Why become a Chartered Surveyor?
Surveying provides an exciting career working with a range of faculties and subject areas as well as pragmatic concepts. You will be working both outdoors and at a desk and no two days are the same. The role is both intellectually and financially rewarding. We interact every day with people, get out and inspect buildings most days, so we get around a lot! A high degree of professionalism is expected from chartered surveyors through the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, which is our regulatory body. Key pillars and honesty and integrity, and taking responsibility for our advice, since clients need to rely on our reports and advice and our profession is built on trust.
PSC Surveys is your number one stop to get your career in surveying underway. Philip provides hands-on structured training and experience in a range of service areas not available in many larger City firms. If you are interested in becoming a surveyor, please email your CV with a cover letter to support@pscsurveys.co.uk.
Why I enjoy my job
Being a chartered surveyor is a highly respected profession and highly valued in other employment sectors. Working as consultants with a range of professions and clients, often homeowners, but also professions such as lawyers and accountants, is both enjoyable and rewarding. We are ‘out and about’ on site most days, a mix of out.
What I love about surveying is the range of knowledge and skills we use to provide services to the public, using academic subjects from school – no lessons go to waste!:-
English language: used for report writing and wider communication.
Mathematics: used for valuation, cost assessment and practice management.
Law: we rely on a detailed understanding of relevant law in all aspects of our services.
Geography: we need an understanding of physical geography, for example, floor risk, as well as demographics and trends, geology and ground build ups; ecology & sustainability.
History: We need to understand the age of buildings, as this helps us to understand the construction techniques, how they fit together and characteristics of the building. Some buildings have thatched roofs and curvy woodwork several hundred years old!
Physics: used for building pathology, understanding load-paths, materials and construction techniques, soil mechanics.
Chemistry: understanding metaphysical processes such as bi-metallic corrosion, sulphate attack, etc. You can read about RAAC bocks in schools and your local library roof!
Biology: used for understanding the impact on buildings of species such as fungii, beetles, trees and knotweed.
Economics and business studies: An understanding of market trends for valuation; also needed for practice management.
Sport/ PE / climbing: We keep fit during inspections. We need to get into roof spaces and move around buildings with equipment.
Modern Languages: I have worked overseas in France, Germany, Italy and Spain – some travel opportunities or for working overseas. I worked in Paris for a year. A friend went to Dubai, where there was a surveyor shortage and great demand for our skills.
IT and technology: We use information technology and a range of high-tech measuring tools in our industry. AI is coming and we have to embrace this and adapt our business to compete.
Design/ art: We are often required to produce plan drawings on site and use CAD (computer-assisted design) to finalise these; marketing and web-design.
Music: Sometimes helps us through the day when working independently.
Drama: Best avoided in this job!
I started out with a modern languages and humanities undergraduate degree, I was in teaching for ten years before re-training as a surveyor. I got my chartered status in 2014. It was a very proud day for me. Now I train others to do just that.
Out moto (in Latin): ‘Est modus in rebus’ (meaning ‘There is measure in all things’).
Entry qualifications
A RICS-accredited degree-level qualification is recommended, but entry possibilities are available with A-levels. I did a post-graduate level (MSc) conversion course later.
Apprenticeship options
Apprenticeship options for training are available through surveying practices and consultancies such as ours (PSC Surveys).
Entry points to the employment sector
Most chartered surveyors have an RICS-accredited degree. SAVA provide an alternative route to qualification as AssocRICS.