Building Surveying - MSc/Top-up to MSc/PGDip

This programme is intended for non-surveying graduates who are working, or intending to work, in this area of the construction industry. The Building Surveying programme is for those involved in the maintenance, refurbishment, alteration and extension of existing buildings, or in project management and design for public bodies, commercial organisations and professional practice firms.

This programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). By studying a combination of core and optional modules the course provides the skills required by the practicing building surveyor, and to equip you for both the profession and industry. In order to complete the MSc stage, you are required to take a Research Methods unit and undertake a dissertation on a topic approved by your supervisor.

Highlights

• RICS accredited award (PGDip) in 2 semesters for full-time students and 4 semesters for part time students.
• Emphasis on the business skills required in modern building surveying practice
• Contributions to programme from practitioners
• An expanding Alumni Association which provides you with excellent networking opportunities
• The department has recently set up a Building Information Modelling (BIM) Centre to provide a research and enterprise facility linking the University with industry. It is designed to foster knowledge creation and exchange in BIM by connecting staff and students with practitioners in an increasingly inter-disciplinary world
• Fantastic London location affording access to major development areas and schemes to visits / study, the main offices of the country's leading consultancies and companies, RICS headquarters and library,as well as a wealth of social, cultural and recreational activity.

Excellent scholarship opportunity

Students who have accepted an offer for a place on this course are encouraged to apply for LSBU's Stuart A Johnson scholarship. Find out more about the Stuart A Johnson scholarship by clicking the link below

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/fees-and-funding/scholarships/stuart-a-johnson-scholarship

Modules

Core:

Institutional and legal context for property
Construction
Valuations and surveying
Building pathology
Property and building law
Building surveying project
Use and performance of buildings
Property and asset management
Dissertation

Optional:

Please be aware that option selection is subject to availability.

Behavioural finance
Building control
Building Information Modelling and Collaborative Working
Health and safety management in construction
History of architecture and construction
International real estate and construction
Legal resolution of property and construction disputes

Surveying project

Our surveyors look at financing a project, procuring construction work, financial management and the entire construction process. We want our students to have 'real world' experiences while studying at LSBU, of field work is a major component. We create these situations by inviting guest speaks in to give up-to-date lectures, having great industry links and taking our students into situations where they would like to work. Most of our surveying and construction courses give our students the opportunity to carry out a construction project. Their work will take into account current construction technologies, energy efficiency solutions and environmental and sustainability issues. The project is very detailed and is carried out across site visits, analysing on-going construction projects and an appraisal of eco-technologies. These factors can be influenced by a construction's location so our field trips can take our students both overseas to expanding countries like Dubai or round the corner to building developments happening on our own campus.

Market report and case study analysis

Students on our MSc Surveying courses can choose to study International Real Estate & Construction as an optional. For this complex module students need to go on a study visit to an international city which has an emerging real estate and construction market.

Past students have gone abroad to take in either Dubai in the United Arab Emirates or Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. The field trip includes visits to real estate companies and construction firms, site visits and meetings with various professionals. From these briefings, students need to produce a country report that includes a detailed strategy including how they could break through in the real estate or construction market in these overseas destinations.

Professional links

Accreditation is a mark of quality assurance and professional relevance.

The MSc and the PgDip is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is a recognised qualification for students to progress on to the Assessment of Professional Competence Graduate Training Programme.

Expertise and history

London South Bank University has a long history of educating professionals for the building-related industries. With roots in London Council School of Building (1904), Brixton School of Building (1940) we have been offering training for this sector for over 100 years.

Today we are expert at attracting property and construction students from the UK and around the world. Much of this is down to the highly successful links we have with major real estate consultancies, property companies, contractors, cost consultants and developers to ensure our courses are highly relevant for the current market.

Today, according to the Guardian PG subject tables 2013 we are the largest School of Building and Town Planning in the UK (combining full-time and part-time modes of study) and our building graduates have the best employment prospects in London (Complete University Guide 2014).

Our current students and alumni hold key positions in their organisation, often as senior managers and business owners.

Employability

Employment prospects for graduates of the MSc/PgDip Building Surveying programme are excellent, with nearly 100% employment of graduates from the course since its inception. Graduates work in a range of organisations including both small and large private practices, local authorities, housing associations and government organisations as well as property and construction companies.

LSBU Employability Services

LSBU is committed to supporting you develop your employability and succeed in getting a job after you have graduated. Your qualification will certainly help, but in a competitive market you also need to work on your employability, and on your career search. Our Employability Service will support you in developing your skills, finding a job, interview techniques, work experience or an internship, and will help you assess what you need to do to get the job you want at the end of your course. LSBU offers a comprehensive Employability Service, with a range of initiatives to complement your studies, including:

• Direct engagement from employers who come in to interview and talk to students
• Job Shop and on-campus recruitment agencies to help your job search
• Mentoring and work shadowing schemes.