How do you become a building surveyor?

How do you become a building surveyor?

Why choose this course?

This course prepares you to start your career as a building surveyor. The BSc(Hons) course is fully accredited for 2020 entry by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and also carries full accreditation until July 2019 from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). This can help you towards the practice qualifications needed to become a chartered surveyor.

On this course, you will gain a detailed knowledge of building maintenance, care, conservation and structures. It reflects the variety of work that building surveyors undertake. This might include: supervising a large mixed-use development; planning domestic extensions; buildings care and maintenance; design, refurbishment or alteration; and resolving disputes between neighbours or landlords and tenants.

Our strong links with industry will provide you with exciting opportunities to work on real projects and you can gain a career head start by doing a year's work placement. You'll also get to put into practice what you have learnt on an overseas field trip.

What you will study

You'll study the business and legal aspects of the property and construction industries. You'll learn how to advise clients of legal and financial implications resulting from the condition of buildings. Sustainable building design is also key to this course.

You'll also develop and practice skills for your future career, including: presenting yourself; working in teams; writing reports; debating current topics; applying IT to your discipline; and initiating and executing research projects.

Year 1 explores design. You'll examine what makes a building well or poorly designed. You'll use both sketching and computer-aided design packages. You'll study the design process, the relationship of buildings to the environment and the need for design innovation and sustainability.

Year 2 examines construction - how and why buildings fall apart. This is a key component of the knowledge base for chartered building surveyors. In the Building Maintenance and Management module you will learn how to keep buildings in use.

Year 3 includes workshops and a residential study trip. It culminates in a major group project, along with an independent research project. You will have the opportunity to combine and present all your learning from the course.

Module listing

You'll study the business and legal aspects of the property and construction industries. You'll learn how to advise clients of legal and financial implications resulting from the condition of buildings. Sustainable building design is also key to this course.

You'll also develop and practice skills for your future career, including: presenting yourself; working in teams; writing reports; debating current topics; applying IT to your discipline; and initiating and executing research projects.

Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list as these could change before your year of entry.

Year 1

Engineering Design and Professional Practice

Structures, Materials and Construction Methods

Applied Mathematics and Computing Applications

Construction Management and Site Investigation

Year 2

CAD and Building Science

Commercial Construction Technology

Contract Administration

Building Maintenance & Management

Year 3/4

Building Design and Application

Professional Practice in Context

The Existing Built Environment

Individual Project

Becoming a chartered surveyor

To qualify as a chartered surveyor, you must:

gain a RICS-approved academic qualification, such as a degree from Kingston University; and

successfully complete structured training, which ends in an assessment of your competence to practice (APC).

We are actively involved in APC, including preparation courses, and several staff members are RICS assessors. This means that Kingston University can help you from the start of your undergraduate degree right through to your registration as a chartered surveyor.

RICS is the leading source of land, property, construction and related environmental knowledge. The organisation:

supports 120,000 members worldwide;

promotes best practice;

represents consumers' interests; and

provides impartial advice to society, businesses, governments and global organisations.

Learn a language

You will have the opportunity to study a foreign language, free of charge, during your time at the University on a not-for-credit basis as part of the Kingston Language Scheme. Options currently include: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

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