History
Construction economists in Europe since 1979
CEEC held its first meeting in June 1979 at the headquarters of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London. More than forty-five years and over ninety General Assemblies later, it links the professional bodies of 16 European countries, with Canada as an associate member.
1979 – the beginning
CEEC was formed by the French UNTEC, the RICS and the RICS’s Irish branch. Early publications call it the Construction Economics European Committee or the Comité Européen des Économistes de la Construction.
1980s and 1990s – a voice for the profession in Europe
In 1985 Noel H. McDonagh of Ireland was elected President at the General Assembly in Dublin. As the European single market took shape, CEEC became a reference on the profession: the Commission of the European Communities drew on CEEC information for its Panorama of EC Industry reports, and a CEEC survey on the recognition of professional qualifications was cited by the OECD. In 1995 CEEC published the book Construction Economics in the Single European Market.
2000s – standards and new members
In 2000 CEEC was registered as an association in Paris. In 2004 it issued the CEEC Code of Measurement for Cost Planning, a common European structure for building costs, presented at the FIG congresses in Munich (2006) and Stockholm (2008). Under President Gerry O’Sullivan (2005–2010) CEEC reached out to new members in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. In 2008 it took its present name, Conseil Européen des Économistes de la Construction – European Council of Construction Economists, and began its infrastructure cost survey.
2010s – international standards
In 2010 CEEC made its first contacts with the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) and the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) and started the CEEC Office Cost Model. A revised Code of Measurement followed in 2014. In 2015 CEEC was a founding member of the International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) Coalition; the second edition of ICMS was launched at the CEEC meeting in Brussels in October 2019. In 2017 CEEC presented its study on the competencies of quantity surveyors and cost engineers across Europe.
2020s – growing beyond Europe
In 2022 CEEC moved its seat to the Maison des Économistes de la Construction in Paris. The 87th General Assembly in London in June 2023 marked the 44th anniversary of the first meeting, in the same city. In October 2023 György Spányi of Hungary was elected President. In 2026 Türkiye joined CEEC, bringing membership to 16 European countries, and the 94th General Assembly in Halifax, hosted by CIQS, was the first held outside Europe.
Presidents
- Noel H. McDonagh, Ireland – from 1985
- Brian Drake – 1990s
- Michael Webb, Ireland – early 2000s
- Gerry O’Sullivan, Ireland – 2005–2010
- Tarmo Savolainen, Finland – until 2019
- Agnete Skytte, Switzerland – 2019–2023
- György Spányi, Hungary – since 2023
Recent General Assemblies
- 87th · London · June 2023 · RICS
- 88th · Budapest · October 2023
- 89th · Frankfurt · May 2024
- 90th · Ajaccio · October 2024 · UNTEC
- 91st · Madrid · May 2025 · CGATE
- 92nd · Delft · October 2025 · NVBK
- 93rd · Zadar · May 2026
- 94th · Halifax · October 2026 · CIQS
This history is incomplete. Do you have minutes, photographs or publications from CEEC’s early years, or know who led CEEC between 1985 and 2005? Please contact the General Secretary at info@ceecorg.eu.