Ieuan McLeod
Eighteen months into an engineering degree at university, Ieuan McLeod realised it wasn’t what he wanted to do.
“I wasn’t enjoying it,” he says. “I’d always enjoyed maths at school, and my father is a cost engineer and had introduced me to the world of quantity surveying, so that seemed the logical next step for me.”
Ieuan discovered that Ara Institute of Canterbury offered a diploma in quantity surveying which meant he could pursue a qualification without having to move to another city.
The practicality of the Ara programme resonated with Ieuan. “We were encouraged to get out into the industry to experience first-hand what life as a quantity surveyor is like. This involved site visits to see how things operated in the real world, and completing assignments which required photos from sites.”
Ieuan says a highlight of the programme was the friendships he formed with classmates and tutors. “It was great having friends in the class who were also learning something new. We were able to bounce ideas off each other until we all felt competent. The tutors were very approachable and extremely knowledgeable. They portrayed the required information very efficiently, and if wasn’t received correctly, they were happy to give further info to help us understand what was being taught.”
During his studies, Ieuan was awarded the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyor’s HH Bunckenburg Memorial Trust Bursary, which help significantly with his study expenses. He also applied for and was awarded an Ara CRFU scholarship, one of six available annually to members of Canterbury Rugby Football Union clubs.
After graduating at the end of 2017, Ieuan secured employment as a junior quantity surveyor with Consortium Construction. He’s now a quantity survey for CPB and working on Christchurch’s new Metro Sports Centre.
“The Ara qualification set me up with the skills to handle this intense workload. It gave me the practical knowledge of how a building is constructed so that in my pricing I’m able to logically work out what additional items are required to finish the building to the client’s expectation.
In the future Ieuan would like to own his own quantity surveying business. “I really enjoy the challenges that quantity surveying brings and I’m always keen to find a solution that not only gets the job done, but saves time and/or money for us and our clients.”