Building control surveyor : Training

Many employers provide relevant training programmes for staff who are not fully qualified or who wish to gain further qualifications. For example, local authorities recruit staff at assistant or trainee building control surveyor level and support them through release for part-time study to full professional qualification.

Graduates with degrees approved by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)  and who have entered relevant employment, can become chartered surveyors by completing the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). This work-based professional training scheme usually lasts for two years and requires an achievement of specific competencies. (Satisfactory completion of an RICS-accredited industrial training year, as part of a degree, will count towards the APC.) Towards the end of the training period they must give a formal presentation and attend an interview. If successful, they become chartered building surveyors and may undertake the full range of building surveying and building control duties.

Graduates without an RICS-accredited degree will usually complete their conversion course before studying for chartered status. Some graduates may be able to complete the APC at the same time.

Corporate membership of the Association of Building Engineers (ABE)  is open to graduates and requires a minimum of one year of approved experience during which candidates compile a portfolio of evidence. They must present this and attend a professional interview in order to qualify. Associate membership of the ABE is open to diplomates who have a minimum of two years of relevant experience.