Impact to the Quantity Surveyors Due to the Current Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This research focuses on the impact to the Quantity Surveyors due to the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka. The Easter bomb attack, covid 19 pandemic, and political instability can be seen as the proximate causes of the current economic crisis, while there were many structural issues of the local economy which had paved way for the same. As a developing country, the crisis had a stronger impact on the construction industry than other industries of the economy. The main reasons for the collapse of the construction industry are the suspension of construction projects by the government, the increase in the price of construction materials, the lack of investors to invest in new projects, and bottlenecks in terms of wrong policy directives. The professionals in the construction industry were severely impacted by the downfall. Among the professionals in the construction industry, this study focusses on QSs- (Quantity Surveyors). Thirty (30) semi-structured interviews were carried out in terms of data gathering. The survey findings demonstrated the type of organization and working experience of QSs. The collected data were analyzed using techniques of thematic analysis. Moreover, the findings identified factors which were the challenges due to current economic crisis and proposed strategies to help overcome those challenges