General practice surveyor Job Information | National Careers Service

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General practice surveyor

Hours

40 per week
Starting salary

£19,000 + per year

The work

General practice surveyors are involved in the management, valuation, buying, selling and development of land and property.

As a general practice surveyor, you could work in either the private or public sector. Your tasks would typically include:

negotiating deals connected with buying, selling and renting property
acting as an agent, buying and selling property and land on behalf of clients
assessing environmental impact and economic viability of development
valuing land and property
compiling reports for purposes such as valuation for mortgages, rent reviews and investment potential
advising on property values, land purchase, tenure issues and related legislation.

You could specialise in:

development – working with other professionals such as town planners, architects, and highways and structural engineers to consider new developments and their financial implications
management – managing property on behalf of a landlord, collecting rents, dealing with maintenance and repair and making sure tenancy agreements are followed
investment – advising clients on buying and selling individual investments or managing large property portfolios
Valuation Office Agency work – valuing property on behalf of the government, local authorities and public bodies for business rates, capital taxation, purchase and sale.

Some estate agents are qualified surveyors. See the Estate Agent profile for more details of this career.

Hours

You would usually work up to 40 hours a week. In the private sector you would often need to work extra hours, including weekends, to meet deadlines, visit sites or meet with clients. In the public sector your hours would usually be more regular.

You would work both in an office and on site, which may involve being outside in all weather conditions. You would also spend time visiting clients and sometimes need to stay away from home.

Income

Starting salaries can be from £19,000 to £25,000 a year.
With experience this can rise to between £30,000 and £40,000.
Senior staff can earn in excess of £50,000.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

You could qualify as a general practice surveyor in either of the following ways:

degree route – completing a degree in a relevant subject such as surveying, estate management, building or construction, followed by professional development
work-based route – starting as a trainee surveyor and studying for further qualifications whilst working.

Degree route

Most general practice surveyors have a degree accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). If your degree is not in a relevant subject, you could take a postgraduate conversion course. See the RICS website to search for accredited degree and postgraduate courses.

RICS Accredited courses

If you are working in engineering or construction, you could take a distance learning postgraduate conversion course with the College of Estate Management (CEM).

College of Estate Management

Work-based route

If you have an HNC/HND or foundation degree in surveying or construction, you may be able to work as a surveying technician with a company and take further qualifications to fully qualify. See the Technical Surveyor job profile.

You can also qualify as a chartered surveyor through the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) - there are various routes depending on your qualifications and experience. See the CIOB website for details

CIOB

Training and development

Once you have your degree or postgraduate qualification and are in relevant employment, you can work towards becoming a chartered surveyor by completing an Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). For this you will need to:

complete at least two years' postgraduate practical training and experience
pass a practical assessment and interview.

If you successfully completed an accredited industrial training year as part of your degree course, this will count towards the two-year requirement.

As a RICS member you would be expected to complete a certain amount of continuing professional development (CPD) each year. This can include online study. Contact RICS for details.

You can also qualify as a chartered surveyor through the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) – there are various routes depending on your qualifications and experience. See the CIOB website for details.

Skills and knowledge

excellent spoken and written communication skills
excellent STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)
negotiating skills
the ability to work well as a member of a team
analytical skills
the ability to develop and maintain working relationships with other professionals
commercial awareness
good maths skills.

More information

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) (Opens new window)
Parliament Square
London
SW1P 3AD
Tel: 0207 334 3875
www.rics.org

College of Estate Management (Opens new window)
Whiteknights
Reading
Berkshire
RG6 6AW
Tel: 0800 019 9697
www.cem.ac.uk

Asset Skills (Opens new window)
2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Tel: 01392 423399
Careers Advice: careers@assetskills.org
www.assetskills.org

Chartered Institute of Building (Opens new window)
Englemere
Kings Ride
Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 7TB
Tel: 01344 630700
www.ciob.org.uk

Valuation Office Agency (VOA) (Opens new window)
New Court
Carey St
London WC2A 2JE
Tel: 0207 530 7200
www.voa.gov.uk

Opportunities

In the public sector, you could work for regional development agencies, local authorities, hospital trusts, universities and central government departments.

In private practice, you could work in either the commercial or residential property sectors. In the commercial sector employers include large surveying practices, house building companies and property developers. In the residential sector, you could work for large national chains of estate agents, or major regional firms.

As a qualified surveyor, you could move into a specialist area such as auctioning of land, property or plant and machinery, or valuation and auctioning of fine arts and antiques.

You may find the following links useful for job vacancies and general reading (links open in new window):

Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.

We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.

Related industry information

Industry summary

The property and planning industry is part of the facilities management, housing, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce, which has continued to grow since 1998, represents 3% of the total UK workforce.

The property and planning industry covers both the private and public sectors and includes: acquiring, planning, surveying and valuing of commercial and residential property; plus valuing, selling, letting and managing of commercial and residential property.

Key facts:

The property and planning industry includes key areas of commercial and residential sales and lettings and property management.
There are 155,300 people working in the property industry in 37,200 companies.
There are significantly more full‐time than part‐time employees in the industry.
96% of all housing and property organisations have 10 or less employees.

Jobs in the industry include: estate agent; letting agent; surveyor; town planner; auctioneer; residential property or block manager; domestic energy assessor; and emerging jobs such as commercial energy assessor, housing energy adviser and community energy adviser.

National and regional data

The following provides a breakdown of the number of property sector employees in each of the Nations and English regions.

Region	Number of employees	Regional key characteristics
East Midlands	9,400	Nearly half (46%) of the property sector workforce in the East Midlands is aged over 50. A higher than average proportion is employed on a part‐time basis (43%)
East Of England	13,100	A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in the East of England is male (53%) and employed on a full‐ time basis (85%)
London	29,500	London is the largest employer of the property sector in England (19%). A significant proportion of employment is full‐time (81%), and a large proportion of the workforce is black and ethnic minorities (17%)
North East	6,300	The North East employs the smallest proportion of the property sector workforce across the English regions (4%)
North West	14,400	The North West employs 9% of the property sector workforce in England. A significant proportion of the workforce is female (61%)
South East	26,500	After London, the South East region is the second highest employer of the property sector (17%)
South West	15,200	The South West employs a significantly higher proportion of males (51%) compared to the workforce across England. 98% of the workforce is white
West Midlands	15,100	The West Midlands accounts for 10% of the property sector workforce in England.
Yorkshire & The Humber	11,000	Compared with other English regions, a significant proportion of the workforce is female (64%) and the majority is white (98%)
Northern Ireland	*	A significant proportion of the property sector workforce in Northern Ireland is female (66%) and the majority (58%) of the workforce is aged between 20‐29 years
Scotland	9,400	Scotland employs 6% of the total UK property sector workforce. Women make up 60% of employees, 98% of the workforce is white, with the majority employed on a full‐time basis (81%)
Wales	4,600	Wales employs 3% of the total UK property sector workforce. The majority, (60%) of the workforce is female and 99% of the workforce is white. Compared to the UK, high proportions are employed on a part‐time basis (36%)

Source: Annual Population Survey, Housing and Property Labour Market Intelligence Update, Asset Skills, 2008
* Due to a low sample base this figure is excluded.