The Role

• preparing tender and contract documents
• working out the cost of repair and maintenance work
• establishing exactly what a client wants
• weighing up commercial risks
• allocating work to subcontractors
• valuing completed work and arranging payments
• Making sure a project meets every legal and quality standard
• Making sure that the client gets value for their money
• Advising on the maintenance costs of specific buildings

Salary

• Newly trained quantity surveyors can earn in the region of £22,000 - £37,000
• Trained with experience quantity surveyors can earn in the region of £30,000 - £45,000
• Senior or chartered quantity surveyors can earn in the region of £42,000 - £66,000

Salaries depend on location, employer and level of responsibility. Salaries and career options also improve with chartered status.

Qualifications and Training

Quantity surveyors usually hold a relevant degree in Quantity Surveying, or follow a work-based route doing a Surveying Apprenticeships that can include:

• A Level 3 National Vocational Qualification in Surveying, Property and Maintenance
• A two-year period of structured, competency-based work experience
• BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment
• NVQ Level 3 Diploma in Construction Contracting Operations
• A Diploma in Surveying Practice
• The RICS Associate qualification
• Paid employment
• An apprenticeship qualification

You can follow this with a degree accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). This improves your chances of getting a job after your studies.

Other useful first degree subjects include geography, maths, economics, urban and land studies, building or construction, civil or structural engineering. It’s possible to do an accredited masters degree and some construction companies and construction agencies may allow you to do your post-graduate qualification on the job.  If you have a non-relevant degree you must take an RICS-recognised post-graduate conversion course.

If you have an HND or HNC you can register as a technical surveyor and top up your qualification following a RICS-recognised distance-learning course or part-time/day-release degree.

If you have vocational experience and qualifications you can do the RICS Associate qualification. This recognises your experience and work-based assessment evidence is logged online. You need to demonstrate certain technical competencies relevant to your specialism, in addition to soft skills.

Entry without a degree or HND is sometimes possible by working your way up through the industry. Some employers may be willing to fund a part-time degree or top-up courses, while others prefer graduates.

There are many routes to becoming chartered.  Whether you’re a graduate, have technical or vocational qualifications or have simply built up years of experience, you can choose the path that best suits you. To qualify for chartered status, you must complete the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) while you are working and have at least two years' work experience.  To apply for CIOB chartered status, you will need an accredited honours degree and two years' relevant work experience.