The ICMS Standard is readily available right here.