Surveyor
Surveyors make sure that buildings are safe and well-maintained so care can be delivered effectively.
Working life
As an NHS surveyor, you'll be responsible for managing NHS properties. In the NHS, surveyors may be known as:
- asset managers
- estate managers
- property managers
The role
Your job will involve all aspects of estate and property management including
- leases and tenancies
- rents and service charges
- property transactions (buying and selling)
- legal requirements
- organising repairs and maintenance
- valuing property
- project managing building and renovations
Where will I work?
You'll be based in an office or at home but may need to travel to meetings and spend a lot of time on site.
Who will I work with?
You'll work with other staff from corporate services, such as architects [1] and finance staff [2]and managers responsible for estates and facilities [3], project managers [4] and procurement [5]. You're likely to meet healthcare staff when you travel to NHS sites but are unlikely to have contact with patients. You also work with people outside the NHS, mainly in the construction industry.
Entry requirements
Surveyors in the NHS have to be fully-qualified and chartered through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors [6].
To become a surveyor, you need either:
- a degree in surveying, or a related subject, accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors [6]
or
- a degree in any subject followed by a Masters accredited by the RICS
Accredited degrees include building surveying, quantity surveying, estate management, real estate or property. Courses are three or four years full time or up to six years part time. There are also distance learning options.
To get onto a degree course, you need
- two or three A levels along with five GCSEs (grades A-C [7]), including English language and maths
or alternative qualifications, including
- BTEC or HNC
- relevant NVQ
- access course
- equivalent Scottish or Irish qualifications
For a Masters, you need a good honours degree. However, each institution sets its own entry requirements, so it’s important to check carefully.
After university, to become fully qualified as a surveyor, you have to
- work under supervision for two or three years
- pass an Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)
Personal characteristics and skills needed
A surveyor needs to
- have an interest in buildings and property
- be willing to travel
- spend time working outdoors
- work on several different projects at once
- be able to meet deadlines
- work with contractors and others from the construction industry
You'll also need
- negotiating skills
- organisational skills
- project management skills
- business skills
Training and development
If you join NHS Property Services as a graduate trainee, you spend two years with different teams, working towards the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). You can then apply for chartered membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors [6].
If you join the NHS as a fully-qualified chartered surveyor, you will receive training to introduce you to the department and its systems and procedures.
Chartered surveyors have to keep their skills and knowledge up to date with annual CPD (continuing professional development). The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors [6] runs courses, conferences and seminars where engineers can update their skills and network with others.
Employers may offer short courses in particular topics such as budgeting or project management.
Other roles that may interest you
- Estates technician [71]
- Estates manager [72]
- Facilities management [73]
- Fire safety officer [74]