Application of Rasch Measurement Model in Establishing

Roles Hierarchy for Malaysian Building Surveying Graduates

SITI HAMIDAH HUSAIN1, AFIFUDDIN HUSAIRI HUSSAIN2, ADI IRFAN CHE ANI3,4,

HARYANTI MOHD AFFANDI4, HASNIZAN AKSAH5

1School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, MALAYSIA

2School of Liberal Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA

3Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA

4Centre for Engineering Education Research, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, MALAYSIA

5Centre of Studies for Building Surveying, Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA

Abstract: - Despite the rising demand for the building surveying services in the current market, the function of

this profession is generally still misunderstood. Hence, this paper attempts to identify the hierarchy and

potential roles that can be offered by building surveying graduates in order to provide the acceptable roles in

the Malaysian construction industry. A quantitative research approach has been adopted to achieve this study’s

objective with close-ended questionnaires have been developed and administered to 136 professional building

surveyors who are registered with the Building Surveying Division, Royal Institution of Surveyor Malaysia.

The retrieved data were analysed using the IBM SPSS Statistic for the respondents’ demographic data and the

Rasch measurement model that applied the Winsteps version 3.70 software in order to analyse the data on

reliability, item fit, and item measure for roles hierarchy. The result of the study shows that the roles hierarchy

consisted of 29 essential tasks a graduate should deal with in order to thrive in the labour market after

graduation. Correspondingly, building maintenance and conservation, building control administration, building

inspection, risk management and building audit, building works and quality, and building insurance are the

essential roles there are based on the hierarchy level that has been extracted by the six components. This study

contributes to the body of knowledge in the Malaysia context, in particular for the general international

building surveying community as it reveals a roles hierarchy that graduates are required to perform, and where

it will provide awareness on the existence of the building surveying vocation among other the non-allied

construction professionals in Malaysia.

Key-Words: - Building Surveying graduates, Building Surveyors, Roles hierarchy, Malaysian construction

industry, Rasch Measurement Model.

Received: April 9, 2021. Revised: November 8, 2021. Accepted: December 5, 2021. Published: January 7, 2022.

1 Introduction

Over the past decades, the construction industry has

been the substantial driver of growth of Malaysia’s

economy and development. The present-day

construction industry provides significant

employment opportunities for graduates particularly

in engineering, architecture, planning, and surveying

[1]. However, due to the high expectation of

employers and the steep challenges of job nature,

most of the graduate building surveyors are

experiencing inadequate employment opportunities

[2]. Correspondingly, the ability to perform building

inspection becomes one of the fundamental

competence requirements for building surveyors in

performing their duties and services. Building

inspection primarily involves on-site work and the

preparation of a report which requires the skill in

identifying defects and a familiarity with reporting

procedures [3].

Contrary to international practices, the building

surveyor profession offers a variety of services in

the building environment fields, namely building

pathology, design, project management, building

surveys, property management, and contract

administration [4]. The services will become an

increasingly important part of service in the

property and construction industry. Based on the

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worldwide practice, a generation of those who are in

the building surveying (BS) profession has grown

from an off-shoot of a general practice surveying to

a professional group of 28,000 members worldwide

[5]. This rapid and spectacular growth,

internationally and locally, proves the increasing

importance of the BS role in the construction

industry and built environment respectively. A study

by [6] reports that there is a positive growth of the

BS vocation in Malaysia. The current demands for

higher-quality buildings, for example, have

heightened the need for BS services and roles in the

construction industry.

Yet, the awareness level of the significance of

BS services and roles in Malaysia is still

comparatively low, misunderstood, and overlooked

by other professionals and the general public [2][7].

Most of the general public are not informed about

the function of the building surveyors and their

contribution in the construction industry [7]. Such a

lack of awareness has caused the neglect of

available high-quality services that can be offered

by BS practitioners. In another recent article, [2]

mention that the knowledge on BS is still low

because of the lack of information about the

profession, which is attributed to the problems of

public recognition, deficient understanding of the

surveyor’s skills, and fewer job opportunities.

These factors of deficiencies have contributed to

the delay in the endorsement of the BS Act in

Malaysia. The study by [2] has also suggested that

the BS practitioners modify their role to suit the

requirements of the local and international process

of practice. Therefore, before dealing with the

international requirements and demands, which

widely differ from the local practice, the researchers

have decided to deal with the local issues first, by

establishing this professional's role as is demanded

by the local market. In view of this, further studies

should provide a comprehensive roles and tasks

framework, especially when both parties, i.e., the

BS practitioners and the non-allied construction

professionals in the Malaysia are involved.

In line with the identified gaps, this paper seeks

to remedy these problems by identifying the

hierarchy and potential roles tasks that can be

offered by the graduate building surveyors from the

BS practitioners’ perspective. To meet the objective

that has been mentioned and to ensure a

comprehensive data collection, this study has

adopted a quantitative research approach involving a

literature review and a closed-ended questionnaire

for data collection, as well as descriptive statistics

and inferential statistical analysis for analysing data.

2 Literature Review

The Malaysian construction industry is currently not

only facing a new development as land is scarce, but

is also facing re-development and major renovation

on existing building and in the built environment.

This increase volume of renewable projects runs

parallel with the government’s vision 2020 project

which is aiming to boost the subsector construction

projects in the next few years; this is supported by

the government’s plan to improve the country’s

transport network and tourism infrastructure and to

increase the volume of renewable projects [8].

Therefore, a massive building control and

building quality expertise are required in the post-

construction stage which involve the BS profession.

This situation highlights the significance of

establishing clear roles and tasks within the context

of the Malaysia practice. Therefore, a detailed

explanation of the literature reviews that focuses on

international practice is beyond the domain of this

article, hence, this article is mainly focused in

complying with the issues in the Malaysia context.

2.1 Scope of Services

Competencies are an integral part of becoming a

Registered Building Surveyor, and currently, the

Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) has

issued a competency standard to define the ability

for the surveying professionals in Malaysia to apply

knowledge, skills attributes and judgment in their

job with various competencies benchmarks. The

RISM documentation highlights that there are two

categories of competency, including core

competency and optional competencies [9]. The

guide presents building inspection and control as

core competency and optional competencies,

including building maintenance, building safety

compliance and refurbishment management, and

asset and facility management.

Technically, the main scope of work that is

offered by the BS profession is building control and

compliance as agreed by the Malaysian

Qualifications Agency (MQA) Council. Meanwhile,

the scope of services for other professionals such as

Engineers, Architects, Quantity Surveyor, and

Valuer, for instance, are building design,

engineering/structure/infrastructure, cost and

contract administration, and valuation or property

services, respectively.

The RISM then presented the five primary

services of a building surveyor, including building

control administration, development and

construction management, building works, building

maintenance, and building insurance. These services

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are clearly stated in the 2021 BS Division, RISM’s

website. Furthermore, the Public Works Department

(PWD), Ministry of Works Malaysia have also

developed the Competency Model and Dictionary in

2012 with the aim of measuring and guiding PWD's

employee's performance and their career growth

[10]. The PWD documentation highlights that there

are three technical competencies for building

surveyors, including building inventory, building

surveying, and building maintenance management.

In the United Kingdom (UK) practice, the

primary role of building surveyors covers the six

main areas consisting of building pathology, design,

project management, building surveys, property

management, and contract administration [4]. In

addition, in order to become a competent building

surveyor, an individual need to demonstrate

knowledge, understanding and the practical ability

that is relevant to a surveying role, which covers the

seven core technical competencies, eleven

mandatory competencies and seventeen optional

competencies as listed in the Royal Institution of

Chartered Surveyors (RICS) 2018 pathway

requirement for building surveyors. There are

building pathology, construction technology and

environmental services, contract administration,

design and specification, inspection, and legal or

regulatory compliance that have been listed under

technical competencies as the specific hard skills

that are needed for the BS role [11].

However, the roles of this profession in Malaysia

are limited and are not as widespread as what are

being practised by the Chartered Building Surveyor

in the UK. This statement is supported by [12]

argument where they mention that the reason why

so few building surveyors work outside the UK is

because the BS work is being undertaken outside of

the UK but presumably it is by other professionals.

From the international employers’ perspective, other

factors that are affecting the complexity in the

graduate building surveyors’ employability is in part

because the graduates do not meet the satisfactory

competency level that is desired by the employer,

the lack of publicity and awareness of surveying as

a career, and a poor public image [13].

Although the belief that the RISM and PWD

competencies should be used as a benchmark by the

employers to develop their employees, a flexible

approach to identify the niche area of the job for the

graduate building surveyor should be used as it is

vital to understand the current market on the

building surveyor services and roles’ demand by

identifying the roles hierarchy that can be offered in

the practice of a surveying discipline. However,

previous studies in the BS field have not dealt with

the scope of works or services framework in detail.

[2] have agreed that few studies have explored the

views and propositions of the stakeholders in the

construction industry about building surveying.

Therefore, due to limited previous studies that

have discussed the niche roles for BS in Malaysian

practice and the absence of a BS Act which can be

referenced, these scopes of services are only based

upon the data that have been obtained from the

various studies that have mentioned the roles and

functions of building surveyors in Malaysia. Similar

to other study designs, the research question for this

study was therefore designed to achieve the research

aim, ‘What are the role acts that are expected to be

performed and demonstrated by the Malaysian

graduate building surveyor within the practice of a

surveying discipline after graduation?’ or ‘What do

entry-level building surveying do?’. Taking these

research questions as the basis, the researchers

began to conduct a preliminary research using a

combination of the following terms: building

surveyor and roles or Malaysian building surveying

and roles practice.

Table 1. Summaries of Constructs and Items

Potential

roles/services

Literature sources

Total

items

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[10]

Building control

administration

(BCA)

X

14

Building works and

quality (BWQ)

X

4

Building inspection

(BI)

X

8

Building

maintenance and

conservation

(BMC)

X

13

Building insurance

(BuI)

X

6

Risk management

and building audit

(RMBA)

X

7

Development and

construction

management

(DCM)

X

4

Seven constructs

55

The data were displayed in the schedule matrix

table to identify pattern matching, as well as to

compare and develop data network. The theme and

sub-themes were identified through the coding

(categories) process in order to establish categories

for the roles and to sort the tasks into role

categories. The filtering and reducing process was

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applied to highlight only significant data that

contribute towards the results. Redundant constructs

and elements were either combined or removed.

Then, the count frequency of codes was deployed to

prove codes with significant findings and codes with

low findings. Based on the schedule matrix table, it

is considered appropriate to consider any constructs

that are recognised by more than two authors to be

the major roles of the graduate building surveyors.

In regard to the literature review findings, the

number of elements for the job tasks is 62 items

with eight constructs or roles. However, only 57

items and seven constructs have been maintained

following the experts’ verification, i.e., the seven

selected experts who are in the BS field. The review

uncovered a total of seven roles of services as listed

in Table 1. Next, a pilot test was performed to test

the reliability and validity of the questionnaire [18].

Apart from being the best approach to eliminate any

flaws and weaknesses of the survey instrument, the

pilot study helped to fine-tune the instructions that

are given to the respondents and ultimately in

improving the overall structure and grammatical

patterns of the questionnaire [19].

The result from the pilot test indicates that out of

the 57 items, only 55 are considered valid to be used

and therefore, are maintained. However, the results

from the pilot study were not reported in this current

research, because it is beyond the domain of this

article. Notably, these scopes of services have been

measured to gauge the need for BS graduates’

services in the Malaysian construction industry, and

to identify the potential roles and tasks that can be

offered by the graduates.

3 Methodology

This study has adopted a quantitative method

approach, in the actualisation of the research aims

and objective, by means of a survey technique in

order to study the potential services and hierarchical

roles that can be offered by the building surveyor

graduates. The advantage of the quantitative

research design is the unbiased analysis of

mathematical, numerical and statistical data that

may be obtained through several means including

the use of a well-structured questionnaire [20].

Notably, the merits of the survey research using

questionnaire design are the possibility to collect a

wide scope of information from a large population

and the opportunity to deal with real situations [21].

3.1 The sample

The target population for this study involved

registered members from the BS Division, RISM

from academia, construction industry practice and

government officer. In order to achieve this study’s

aim, a total number of registered and candidate

members of the BS professions was obtained from

the annual reports as provided by the RISM.

Random/probability sampling design by means of

the cluster sampling technique was adopted to select

building surveyors who are registered as a member

of the BS Division, RISM.

The cluster sampling was chosen due to the

ability of the researchers to divide the sampling

population into the groups without requiring a

sampling frame [22], as provided by the RISM.

From this sampling, since each cluster represents the

entire population, therefore, more subjects can be

included to be involved in the study. Based on the

BS Division record in April 2021, there is a total of

1,157 building surveyor members within five

classes of membership; the members consist of 19

Fellows, 206 Members, 189 Graduates, 62

Probationers, and 681 Student members [9].

However, only 476 respondents from Fellow and

Member including the Malaysian Association of

Registered Building Surveyor (MyRBS), Graduate,

and Probationer classes were chosen as the sample

in this research. Members from the Student class

have been excluded so that the data that are gained

are derived only from the experts.

A sample size and item calibration stability table

that is based on the Rasch measurement model, as

proposed by [23] has been adopted which yielded

the targeted minimum population size of 100

respondents. This research expects to calibrate the

item with ± 1/2 logit and 95% confidence level, in

which the minimum sample size range is 64–144

and the size for most purposes is 100.

Thus, a total of 476 samples is defined from the

sampling frame and a minimum of 100 respondents

are required as the sample size. As a final response

were retrieved, a total of 136 building surveyors had

participated in this study. Industry professionals and

academicians from the building surveying field who

were in attendance during the BS Continuing

Professional Development (CPD) talk at the time

were given the opportunity to participate in the

study.

3.2 Instrument

The survey technique using a questionnaire was

used to collect the data. The queries were addressed

as closed-ended questions which required the

respondents to rate their perception using a four-

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point Likert scale with a range of 1 (very

unimportant) to 4 (very important); the use of the

four-point Likert scale with or without a midpoint,

according to [24], is considered acceptable and may

not affect the reliability of the instrument. [25]

found that a 6-point Likert scale (no midpoints)

tends to give discriminating and reliability values

that are higher than a 5-point scale with midpoints.

This research instrument was designed to identify

the hierarchy and potential roles that can be offered

by BS graduates in order to provide the acceptable

roles in the Malaysian construction industry. It is

also being used to answered the research question

that has been designed to achieve the research aim.

The questionnaire contains two sections.

Section A queries the respondent’s demographic

background were obtained the respondents’

academic qualification, organisation, position, year

of working experience, and class of membership(s).

Responses to these questions were used to describe

in general terms the characteristics of the building

surveyors who participated in the research.

Descriptive statistics was used in order to

summarize the respondent’s demographic data in an

organised manner by describing the trends and

relationship between variables in a sample of

population as suggested in [26] and [27].

Section B contains seven constructs with 55

items of the BS scope of works that has been

adapted from previous studies, as shown in Table 1.

This section is to identify the hierarchy and potential

roles required from the BS graduates as perceived

by the employers and industry. The questions were

designed in the form of Likert’s scale which

required the respondent to rate the significance of

roles ranging from 1 (very unimportant) to 4 (very

important). The Rasch measurement model was

applied to analyse the correlation of the variables in

a role hierarchy.

3.3 Data analysis

[28] mention that it is essential to select a suitable

test statistic technique that can be used along with

the available information in carrying out the data

test. The data analysis that is described here

encompasses the quantitative data analysis

techniques using statistical analysis consisting: 1.

descriptive statistics analysis, which summaries raw

data from a sample or population and 2. inferential

statistical analysis, which test the correlation of the

variables and reach conclusions from the data.

Correctly, descriptive analysis was used to

analyse the demographic profile data of respondents

using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and the data were

presented in a percentage format and frequency.

Besides, inferential analysis was applied to

determine the correlation of the variables in the

research using the Rasch measurement model. The

Rasch model can test the consistency of

interpretation of constructs, the reliability of the

items or person, and the accuracy of the test [29].

Apart from being a psychometric technique that

is developed to improve the precision of construct

instruments, monitor instrument quality, and to

compute the respondents' performances [30], it has

also provided a technique for obtaining an insight

into how the data cooperate to construct measures

[31]. This Rasch model is useful for converting raw

observational data into item difficulty and person

ability estimates on an approximately linear

measurement scale [32]. Therefore, with the

functionality of the Winsteps Windows-based

software that assists many applications of the Rasch

model, the data measurement that are involved in

this study includes the reliability test, item fit test

for content validity and item hierarchy.

Correspondingly, the reliability was measured on

item reliability, person reliability and separation

index. The reliability analysis was an important

procedure to measure the degree of consistency of

measurement and to test the survey scores that were

free of measurement error [22][28][33][34].

Meanwhile, the content validity was measured by

analysing the item fit test using infit and outfit items

analysis. Validity analysis was a necessary

procedure to test an instrument measure, i.e., what it

is supposed to measure [28]. For content validity,

the items have to cover a full range of the issue of

the attitude that is being measured [24][34], which

can be assessed using the item fit test with the help

of the Rasch analysis. Item fit indicates the extent to

which the response to a particular item is consistent

with the way the sample respondents have

responded to the other items [36].

Furthermore, the item hierarchy table was

referred by assessing the item measure analysis in

order to identify whether any items from the same

construct measured the item’s difficulty level at the

same value or calibration [23]. Apart from being a

test to measure the item’s difficulty level, the item

measure analysis is also used to identify the most

agreed items or roles by the respondents that are to

be included into the developed hierarchy. The

further details and justifications of data analysis

techniques, as discussed under result and discussion

sub-topic.

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4 Results and Findings

4.1 The Participant’s Profile

In this section, the descriptive statistics are used to

present simple summaries about participants’ profile

in a manageable form using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.

Section A of questionnaire form works to help

construe the respondents’ demographic profile. To

fully obtain the profile of the respondents, this study

had conducted frequency distributions of the

participants’ data; the respondents were from the

building surveying and construction background

with different fields of expertise (academia,

government, and industry). The demographic data

were obtained the respondents’ academic

qualification, organisation, position, year of working

experience, and class of membership(s).

The largest group of respondents are the

bachelor’s degree holders (64.7%); 29.4% are

bachelor’s degree graduates, and 5.9% are PhD

holders. In terms of organisation characteristics,

50.0% of the respondents are industrial participants

from the private sector, whereas 37.5% and 12.5%

of the respondents are from the public sector and

Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs), respectively. In

terms of the post that is held by the respective

respondents, 50.7% of the whole sample is building

surveyor practitioners; 15.4% are lecturers; and

14.0% respondents hold other positions, e.g.,

assistant building surveyor, quantity surveyor,

property manager, and site supervisor.

Meanwhile, 9.6% of the respondents are facilities

managers; 3.7% are building managers and project

managers, respectively, and the remaining 2.9%

holds a construction management post. A further

finding shows that most of the respondents have

more than 12 years of working experience. Overall,

the respondents’ personal experience in the BS and

construction industry is in the range of less than 3

years to more than 12 years, which provides a

diverse spread of personal experience in this study.

Based on the participants’ background, this study

has received quality information from a targeted

source, i.e., people with extensive personal

experiences who have the appropriate abilities in the

BS industry.

Furthermore, the respondents who are

participated for this study involved registered

members from the BS Division that are mostly from

academia, construction industry practice and

government officer background, which represents

the entire population, The targeted respondents from

Fellow and Member including the Malaysian

Association of Registered Building Surveyor

(MyRBS), Graduate, and Probationer classes were

chosen as the sample in this research, while

Members from the Student class have been excluded

so that the data that are gained are derived only from

the experts.

4.2 Reliability and Separation Index

Reliability is a measure of the internal consistency

of a set of scale items [37], which aims to minimise

the errors and biases in measurements. [38] have

suggested that the reliability coefficient ranges that

are to be obtained is between 0 to 1. Previous

studies have explained that a Cronbach’s alpha can

take a value between 0 and 1, which means that the

closer the value is to 1, the more reliable the scale of

a variable and instrument [33][34]. Table 2 shows

the reliability and separation index as ranked by the

various group of respondents. The Cronbach’s alpha

value for all the variables is 0.91, thus indicating a

low error variance with a small measurement error.

The value also indicates that the instrument that has

been used has a high level of consistency [34][35],

and that the instrument is acceptable to be used for

identifying the potential roles.

In terms of the scale that is used, a number of

important columns need to be considered, namely,

the person’s and items reliability and the separation

index. As shown in Table 2, the value of the

person’s reliability is considered acceptable (0.90),

which indicates that the respondents are the right

persons for the query. Therefore, the instrument can

differentiate a person’s ability in identifying the

potential roles and tasks. A further look at Table 2

shows that the item reliability that has been obtained

is also considerably good (0.82); this indicates that

the instrument is sufficient and has good reliability

in measuring what it needs to measure [39].

Subsequently, the accepted strata separation

value for both person and item should exceed 2.0

[36][37]. A higher value of separation indicates a

greater spread of items and person along with a

continuum [36][37]. In this case, the person strata

separation is used to classify people while item

separation indicates the separation of the item’s

difficulty level [42]. As illustrated in Table 2, the

separation value of the person is 3.04 (rounded to

3.0). It indicates that the sample of 136 respondents

can be separated into three requirement groups. This

is considerably good as the higher values of

separation indicate the greater spread of items and

person along a continuum [36][37].

Meanwhile, the number of item strata separation

is 2.0 (2.10), which indicates that the items

separation value is considered fair and can be

separated into two difficulty levels. Based on the

reliability and separation index results as has been

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discussed above, it can be concluded that the

instrument that has been developed for the study is

appropriate and reliable for measuring the potential

roles that can be offered by the building surveyor

graduating in Malaysia.

Table 2. Item and person reliability

SUMMARY OF 136 MEASURED PERSON

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| TOTAL MODEL INFIT OUTFIT |

| SCORE COUNT MEASURE ERROR MNSQ ZSTD MNSQ ZSTD |

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MEAN 191.8 55.0 2.02 .29 1.00 .1 .99 .0 |

| S.D. 12.1 .0 .96 .05 .20 1.3 .20 1.3 |

| MAX. 218.0 55.0 5.30 .72 1.57 4.1 1.53 3.6 |

| MIN. 159.0 55.0 -.47 .26 .37 -3.6 .37 -3.6 |

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| REAL RMSE .30 TRUE SD .91 SEPARATION 3.04 PERSON RELIABILITY .90 |

|MODEL RMSE .29 TRUE SD .92 SEPARATION 3.16 PERSON RELIABILITY .91 |

| S.E. OF PERSON MEAN = .08 |

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PERSON RAW SCORE-TO-MEASURE CORRELATION = .99

CRONBACH ALPHA (KR-20) PERSON RAW SCORE "TEST" RELIABILITY = .91

SUMMARY OF 55 MEASURED ITEM

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| TOTAL MODEL INFIT OUTFIT |

| SCORE COUNT MEASURE ERROR MNSQ ZSTD MNSQ ZSTD |

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| MEAN 474.2 136.0 .00 .18 1.00 -.1 .99 -.1 |

| S.D. 13.3 .0 .43 .01 .18 1.8 .21 1.8 |

| MAX. 513.0 136.0 .98 .22 1.56 4.2 1.54 4.0 |

| MIN. 442.0 136.0 -1.39 .17 .76 -2.6 .68 -2.5 |

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| REAL RMSE .18 TRUE SD .39 SEPARATION 2.10 ITEM RELIABILITY .82 |

|MODEL RMSE .18 TRUE SD .39 SEPARATION 2.19 ITEM RELIABILITY .83 |

| S.E. OF ITEM MEAN = .06 |

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.3 Item Fit on Roles Hierarchy

The 55 roles items that were identified from the

literature were future subjected to item fit analysis

by referring to the item measure table (Table 3). The

fit statistics provide the indices of fit of the data to

the model and usefulness of the measure [43]. In

this context, item fit is an index of whether the items

function logically and provide a continuum that is

useful for all the respondents [43]. To determine

which items fit the Rasch measurement model, a

three-step criterion procedure needs to be performed

starting with the attributes point-measure correlation

(PTMEA Corr), followed by mean square (MNSQ),

and finally, a z-standard (ZSTD) misfit pattern. In

assessing the misfit data, the following guidelines

are referred: 1. Investigate Outfit before Infit, 2.

Investigate MNSQ before ZSTD, and 3. Investigate

the positive value of PTMEA Corr before the

negative value [36][40][41][42].

First, by referring to the item polarity analysis,

the construct validity can be further tested in

determining whether the items are aligned in the

same direction as the latent variable, and to find a

correlation coefficient of the measurement-point,

which is known as the PTMEA Corr value [42]. The

PTMEA Corr value was assessed to identify

whether the item had been able to differentiate the

ability of the respondents. The positive value of

PTMEA Corr was determined as the indicator for

the construct to be valid [44], while a negative value

or zero indicates that the relationships for the

response item or person contradict with the variable

[31]. During the check, the PTMEA Corr value must

be within the range of 0.2<PTMEA Corr<0.79, as

suggested by the [31][40].

Secondly, further assessment was done by

assessing the infit and outfit column for the MNSQ

value. The infit and outfit mean square fit statistics

indicate the degree to which an item functions as

intended [39]. However, the outfit statistics scores

are more sensitive to outliers [45], which means that

an infit is less sensitive than an outfit to extreme

responses [43]. Therefore, during the check, the

outfit value of MNSQ must be in the range of

0.5<MNSQ<1.5, and -2.0<ZSTD<+2.0 logit.

Besides, if the outfit MNSQ is accepted, the ZSTD

index can be ignored [40].

From the communalities table that is shown in

Table 3, the correlation values for all 55 items are

positive, and no negative correlation has been

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found. This result proves that the items have the

capability of differentiating the respondents’ ability,

and that the items measure the constructs that are to

be measured [44]. However, during a further check,

the PTMEA Corr values for items B108, BCA10,

BCA11, BCA12, BCA13, BCA14, and BMC04

have resulted in a low positive point-measure

correlation value between 0.02 and 0.60, which is

below the range of 0.2<PTMEA Corr<0.79. These

values indicated that the capability of these seven

items was only weakly correlated with an increasing

person’s ability estimate [46]. However, considering

[44] suggestion, as long as the correlation value is

associated with the positive PTMea Corr value, the

seven items can be considered to remain.

Further analysis was performed on the outfit

MNSQ value and outfit ZSTD logit. Table 3 shows

that at least 16 items are not in the specific range of

value; they should either be purified or deleted. As a

result, there are two illustrated information as shown

in Table 3. First, item BI05 and item BI08 are

outside the range of outfit MNSQ and ZSTD values,

which either indicate that the misfit is far from the

ideal model or does not include the pattern of

responses [47]. Second, there are 14 items with an

outfit ZSTD value of larger than the standard range

of ±2 logit. The mentioned items are items BCA08,

BCA10, BCA11, BCA12, BCA13, BCA14,

BMC04, BMC07, BMC10, BMC11, BMC12,

BMC13, BuI02, and DCM02.

However, these groups of items still fulfill the

outfit MNSQ values and therefore, are acceptable to

remain. As has been noted by [40], if the infit and

outfit MNSQ values are accepted, the ZSTD value

can be ignored. Therefore, based on the results, out

of the 16 items, 14 variables will be retained and

only two variables, item BI05 and item BI08, are

found to be a misfit with the aforementioned MNSQ

and ZSTD guidelines that are not contributing to the

overall consistency. Through this, the two factors,

BI05 and BI08 from the Building Inspection

construct, have been removed from further analysis

as they do not discriminate well, have double

meaning, or provide redundant information.

Table 3. Item fit order and Item Hierarchy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

|------------------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+-------|

| 5 442 136 .98 .17|1.56 4.2|1.54 4.0| .31 .43| 58.8 68.1| BI05 |

| 46 447 136 .83 .17| .97 -.2| .97 -.2| .47 .43| 69.1 67.1| RMBA02|

| 51 453 136 .65 .17|1.01 .2| .99 .0| .48 .42| 69.9 65.9| RMBA07|

| 42 454 136 .62 .17| .97 -.2| .97 -.2| .53 .42| 62.5 65.8| BuI03 |

| 52 455 136 .59 .17|1.13 1.2|1.13 1.2| .35 .42| 62.5 65.6| DCM01 |

| 22 456 136 .56 .17|1.18 1.7|1.30 2.5| .02 .42| 61.0 65.4| BCA14 |

| 6 457 136 .53 .17| .99 .0| .98 -.2| .49 .42| 69.1 65.4| BI06 |

| 20 458 136 .50 .17|1.21 2.0|1.27 2.3| .02 .42| 58.8 65.2| BCA12 |

| 53 459 136 .47 .17|1.33 3.0|1.33 2.8| .24 .42| 65.4 65.2| DCM02 |

| 43 462 136 .38 .17| .93 -.7| .91 -.8| .49 .42| 67.6 64.9| BuI04 |

| 12 463 136 .35 .17|1.11 1.1|1.08 .8| .51 .42| 62.5 64.8| BCA04 |

| 40 465 136 .29 .17| .87 -1.3| .84 -1.5| .51 .42| 67.6 64.7| BuI01 |

| 10 466 136 .26 .17| .97 -.3| .97 -.2| .46 .42| 70.6 64.7| BCA02 |

| 21 466 136 .26 .17|1.29 2.8|1.33 2.9| .12 .42| 46.3 64.7| BCA13 |

| 33 466 136 .26 .17| .76 -2.6| .75 -2.5| .49 .42| 75.7 64.7| BMC07 |

| 23 467 136 .23 .17|1.08 .8|1.04 .4| .59 .42| 69.1 64.7| BWQ01 |

| 54 468 136 .20 .17|1.22 2.2|1.19 1.7| .34 .42| 61.8 64.6| DCM03 |

| 19 469 136 .17 .17|1.41 3.9|1.47 3.9| .02 .42| 46.3 64.7| BCA11 |

| 44 469 136 .17 .17| .91 -1.0| .87 -1.3| .46 .42| 73.5 64.7| BuI05 |

| 48 470 136 .14 .17| .91 -1.0| .91 -.8| .54 .42| 69.9 64.6| RMBA04|

| 50 472 136 .08 .18| .83 -1.9| .83 -1.6| .44 .41| 69.9 64.7| RMBA06|

| 55 472 136 .08 .18|1.11 1.2|1.09 .9| .37 .41| 61.8 64.7| DCM04 |

| 11 474 136 .02 .18| .98 -.1| .94 -.5| .46 .41| 61.8 64.8| BCA03 |

| 24 474 136 .02 .18| .84 -1.8| .80 -1.9| .58 .41| 76.5 64.8| BWQ02 |

| 49 474 136 .02 .18| .86 -1.5|1.02 .2| .45 .41| 66.9 64.8| RMBA05|

| 17 475 136 -.01 .18| .93 -.7|1.00 .1| .39 .41| 70.6 64.8| BCA09 |

| 28 475 136 -.01 .18| .92 -.9| .88 -1.1| .52 .41| 66.2 64.8| BMC02 |

| 7 476 136 -.04 .18|1.15 1.6|1.14 1.2| .40 .41| 63.2 64.9| BI07 |

| 38 476 136 -.04 .18| .80 -2.3| .76 -2.3| .50 .41| 70.6 64.9| BMC12 |

| 25 477 136 -.07 .18|1.03 .4| .98 -.1| .50 .41| 67.6 64.9| BWQ03 |

| 39 477 136 -.07 .18| .79 -2.4| .74 -2.5| .51 .41| 71.3 64.9| BMC13 |

| 2 478 136 -.11 .18|1.01 .2|1.02 .3| .38 .41| 65.4 65.0| BI02 |

| 13 478 136 -.11 .18| .94 -.6| .97 -.2| .40 .41| 66.2 65.0| BCA05 |

| 26 478 136 -.11 .18| .98 -.2| .94 -.5| .51 .41| 72.8 65.0| BWQ04 |

| 45 478 136 -.11 .18| .83 -1.9| .81 -1.8| .47 .41| 69.9 65.0| RMBA01|

| 18 479 136 -.14 .18|1.26 2.6|1.35 2.9| .03 .41| 48.5 65.1| BCA10 |

| 31 479 136 -.14 .18| .91 -1.0| .85 -1.4| .54 .41| 69.1 65.1| BMC05 |

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| 37 479 136 -.14 .18| .78 -2.6| .74 -2.5| .53 .41| 70.6 65.1| BMC11 |

| 9 480 136 -.17 .18|1.04 .4|1.05 .4| .27 .41| 63.2 65.3| BCA01 |

| 30 480 136 -.17 .18|1.33 3.3|1.42 3.3| .10 .41| 55.9 65.3| BMC04 |

| 41 481 136 -.20 .18| .82 -2.0| .77 -2.1| .49 .41| 68.4 65.4| BuI02 |

| 47 481 136 -.20 .18| .92 -.8| .89 -.9| .52 .41| 71.3 65.4| RMBA03|

| 15 482 136 -.23 .18|1.24 2.5|1.16 1.3| .44 .41| 58.1 65.6| BCA07 |

| 4 484 136 -.30 .18| .87 -1.4| .92 -.7| .43 .40| 71.3 66.2| BI04 |

| 36 484 136 -.30 .18| .80 -2.2| .74 -2.4| .60 .40| 75.7 66.2| BMC10 |

| 14 485 136 -.33 .18| .94 -.7| .91 -.7| .43 .40| 70.6 66.5| BCA06 |

| 16 486 136 -.36 .18| .78 -2.6| .76 -2.1| .53 .40| 75.0 66.8| BCA08 |

| 27 486 136 -.36 .18| .82 -2.1| .77 -2.0| .50 .40| 73.5 66.8| BMC01 |

| 35 486 136 -.36 .18| .87 -1.4| .82 -1.6| .50 .40| 70.6 66.8| BMC09 |

| 29 489 136 -.46 .18| .85 -1.7| .82 -1.5| .47 .40| 75.7 67.6| BMC03 |

| 8 490 136 -.50 .18|1.23 2.3|1.52 3.6| .12 .39| 59.6 67.9| B108 |

| 32 490 136 -.50 .18| .84 -1.8| .77 -1.9| .49 .39| 72.1 67.9| BMC06 |

| 34 493 136 -.60 .19| .95 -.5| .93 -.5| .38 .39| 67.6 69.0| BMC08 |

| 3 509 136 -1.21 .21| .82 -1.6| .68 -1.9| .51 .36| 79.4 76.5| BI03 |

| 1 513 136 -1.39 .22|1.00 .1| .98 .0| .32 .34| 77.9 78.9| BI01 |

|------------------------------------+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+-------|

| MEAN 474.2 136.0 .00 .18|1.00 -.1| .99 -.1| | 67.0 66.0| |

| S.D. 13.3 .0 .43 .01| .18 1.8| .21 1.8| | 7.1 2.5| |

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.4 Roles Hierarchy for BS Graduates

[48] have explained that an item hierarchy is

essential for categorising items into the strata of

difficulty level. Item hierarchy was referred to as

identifying: 1. the items (roles) most frequently

agreed by the respondents, 2. the items on an

interval scale, and 3. the potential inadequacies in a

given scale [49]. Thus, the item measure table as

shown in Table 3 was further referred to in order to

identify the most agreed roles that were indicated by

the respondents to be included into the hierarchy’s

roles. The most difficult items for the principals to

agree with are above the item mean (.00), while the

least difficult item for the principals to agree with

were items with a negative logit [50].

Subsequently, Table 3 displays the items in the

order of from the worst to the best fitting, i.e., from

the hardest items to the easiest items to be agreed

upon. The items that are the easiest to endorse fall

towards the bottom of the hierarchy with a negative

value, while the items that are the most difficult to

endorse (positive value) are represented towards the

top of the item hierarchy. These principles align

with the study by [44]. Also, data in Table 3 shows

that every item has a small measurement error

(mean of SE +0.18 logit). The spread of the logit

scale shows that the maximum item measure value

is +0.98 logit (BI05-Building Inspection), and the

minimum value is at -1.39 logit (BI01-Building

Inspection). Therefore, the total of ruler length is

2.37 logit. This indicates that the difference between

logit maximum and the logit minimum is located at

δ = 2.37, where the item difficulty of the item is

spread over 2.37 logit unit.

Hence, item BI05 has been allocated as the most

difficult item to be agreed in terms of importance,

while item BI01 is the easiest item to be agreed in

terms of importance. A more critical look at Table 3

shows that about 25 items are above the item mean

(positive value), which can be considered as not

important items for the roles hierarchy [44].

Meanwhile, about 30 items that are recorded with

negative values, which are recognised as the

important items to be included in the hierarchy.

However, out of the 30 items, item BI08 is

considered to be removed because it does not fulfil

the minimum criteria of MNSQ and ZSTD value as

is recommended by [40].

More so, based on item fit analysis, there are two

misfit items: item BI05 and item B108. [51] opined

that the mistfit items that measure a different

construct in the instrument should be revised or

eliminated. This further indicates consistency in the

decision to withdrawn item BI08 from the roles’

hierarchy list. Based on the adequately discussed

Rasch analysis, a roles’ hierarchy has been

generated in order to highlight the niche roles and

services that BS graduates are required to perform in

the construction industry after graduation. The

results have produced 29 items with six area of

services that are fit to be included in the roles of

hierarchy for BS graduates, as shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Roles hierarchy of BS graduates

Rank

Roles and Tasks

Item

measure

1

BI01

Carry out dilapidation survey or

pre-construction condition survey

of existing buildings

-1.39

2

BI03

Identify cause of defects in

buildings, provide remedial

measures and give an evaluation

of the costs of repair

-1.21

3

BMC08

Assist in providing advice on

defect-free design, ways to reduce

maintenance problems and

prolong building lifespan

-.60

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4

BMC06

Assist in providing advice and

prepare reports on building

maintenance

-.50

5

BMC03

Plan, coordinate and monitor the

scope of works for building

maintenance and management in

the Local Authority (LA) area

-.46

6

BMC09

Carry out the comprehensive

inspection to determine an

appropriate and a minimum cost

estimate on building inspection

-.36

7

BMC01

Inspect, report and prepare

programmes for implementing

maintenance management,

facilities and refurbishment work

of building

-.36

8

BCA08

Maintain and improve building

legislation and procedures set by

Government/Local Authorities

-.36

9

BCA06

Inspect and report on dilapidated

or unsafe old buildings, and

recommend the remedial actions

and expert evidence

-.33

10

BMC10

Carry out building audits and

provide the complete building

records and ensure it can be used

through the building audit system

-.30

11

BI04

Assist in providing advice on

refurbishment, conservation, fire

protection and means of escape

-.30

12

BCA07

Attend meetings and negotiations

related to the Uniform Building

Bylaws 1984, and the Road,

Drainage and Building Act 1974

for construction works

-.23

13

RMBA03

Plan, inspect and carry out

building audits to identify space

quality and usage, asset inventory

and performance of building

elements

-.20

14

BuI02

Carry out physical building

evaluation as to determine

suitable policy insurance coverage

for damage by natural disaster,

and for damage to buildings under

construction

-.20

15

BMC04

Monitor and control the illegal

building/works, issuance of notice

to attend the court hearings; if any

-.17

16

BCA01

Check the procedural

requirements of drawings and

buildings to ensure compliance

with bylaws and regulations

-.17

17

BMC11

Prepare and develop a manual of

work and planned asset

maintenance

-.14

18

BMC05

Plan, coordinate and implement

building conservation and

preservation of old/historical

building in the LA area

-.14

19

BCA10

Inspect all buildings under

construction and upon

completion, to ensure building

works fulfils the legislation set by

the government or the LA before

issuing the certificate of

completion and compliance, or

before the handover of the project

-.14

20

RMBA01

Inspect and prepare reports on

conditions of buildings, post-

occupancy evaluation of buildings

conditions and risk assessment

-.11

21

BWQ04

Carry out inspection works and

building auditing after the

building has been completed to

check the quality standard before

the handover of the project

-.11

22

BCA05

Receive, inspect and approve the

application for building

demolition works in accordance

with the guideline of building

demolition works/laws and take

action on those who violate the

related requirement

-.11

23

BI02

Carry out pre-purchase building

survey of building condition

through inspection and checking

-.11

24

BMC13

Prepare and develop an

integrated asset maintenance

program

-.07

25

BWQ03

Protect buildings from

deterioration and verify safety

standards to the minimum levels

required and comfort to the users

-.07

26

BMC12

Prepare a comprehensive cost

estimation for maintenance and

asset management for short,

medium-term and long-term

-.04

27

BI07

Carry out and assess building

inspection to ensure the level of

building performance, safety and

building condition, and give an

evaluation of the cost of

repair/replacement/ maintenance

-.04

28

BMC02

Implement planned maintenance

technology and stock audition of

government buildings and

quarters

-.01

29

BCA09

Check plans for all types of

building (new, old, re-constructed

and renovated) to ensure they

fulfil all the legislative

requirements and issuance of

building approval

-.01

Note:

1. Building Maintenance and Conservation (BMC)

2. Building Control Administration (BCA)

3. Building Inspection (BI)

4. Risk Management and Building Audit (RMBA)

5. Building Works and Quality (BWQ)

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6. Building Insurance (BuI)

Based on the findings as shown in Table 4, the

first role group, Building Maintenance and

Conservation, had a total agreement of 41% and had

12 task variables which included (BMC01, BMC02,

BMC03, BMC04, BMC05, BMC06, BMC08,

BMC09, BMC10, BMC11, BMC12, and BMC13).

This suggests that professionals acknowledge that

graduates need to possess building maintenance and

conservation knowledge and skills to thrive in the

labour market after graduation. This role

complements the RISM claims which have stated

that one of the primary roles of building surveyors

covers the maintenance and repair of the building,

as well as refurbishment and restoration of old

properties.

The second most important role identified was

titled Building Control Administration, with a total

agreement of 24%. This role comprised of seven

building control tasks which included items BCA01,

BCA05, BCA06, BCA07, BCA08, BCA09, and

BCA10. This role complements the MQA which

have agreed that the main scope of work that is

offered by the building surveyor is building control

and compliance. Besides, only 18% of the items are

listed as the third most important role which is titled

Building Inspection and have five items that include

BI01, BI02, BI03, BI04, and BI07. It is, therefore,

essential for graduate building surveyors to clearly

articulate this role during their practice in the world

of work as it is one of the niche roles and services

that can be performed after graduation.

Meanwhile, 7% of the task variables represent

the role of Risk Management and Building Audit

role (RMBA01, and RMBA03) and the Building

Works and Quality role (BWQ03, and BWQ04),

respectively. The roles that were related to

management, audit and building quality were

associated with physical development management,

controlling of construction quality, and assessment

of the physical building condition, which were the

typical duties of a building surveyor [7].

Whereas, the remaining 3% of the item is from

the Building Insurance (BuI02) scope of work.

Instead, no task items in the Development and

Construction Management role were agreed by the

respondents to be important, which had been

realised as unfit to be included in the roles’

hierarchy. This finding suggests that the

professionals value of the Development and

Construction Management role is not profoundly

present as a service that can be offered by building

surveyors in real practice.

This suggests that professionals acknowledge

that graduates need to be trained more on these six

listed roles, therefore, the education providers need

to adjusting their academic courses with the

demanded role as presented in the roles’ hierarchy

table (Table 4.). With the fact that modern

technologies are getting involved in the most of

human activities nowadays as claims by [52], BS

graduates should able to deals with the latest digital

construction technology and required equipment

that are commonly used in carrying out surveying

works. Instead, the findings extend prior work by

reinforcing the roles’ hierarchy for building

surveyors graduating in Malaysia, which highlights

the importance of BS services in the construction

industry. Currently, there are no specific job scopes

that can be claimed under the BS domain due to the

absence of the BS Act. Developing roles’ hierarchy

is one of the possible approaches in overcoming the

issues of low awareness of the importance of

building surveyors in Malaysia.

5 Discussion

Establishing a specific roles hierarchy for BS

graduates is an essential part of establishing the

awareness level of the significance of BS services

among the graduates, the general public and other

construction stakeholders in Malaysia. Unclear roles

and tasks would mean that the building surveyors

graduating in Malaysia are performing their duties

and roles without having a good understanding of

the important services that can be offered in this

industry. This statement complements [53] theory of

competency, because it is believed that maximum

performance will occur when the capability of a

person is consistent to the job requirements and the

organisation's environment.

Referring to the earlier literature findings, the

scope and services are offered by the BS profession

in Malaysia includes building control and

compliance, risk control and building performance,

development and construction management,

building works, building maintenance and

conservation, and building inspection. However, the

results of this study show that the Development and

Construction Management role do not lead to an

important role to be performed by the building

surveyor graduating in Malaysia. The results

presented above suggest that out of the seven roles,

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there are six distinct roles which represent potential

roles that are to be offered by the BS graduates.

Therefore, conclusively this paper produced a

roles hierarchy for the graduates building surveyor

in Malaysia practices. The findings provide insights

for prospective students, graduates, and the public

on the building surveyors’ scope of works, with the

aim to enhance the awareness on the importance of

the building surveyors’ roles in the Malaysian

construction industry. In particular, this provided a

significant guideline for BS graduates in

determining the niche area of the BS services in

order to be more adaptable to construction related

work practices. The final roles and tasks that are

described here encompass six potential roles with 29

tasks that can be offered by graduate building

surveyors consisting of Building Maintenance and

Conservation, Building Control Administration,

Building Inspection, Risk Management and

Building Audit, Building Works and Quality, and

Building Insurance.

Generally, this paper also contributes to this

critical line of inquiry by examining these potential

roles in the entry-level employment context that can

be applied by building surveyors who are graduating

in Malaysia. The roles hierarchy that has been

developed in this study are part of a growing effort

towards new insight into the technical employability

skills that are required by building surveyors

graduating in Malaysia, especially for entry-level.

6 Conclusion

This study investigates the role that graduates

should perform in order to prepare them for the

world of work after graduation. The study

contributes to the body of knowledge by discussing

the potential roles that the BS graduates need to

perform in the world of work after graduation in the

Malaysian construction industry. Accordingly, this

finding pays tribute to the increasing importance of

the building surveyor’s role. The study used a

quantitative method approach that involves

literature review and a close-ended questionnaire

survey as the means of data collection as well as

descriptive statistics and inferential statistical

analysis to analysed the data on reliability, item fit,

and item measure for roles hierarchy as a method of

scrutinising data. Data was obtained from

professionals within the BS field, from those in

academia, government agencies representatives and

the construction industry.

Subsequently, the respondents’ profile data was

analysed using some descriptive statistics with the

assistance of IBM SPSS Statistic, which were

presented in percentage and frequency format.

Additionally, the cleaned data for the developed

roles hierarchy were analysed using the inferential

Rasch statistical analysis such as the reliability test,

item fit test, and item measure hierarchy. The Rasch

analysis was found to be an optimum technique in

presenting valid data and monitoring the quality of

an instrument in more meaningful ways.

Through the Rasch model analysis, this study has

managed to identify the hierarchy and potential

roles that can be offered by BS graduates in the

Malaysian construction industry. Results from the

Rasch analysis have revealed six clusters of roles -

Building Maintenance and Conservation, Building

Control Administration, Building Inspection, Risk

Management and Building Audit, Building Works

and Quality, and Building Insurance. As apparent

from the study, these six roles’ services are broad

and encompass other related scope of works that can

be offered, performed and focused in the Malaysian

construction and built environment industry.

The findings of this study are considered to be

the most important and different from other

published studies when it reveals a roles hierarchy

that graduates are required to perform, and where it

will provide awareness on the existence of the BS

vocation among other construction professionals

and general public in Malaysia. In contrary to

previous studies, this research has tended to focus

on the role hierarchy required for the BS graduates

rather than general services and roles that was

offered by the professional building surveyor in

Malaysian construction industry.

Contrary to previous studies, the findings suggest

that the essential roles that the professionals expect

from the graduates reflect significant development

in knowledge and skills in the six niche roles as

have been demonstrated by the 29 tasks that are

established from the inferential analysis using the

Rasch model. This role hierarchy set to become a

vital factor in graduates’ career development. For

instant, graduate building surveyors who show

knowledge and skills that are in compliance with

these six role clusters stand out in employment

opportunities, as they highlight the graduate ability

to align with the industrial working practices and to

follow the current demanded roles. However, there

is a requirement for undergraduate students to attain

not only knowledge but there is also the need to

demonstrate critical technical skills during the

recruitment phases because significant pressures

have gathered pace for universities to produce

skilled graduates who are industry-ready.

While it is understandable that some of the

graduates will be unable to secure a placement due

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT

DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.7

Siti Hamidah Husain, Afifuddin Husairi Hussain,

Adi Irfan Che Ani, Haryanti Mohd Affandi,

Hasnizan Aksah

E-ISSN: 2224-3496

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to inadequate employment opportunities, however,

graduate building surveyors (entry-level) should

plan the direction of their expertise after graduation

by understanding their roles, the degree of priority

that is based on the hierarchy that has been found.

This study will benefit the society especially for BS

practitioners, learning provider and organisation by

sharing of knowledge through the significant

findings from this study. Significantly, the findings

also offer promising acknowledgement towards

significant services and specific job scope that can

be offered by the building surveyor profession,

despite the fact that much more effort is needed to

enhance the awareness of the existence of the BS

professionals among the general public and the

construction practitioners. Therefore, it is suggested

that the authorities take due care in enhancing the

awareness level of the significance of the building

surveyors’ services either through the endorsement

of the Building Surveying Act and professional

recognition, or through creating more job

opportunities for BS graduates.

Also, the findings amplify the call for

universities to embark on a strategic educational

approach by redefining the content of the academic

courses in order to complement the demanded roles

and to encourage a new paradigm shift in the BS

practice and education. A holistic comparison

between the university’s supply and industry’s

demand could offer further insights for the

education provider and the industry to deflate the

size of graduate mismatch especially in the current

unprecedented nature of the Covid-19 pandemic,

which has seriously affected the condition of the

Malaysian labour market. Furthermore, further

research could investigate the niche of the scope of

works that can be practiced by the Malaysian

building surveyor profession, from the non-allied

construction professionals’ perspectives. This

approach amplifies the call for the construction

practitioner and general public to be aware of the

roles and existence of the BS vocation in the

Malaysian construction industry.

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Hasnizan Aksah

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Hasnizan Aksah

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Author Contributions:

Siti Hamidah Husain was responsible for the

conceptualisation of ideas and has implemented

methodological approach.

Adi Irfan Che Ani and Haryanti Mohd Affandi was

responsible for supervising of research activity

planning execution and provision of study resources

and material.

Afifuddin Husairi Hussain and Hasnizan Aksah was

responsible for application of the Rasch analysis

statistical to analyse study data.

Sources of funding for research

presented in a scientific article or

scientific article itself

This research was funded by Universiti Kebangsaan,

grant number GGP-2019-001 and GGPM-2019-069.

Creative Commons Attribution

License 4.0 (Attribution 4.0

International, CC BY 4.0)

This article is published under the terms of the

Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en

_US

WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ENVIRONMENT and DEVELOPMENT

DOI: 10.37394/232015.2022.18.7

Siti Hamidah Husain, Afifuddin Husairi Hussain,

Adi Irfan Che Ani, Haryanti Mohd Affandi,

Hasnizan Aksah

E-ISSN: 2224-3496

68

Volume 18, 2022