CURRICULUM VITÆ

   Mr Rainbird commenced his working career with a leading London practice of Chartered Quantity Surveyors and following completion of his professional examinations and qualification he fulfilled his military service commitments as a Quantity Surveyor (RE) during which he served in West Africa, seconded to a Commonwealth Government.

   After joining Widnell in 1966 he was appointed manager of the practice in Nigeria (resident in Lagos, Ibadan and Kano).

   Following his return to London he became an Associate in 1970 and joined the partnership in 1976, becoming a Director in 1989.

   He is a Director of Widnell Ong Seng Goburdhun Ltd, established in 1991.

   He has been directly involved with projects in Europe since 1970 and has been responsible for various major projects in the Middle East.
He has travelled on business to the United States, the Far East, Australia and more recently he has visited Central and Eastern Europe.

   Since 1977 he has been actively involved in the activities of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors as a member of the Divisional Council and the Divisional Executive.
   He has served on a wide range of committees dealing with professional matters and represented the Institution in joint bodies related to the construction industry in the United Kingdom and internationally.

   From 1985 to 1994 he was a member of the General Council of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Chairman of the International Committee and a member of the Executive from 1985 to 1990.

   In culmination of these years of service he was honoured to hold the office of President of the Quantity Surveyors Division in 1992/3.

   Since 1963 he has been a member of the Standing Joint Committee for the Measurement of Building Works and had an involvement in the production of SMM5 (Metric) SMM6 and SMM7.

   He was Co-ordinator and Chairman of the Committee of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which produced the Principles of Measurement (International) in 1979.

   Mr Rainbird's experience encompasses office developments, residential schemes, hotels, leisure complexes, hospitals, research establishments, airports, retail, institutional buildings, city centre redevelopment and regeneration and civil engineering projects, covering a wide range of project values from small scale refurbishment to schemes in excess of £500 million.

   His particular fields of expertise are those of advising clients on the selection of the most appropriate contractual procurement options for works projects and the resolution of contractual disputes.
He has for many years been involved in advising on contractual matters both in relation to projects on which he or the firm were actively concerned and in a totally independent capacity as an advisor.

   He also acts as an expert witness in cases of litigation or arbitration. This has been applied to projects where both traditional and more modern procurement and contractual methods have been employed, both in the UK and overseas.