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It is a little over 20 years since mandatory fee scales were abolished by UK professional bodies. During this period fee levels have fluctuated with economic demand, and new procurement strategies such as partnering have been developed, but there is still a widespread view in industry that fee levels are too low. This view is shared by many professionals, and perhaps more surprisingly by clients, even in the current construction and property boom. The purpose of this paper is to report research on the link between competitive fee tendering and clients' perceptions of service quality in the UK property industry. The main hypothesis is that there is a causal relationship between service quality and the method of appointment of the professional.

The research involved unstructured interviews with clients and professionals and a postal questionnaire study of one 133 UK based clients. The questionnaire study was a repeat of a similar survey conducted eight years previously in very different economic conditions. The public and private sector clients each assessed the service quality received from a professional using a measurement scale developed from the generic service industry instrument SERVQUAL. The scale is used to test the main hypothesis and four sub‐hypotheses. There were twice as many private sector clients completing the questionnaires as there were public sector clients and the largest group of professionals assessed were General Practice Chartered Surveyors.

The results of the recent study are similar to the earlier one (in that evidence of the predicted relationship is not provided by the data) but there are some interesting differences in the results of both studies – fee tendering has declined in popularity, direct appointment has increased, but less than 5 per cent of the commissions were let on a partnered basis.

Property managers and other professionals may wish to make use of the service quality measurement scale in order assess the service they provide to clients.

The research provides confirmation that clients do not perceive that a lower standard of service quality is provided for fee‐tendered commissions. It also extends the already substantial body of research based upon the SERVQUAL measurement technique.

Discusses the development of a 26‐item scale for assessing service quality in a UK construction professional service context. The research builds upon work undertaken by service marketing academics in the USA who have developed a generic service quality measurement instrument (SERVQUAL). The data collection (involving the assessment of 244 professionals by their clients) and analysis stages of the research are described in detail. The findings of the research are that construction professional service quality can be described as a four‐dimensional construct (the writer has called the factors “what”, “how”, “when” and “who”), and that the assessment scale possesses both reliability and validity. Concludes with a discussion of the possible future uses of this scale.

This paper presents the findings of a research project which investigates the market for the chartered building surveyor to act as the “panel expert” for insurance companies in domestic subsidence claims cases. The key players in the process of a claim are considered and hypotheses, that building surveyors are discriminated against in favour of engineers, and that this is due to the training of each profession, are stated. The hypotheses are tested by questionnaire studies of building surveying firms, insurance companies, loss adjusters and higher education institutions. The hypotheses are largely confirmed but the results throw interesting light on the subject. The paper concludes with recommendations for professional bodies and universities to assist those surveyors wishing to practise in an increasingly important area of work.

Discusses how clients who are requiring a structural survey go about the task of selecting and appointing the surveyor. Analyses the results of a questionnaire to identify and measure the importance of factors taken into account by clients when selecting a surveyor. Concludes by recommending certain points to follow to assist surveying practices.

As the construction industry strives for closer integration of the participants, more responsibility for the management of the detailed design process is being directed to main contractors and combined with their existing duties of managing the construction and pre‐construction processes. Crucially, this necessitates successful management of the interface between these processes, and this paper seeks to investigate a conceptual view of that interface to provide a foundation for improving understanding of it.

Recent and current literature is examined, and various theoretical backgrounds for the design and the construction processes are reviewed. The consequences for the understanding of the interface are discussed. The significance of conceptual frameworks is also reviewed.

A significant difference is identified in the published work between the theoretical understandings of the construction and design processes. From this a conceptual framework for the interface between these processes is developed.

The difference identified may have significant implications for further research, and for the development of management techniques applicable to the interface. Furthermore, the lack of access to specialist knowledge at the optimum time during the design process is identified as having a potentially significant impact on that process.

These findings could provide an understanding and basis for further research into the interface between the processes, and for the development of an enhanced model that would facilitate improved management of the interface and the optimisation of the process of the selection, appointment and input of specialist subcontractors.

The aim of this paper is to identify the competency expectations for property professionals in Australia. It further discusses differences in competency expectations between property professionals who have different professional backgrounds, such as valuers or non-valuers, and property professionals who work in different sectors or different-sized companies and who have differing amounts of experience. The competencies identified in this paper include knowledge areas, skills and attributes.

This paper presents the research findings of a questionnaire survey sent to Australian Property Institute members, which aimed to gather Australian property professionals' views on the knowledge, skills and attributes required to perform their roles effectively. The percentage of the respondents who provided different choices of given answers for each of the 31 knowledge areas, 20 skills and 21 attributes was identified and discussed. The professional backgrounds of the respondents were also identified to see whether these impact on competency expectations for property professionals. Content analysis was used to analyse written comments collected in the questionnaire.

The most important categories of knowledge, skill and attribute for Australian property professionals are valuation, effective written communication and practical experience, respectively. The least important are international real estate, second language and creativity. Knowledge of rural valuation is very important in Australia, although this has not been mentioned in previous studies. Professional backgrounds have a large influence on Australian property professionals' views on knowledge requirements, but less so on skills and attributes.

The findings of this paper can be used as guidance for property professionals in their professional development plan. In addition, property course providers can use the research findings of this paper to inform their curriculum development and redesign.

This project is the first to identify the comprehensive competency expectations of property professionals as a whole in Australia. At the same time, it identifies differences in the competency expectations of property professionals who have different professional backgrounds. Similar types of study have been conducted in the UK, the USA, Hong Kong and New Zealand but not yet in Australia. An understanding of the knowledge, skills and attributes required for property professionals is important for continuing professional development, curriculum development and the redesign of relevant property courses in order to maintain performance and competitiveness in the property sector.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.