Building surveyors advise clients about the design and construction of new buildings and the maintenance, repair, renovation and conservation of existing ones. Clients can range from individual house owners to large commercial and industrial companies..
Your work as a surveyor would vary depending on the type of project, but would usually focus on three main areas: surveying, legal work, and planning and inspection. The typical day to day work of a building surveyor includes surveying properties, identifying structural defects and making recommendations for repairs; assessing damage for insurance and loss adjustment purposes, for example as a result of bad weather, fire or flooding; assessing dilapidation liability (who is responsible for building repair costs) and; advising clients on issues such as property boundary disputes.
Depending on the size of the company you work for, you may cover all of these and other work areas, or specialise in just one.
Qualifications
[Edit]To qualify as a building surveyor you will need to complete a degree course accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), followed by a professional development course; or start in a trainee position with a surveying firm and study for qualifications whilst working.
Relevant degrees include: surveying, construction, civil engineering, building engineering.
If you have a non-accredited degree, you will need to take a postgraduate course in surveying. You can do this through a graduate traineeship once working or by studying full-time at an RICS-accredited university.
_0.jpg){kind=small}
