Key Skills for a Building Surveyor

The best building surveyors have commercial awareness, a love of construction and a knowledge of legislation.

What does a building surveyor do?

Building surveyors offer professional advice on factors affecting existing buildings such as building defects, alterations, renovations and extensions, as well as on the design and construction of new buildings. They work mostly on site to monitor the performance of structures and devise ways to improve them or correct flaws in their design.

Surveyors work alongside local planning bodies, clients, construction workers and other professionals to ensure projects meet the relevant safety, sustainability and preservation standards.

Typical activities of the role include:

advising clients about building/property issues, which can include technical, financial, legal, environmental/sustainability, building regulation and restoration matters
undertaking building surveys.
monitoring the deterioration or defects of a property and offering advice on repair work
assessing the impact of unexpected damage on insurance, for example after a fire or flood
writing technical reports
negotiating the repair of work or a financial settlement if required
planning and overseeing building work on small projects that don’t require an architect
managing projects and/or multidisciplinary teams.

While building surveyors are typically office based, they will make regular site visits and can work outside in all weathers. Building surveyors tend to work typical office hours, although extra hours may be required to meet report or project deadlines.

Typical employers of building surveyors include:

Property firms
House builders and property developers
Housing associations
Local authorities
The civil service
Construction companies
Large corporate organisations that own or manage a lot of land, like utility companies.

Qualifications and training required

There are routes into a career as a building surveyor for both university graduates and school leavers. To find out how to start your career as a school leaver, either via an apprenticeship or an entry-level role, there are plenty of online resources that can point you in the right direction.

To get a graduate job as a building surveyor, you should have:

either an undergraduate degree in building surveying or very similar accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
or a postgraduate conversion course in building surveying accredited by the RICS (this is typically a PG Dip or a Masters)

A few building surveying employers, like Inform Building Permits Ltd. will recruit graduates with undergraduate degrees in any related subject and pay for them to complete the postgraduate degree while working for them. However, most want to hire you with an RICS-accredited degree already.

While in the graduate role, you will usually be expected to study towards chartership with the RICS (usually, but possibly a similar professional body such as the Chartered Institute of Building).

Gaining work experience in building surveying – or in a related construction, property or planning role – as a student can enhance your graduate job application. Many of the typical employers of building surveyors (see above) offer formal summer internships and industrial year placements. Find out about applying for internships at property employers and at construction employers.

Key skills for building surveyors:

Organisational skills and an eye for detail
Willingness to work outside in all conditions
Interest in and firm knowledge of the built environment, including building regulations and health and safety legislation
An understanding of how their recommendations will affect a construction project’s profitability
Relationship-building skills and a strong understanding of good customer service
IT skills, including knowledge of industry-specific software
Be analytically minded, with strong problem-solving skills
Interpersonal and communication skills, both written and oral
Excellent project and time management skills
Team-working skills.
Also: a full driving license is usually needed.