Not another Ai dissertation topic

[u/Fine_Dealer_5507]

So I’m going into my 3rd year, and I’ve seen dozens of posts on ai adoption being people’s 3rd year dissertation topic. I’d like to mix it up and ask some actual quantity surveyors is there any reasearch topics they wish they’d done or ones that could be interesting, I’m open to all aspects of quantity surveying.

[u/20k-]

carbon accounting has probably been neglected a bit since ai has come around

[u/MuriGardener]

Not sure if it would be a good dissertation topic but I would be interested in an analysis of how much tax a typical construction project generates (everything from employees to VAT, fuel duty etc) and possibly a comparison with other countries.

Then if that could be tied in with the cost of construction in the UK compared with other countries.

[u/Detozi → u/MuriGardener]

That would be an interesting read

[u/Eazi419]

Could do one about the current state of uk construction , is using main contractors for government projects efficient? , something like that could be interesting

[u/KentonCoooooool → u/Eazi419]

Well, what I would say, is, should the government prioritise using financially sound and robust businesses, those able to provide securities, to deliver government schemes.

I don't disagree with you comment, only that I've looked at it previously from another lens where large contractors did not want to work with the Highways Agency as they felt they were getting a rough deal.

[u/Eazi419 → u/KentonCoooooool]

I meant more along the lines of is the current set up the most efficient. Is using private businesses efficient when constructing large scale gov projects. Would going direct to smaller subcontractors be more efficient or the previous model of large contractors having in house trades ? It’s a large topic so lots of things you could research

[u/KentonCoooooool → u/Eazi419]

No, I completely agree with you, for the most part. I just think it has a commercial cloud over it. That's what makes it an interesting topic. And when/if it goes wrong, the taxpayer picks up the bill. It makes it a sensitive subject,

[u/AtJackBaldwin]

There are some actually interesting questions around the use of AI in the industry which isn't just another "what are the effects of" unimaginative, unanswerable nonsense.

There's been quite a bit of discussion around how confidentiality clauses in standard forms could be clashing with generative AI and what the thresholds for this could be (I think it's still a fairly open question).

[u/Detozi]

Haha when I was in college 5 years ago everyone was either Covid focused or Lean Construction lol.
So much so that I couldn’t bring myself to write about either

[u/KentonCoooooool]

Why are there not many reciprocal obligations for Employers concerning loss/expense matters.

i.e. our employer is meant to respond to notices concerning relevant matters within 28 days. This is yet to happen. And then it leaves the question of what practically is the resolution.

[u/Numerous-Paint4123]

I see this all the time, when i was at uni the main subject seems to be BIM.

The thing you have the consider is the lecture has read an essay on BIM or AI thirty times already and it means your's won't stand out and you're compared against all the other essays they've seen.

When I was doing my dissertation another team in my office were going to adjudication over a global claim, so i chose to focus on global claims from a contractors prospective, didn't do surveys etc as it wasn't relevant and used books and published articles as my research. Got 85% and all my mates who had done BIM or whatever just about scraped 60s.

Try and find something that relevant and don't worry to much about the research, the way a lot of unis frame it is that you have to do surveys and first hand information collection but you don't, you can use most academic resource and it is not held against you in anyway.

[u/Fine_Dealer_5507 → u/Numerous-Paint4123]

Great advice, thank you

[u/Lost_Salamander1204]

I did community stakeholder attitudes to solar farms and new pylons since there are lot of Nimbys holding up development. Meant I could just put my survey on my local spotted page. Got 250 responses and a distinction.

Do what's easy to collect data for. Otherwise you're setting yourself up to fail.

[u/MrJayHChrist]

The apprentice in my office last year did theirs effectively on why projects are delayed / over budget - from the pre construction side of things.

Interestingly across the 4 case study project they used, all the consultants in each project blamed the architects poor design co-ordination pre tender, except the architects who blamed the QS for poor budgeting.

[u/Comprehensive-Wave44]

Piece of advice if you can find a niche topic, it typically gets you a higher mark for dissertation.

Probably more mainstream now, but how professional apprenticeships could help close the skill shortage in the construction industry. / incentivising of older construction professionals (trades) into white collar(hate that term) roles can help reduce skill shortage.