Chartered surveyors in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
A Chartered surveyor in the United Kingdom
is a surveyor
who is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
("RICS"). Until the end of the 20th century, chartered surveyors could also be members of the ISVA ("Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers"), but this organisation merged into the RICS in 1999.
Chartered surveyors may offer mortgage valuations, homebuyer's survey and valuations, full building surveys, building surveyors' services, quantity surveying, land surveying, auctioneering, estate management and other forms of survey- and building-related advice.
.
. The homebuyer may choose to instruct the surveyor to carry out a "RICS Homebuyer's Survey and Valuation" or a "Full Building Survey" (sometimes called a "Structural Survey"), usually at additional cost.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders
recommends that buyers should not rely only on the mortgage valuation, but obtain a fuller survey for their own purposes. Various mortgage-related sources endorse this advice. However, a fuller survey is rarely a condition of the loan.
Appropriate for larger or older properties, including but not limited to listed buildings, thatched cottages, timber frame homes and so on, a Full Building Survey is the most detailed survey available from most firms of Chartered Surveyors. Thorough though it is, it may still lead to recommendations for further investigation from other specialists; see below.
.
, a gas engineer, a structural engineer
or expert of another kind, depending on what they find during their inspection. They may also recommend work by the buyer's solicitor
to confirm matters which might affect their valuation, such as (with leasehold properties), the unexpired term of the lease
, who is responsible for the boundaries, and so forth.
The Chartered Surveyor's inspection is typically non-intrusive. They do not have the authority to lift floorboards, drill holes, or perform excavations at a property which the prospective buyer does not, at this stage, own, which means that certain defects or problems may not be apparent from their inspection.
Fully qualified building surveyors in the UK are members of the RICS.
and subcontractor
s in the construction
industry. Their function is management of the commercial interfaces of construction: writing, negotiating, awarding and administering contracts, including variations and claims arising during the performance of a contract; cost control and cost engineering
, i.e to document and estimate costs, progress, and risks. In the UK, not all quantity surveyors are necessarily chartered surveyors; some may be chartered through the Chartered Institute of Building
("CIOB").
Additional duties may include performing feasibility studies, preparing tenders, procuring materials, managing subcontractors, and even advice on taxation or building management. Surveyors may also be involved in dispute resolution.
Quantity surveyors sometimes act as project manager
s of a construction site.
, cartography
, engineering surveying, hydrographic surveying and oceanographic surveying. Land surveyors may be accredited by the RICS, Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), or the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES), but only RICS members can call themselves "chartered land surveyors".
s. ("Party walls" in the UK are walls on your property shared with your neighbours.)
broadcast a programme alleging corruption in one firm of chartered surveyors in Scotland. In a response, the RICS admitted they do not keep records of how many surveyors are struck off, but "thought it was a small number".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
who is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is an independent, representative professional body which regulates property professionals and surveyors in the United Kingdom and other sovereign nations....
("RICS"). Until the end of the 20th century, chartered surveyors could also be members of the ISVA ("Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers"), but this organisation merged into the RICS in 1999.
Chartered surveyors may offer mortgage valuations, homebuyer's survey and valuations, full building surveys, building surveyors' services, quantity surveying, land surveying, auctioneering, estate management and other forms of survey- and building-related advice.
Real Estate Valuation in the UK
Most people's experience of chartered surveyors is in using one for the purposes of obtaining a mortgage loanMortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
.
Types of survey
Chartered surveyors offer three types of survey. A mortgage valuation will be required by any mortgage lender as a condition of obtaining a mortgage loanMortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
. The homebuyer may choose to instruct the surveyor to carry out a "RICS Homebuyer's Survey and Valuation" or a "Full Building Survey" (sometimes called a "Structural Survey"), usually at additional cost.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders
Council of Mortgage Lenders
The Council of Mortgage Lenders is an industry body representing mortgage lenders in the United Kingdom.Its members consist of banks, building societies and specialist lenders and represent 98% of mortgage lending in the UK....
recommends that buyers should not rely only on the mortgage valuation, but obtain a fuller survey for their own purposes. Various mortgage-related sources endorse this advice. However, a fuller survey is rarely a condition of the loan.
Mortgage valuation
A mortgage valuation is for the benefit of the lender. Its purpose is merely to confirm the property is worth the price paid, in order to protect the lender's interests.RICS Homebuyer's Survey and Valuation
Appropriate for smaller or more modern properties, a Homebuyer's Survey and Valuation provides more detail on potential problems and advice for the buyer on how the property should be maintained.Full building survey
Energy performance certificate
Chartered surveyors can also provide an energy performance certificate, perhaps as part of a home information packHome information pack
Under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004 a Home Information Pack , sometimes called a Seller's Pack, was to be provided before a property in England and Wales could be put on the open market for sale with vacant possession. There is separate legislation for Scotland that requires anyone selling a...
.
Limits
Chartered Surveyors are not necessarily specialists in other fields, and may recommend further surveys by an electricianElectrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
, a gas engineer, a structural engineer
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
or expert of another kind, depending on what they find during their inspection. They may also recommend work by the buyer's solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
to confirm matters which might affect their valuation, such as (with leasehold properties), the unexpired term of the lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
, who is responsible for the boundaries, and so forth.
The Chartered Surveyor's inspection is typically non-intrusive. They do not have the authority to lift floorboards, drill holes, or perform excavations at a property which the prospective buyer does not, at this stage, own, which means that certain defects or problems may not be apparent from their inspection.
Building surveying
As well as surveying, building surveyors in the UK give advice on design, construction, maintenance and repair. They may also assess damage or dilapidations on behalf of an insurance company.Fully qualified building surveyors in the UK are members of the RICS.
Quantity surveying
Quantity surveyors work for private and commercial clients, main contractorsGeneral contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
and subcontractor
Subcontractor
A subcontractor is an individual or in many cases a business that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract....
s in the construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
industry. Their function is management of the commercial interfaces of construction: writing, negotiating, awarding and administering contracts, including variations and claims arising during the performance of a contract; cost control and cost engineering
Cost engineering
Cost engineering is an area of engineering practice concerned with the "application of scientific principles and techniques to problems of cost estimating, cost control, business planning and management science, profitability analysis, project management, and planning and scheduling."- Overview...
, i.e to document and estimate costs, progress, and risks. In the UK, not all quantity surveyors are necessarily chartered surveyors; some may be chartered through the Chartered Institute of Building
Chartered Institute of Building
The Chartered Institute of Building is a body that represents professionals who work within the built environment in the United Kingdom.- History :...
("CIOB").
Additional duties may include performing feasibility studies, preparing tenders, procuring materials, managing subcontractors, and even advice on taxation or building management. Surveyors may also be involved in dispute resolution.
Quantity surveyors sometimes act as project manager
Project manager
A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers can have the responsibility of the planning, execution, and closing of any project, typically relating to construction industry, architecture, computer networking, telecommunications or software...
s of a construction site.
Land surveying
Essentially, land surveying is making accurate maps and plans. Land surveying encompasses cadastral surveyingCadastre
A cadastre , using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country...
, cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
, engineering surveying, hydrographic surveying and oceanographic surveying. Land surveyors may be accredited by the RICS, Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), or the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES), but only RICS members can call themselves "chartered land surveyors".
Auctioneering
Firms of chartered surveyors sometimes act in property auctions.Other aspects of surveying practice
As well as the services mentioned above, UK chartered surveyors may offer advice in boundary disputes, business rates, compulsory purchase matters and party wallParty wall
Party wall is a dividing partition between two adjoining buildings that is shared by the tenants of each residence or business. The wall is sometimes constructed over the center of the property line dividing two terraced flats or row houses so that one half of the wall is on each property...
s. ("Party walls" in the UK are walls on your property shared with your neighbours.)
Criticism
In 2000, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
broadcast a programme alleging corruption in one firm of chartered surveyors in Scotland. In a response, the RICS admitted they do not keep records of how many surveyors are struck off, but "thought it was a small number".