This is a fast-track conversion course for graduates from unrelated disciplines who want to become chartered building surveyors. The course is also suitable if you are a professional working in a property or surveying role and want to improve your skills and career prospects in residential and commercial building surveying, property management and development or building control.
Building surveying is an expanding professional discipline involved with new development and the inspection, maintenance and refurbishment of existing buildings. The course includes practical laboratory and project work to improve your career prospects in the public and commercial sectors throughout the UK and overseas.
There is a focus on practical, client-focused property projects involving completion of technical and professional tasks and applying creative solutions that draw on your developing knowledge. You study • property law • economics • planning • land development • construction and refurbishment • building regulations and controls• building technology • surveying techniques
One of our key teaching resources is a University-owned Georgian terraced house. This is used for practical teaching sessions in pathology, structural principles along with dilapidations and condition surveys as the property has been adapted to open up its structure for inspection purposes. Industry professionals also use this resource for training purposes with the support of our teaching staff.
You also have the opportunity to use the latest high-tech non-destructive testing equipment including flexible endoscopes, borescopes and thermal imaging cameras for detecting heat loss – all of which you can use in practical projects and the dissertation module.
You benefit from a range of teaching, learning and assessment techniques. Intensive study weeks allow you to work on complex, professional briefs with other students in multi-disciplinary practice. One of the modules is an international project which has taken place in various locations including Istanbul, Shanghai and Toronto with assistance from international surveying firms.
The majority of teaching takes place within a newly refurbished, dedicated buildings at our City Campus. The course is fully supported by online resources that allow students to learn flexibly in addition to face-to-face teaching.
This course is designed to be adapted and updated, so that you are as fully prepared as possible for a successful career ahead. The postgraduate construction, building and surveying courses were first established with the MSc Property Appraisal and Management in 1991 with many of our former students now in senior positions throughout the profession.
This course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
Core modules
Building surveyors are highly valued professionals who offer a variety of services across the whole of the built environment.
As well as gaining the skills and knowledge needed for professional accreditation (to become chartered), you gain knowledge essential for a successful career throughout the surveying profession, focusing on roles such as • residential and commercial building surveyor • property developer • building control officer • property manager.
Our graduates are found throughout the surveying profession from international surveying practices to sole traders in private practice. We welcome their continuing involvement with this course, from participation at our very successful employer fairs through to advising students during integrated projects.
Building Surveying is a growing, international, professional discipline dealing with the inspection, maintenance and refurbishment of existing buildings. MSc Building Surveying is a supported online programme and a great way to obtain a RICS/CIOB accredited degree covering the core technical disciplines of the Building Surveying specialism and their role within the wider context of Built Environment professional disciplines.
The programme benefits from a range of contemporary, well-supported teaching and learning techniques, including practical project work to improve your career prospects in the public and commercial sectors throughout the UK and overseas.
This programme is delivered by supported online learning and can be studied in any location.
These courses are also registered with the Hong Kong Non-local Courses Registry (NCR registration number 252539). It is a matter of discretion for individual employers to recognise any qualification to which these courses may lead.
This is one of a suite of MSc conversion programmes designed to enable graduates from disciplines unrelated to Construction and Real Estate to obtain an RICS/CIOB accredited degree, giving access to professional membership.
-Gain expertise in the core technical knowledge and skills required for the Building Surveying profession
-Develop your true leadership potential
-Achieve your ambitions for a Master’s Degree with a leading provider that allows you to work and study through a fully supported online programme of study
-After successfully completing your degree, you are able to proceed to RICS Assessment of Professional Competence to gain Chartered status.
An RICS-accredited Master’s degree in Building Surveying from UCEM is recognised worldwide, leading to employment opportunities wherever you are or may wish to be. Access to the MSc course does not require an accredited construction-related degree; it will provide the additional knowledge and skills necessary for your progress to chartered status as a Building Surveyor.
The Careers Service at UCEM can assist with the wider career pathways available via an MSc, with organisations in both the public and private sector seeking qualified surveyors and project managers.
This programme is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) and Hong Kong Institute of Construction Managers (HKICM).
The role of the building surveyor is vital in today's construction industry as the sector strives to produce new, high-quality buildings while maintaining the historical structures that surround us. You will gain the skills needed to construct and refurbish residential and commercial buildings that will leave a lasting legacy.
Whether you are looking for a route into the construction industry or you want to progress your current career by becoming a chartered surveyor, your course will prepare you to progress to chartered building surveyor status with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)*.
You will study building pathology, construction law and the technology behind building refurbishment. You will also develop the theoretical appreciation and practical skills to repurpose existing buildings and efficiently maintain them once they have been renovated.
Issues from your own workplace can be used to contextualise your studies. The flexible nature of online learning will enable you to study anywhere in the world and will also help you to balance the demands of the course with your working life. Our Virtual Learning Environment, through which the course is delivered, can be accessed at a time that suits you and your professional commitments.
Ideal if you are working in the construction industry, this online course will allow you to fit your studies around your work and home commitments. You will be able to access our Virtual Learning Environment in your own time and also benefit from the same support our onsite students receive.
This course is all about interactive learning, so you will have the opportunity to share your experiences with your tutors and fellow students through group discussions. In this collaborative environment you will be exposed to new issues and ideas, giving you the ability to bring different solutions to your workplace.
The teaching team includes professional building surveyors with specialist knowledge, so you will have access to expert advice on a range of disciplines, from building pathology to thermal performance and insulation.
Our relationship with external professionals will feed into your learning and you will be able to attend guest lectures here at Leeds Beckett. Previous speakers have included Bryan Hindle, a preservation expert who specialises in timber and damp, and surveyors from firms Eddisons and EC Harris.
On successful completion of the course, your skills will be recognised across the construction industry and your academic studies will provide a sound base which will support your practical skills. The work-based projects you will be involved in will enable you to apply your learning to the workplace from the very start of the course.
This course is designed for students looking to pursue a career in the building surveying and construction sectors, and develops the skills needed to pursue Chartered Surveyor, or Chartered Building Engineer status. It's suitable for prospective students who don't necessarily have a background in property or construction, acting as a fast-track conversion course for those with an unrelated undergraduate degree (or professional qualification) to obtain an accredited route into the industry. In addition, this course is suitable for property and construction professionals working in industry, who wish to specialise in building surveying.
Our course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), meaning successful completion of the course will put you on the path to chartership in both of those routes.
Take a look at our postgraduate fees and funding page for more information on scholarships, loans, and other funding opportunities.
Gain the expertise to determine if buildings are achieving their required energy-efficiency targets and improve their results.
The energy performance of today's new buildings must withstand far more scrutiny than ever before. Those involved or investing in construction projects will need an increasing awareness of these factors to maintain compliance with the law, as tougher EU and UK directives for building performance are drawn up and legislated.
You will use the latest technologies to evaluate building performance, including software to model 2D thermal movement or track moisture. You will also be exposed to real-life testing sites and the methods used to investigate heat loss, heat transfer, moisture development and thermal bridges.
Your course will provide an essential platform if you are wanting to evaluate the energy efficiency of buildings, or if you want to get involved in building forensics or surveying.
You will be exposed to the latest techniques and technologies to measure heat loss and energy transfer, as well as the latest cutting-edge research from the Leeds Sustainability Institute and the School of Built Environment & Engineering.
Teaching staff are involved in building performance evaluation on national research schemes and the University is frequently commissioned by Innovate UK, a leading technology advisory body, to analyse the best energy performing buildings in the country, which underlines our expertise in this area. Our academics will feed these findings directly into your learning, giving you access to first-class research and a rich variety of contacts to network with.
You will also have access to building performance testing kits to analyse buildings in the field, such as thermal imaging cameras and drone technology, and you will work with the latest 2D and dynamic simulation modelling software to measure standards and sharpen your experience of working with the latest technology.
New legislation and the need for more energy efficient buildings will ensure the demand for experts in the design and evaluation of high-performing homes and workplaces continues to grow. Specialist knowledge in this field should help if you already work in surveying, building forensics and energy efficient assessment to further your career.
The built environment is changing - the EU has set a target for all new buildings to be nearly zero-energy efficient by the end of 2020. This is your opportunity to get up to speed on the latest practices in the design of energy-efficient buildings and refurbishments.
Through case studies and fieldwork, you will analyse the latest energy-efficiency innovations and renewable technologies applied to new buildings and those undergoing retrofits. By examining contemporary passive houses, nearly-zero-energy buildings and energy plus-structures, you will discover how the leading exemplars in this field achieve their efficiency performances. You will also study the shortcomings in current building efficiencies - where they fall short in meeting their energy targets and how they can be improved with the resources available.
Your work will be shaped by cutting-edge research as you collaborate with specialists who help inform new Government regulations and policies. This will broaden your knowledge and help you forge contacts with the principal thinkers and leaders in the building performance sector.
You will take part in site visits to study the very latest energy efficient buildings in detail, examining their characteristics and design specifications first-hand.
The University has strong research links to industry, including many of the organisations such as the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the International Energy Institute that drive the energy efficiency agenda forward. This will give you the chance to network with the leading thinkers and to share in their latest insights. You will also evaluate industry software and the methodologies used to assess and monitor building efficiency.
All of our teaching staff have practical experience as consultants in new builds and refurbishment. They are recognised nationally and internationally, and some are directly involved in regulation and research that influences the direction of the industry.
Your course will give you the commanding expertise to make you highly sought after as the industry responds to the growing demand for energy efficiency specialists.
Energy efficiency surveyors and specialists are already in high demand, and the need for their expertise will continue to grow as the industry faces tighter energy legislation. This demand should filter through to related professions in architecture, construction management and quantity surveying, where knowledge in this area will complement existing expertise and give those at the start of their careers a significant advantage in the jobs market.
A research degree is essentially a period of intensive, supervised, research work in your chosen area. It builds on your previous academic or professional experience.
We value and support our students who are a vital contribution to the intellectual life of the University.
The programme is based on your individual requirements. You can also design it around your employer’s requirements or research and development programmes.
Your research can cover any aspect of the built environment in a UK or international context. Dedicated supervisors, associated with UK and international research, provide support.
Research areas include • architecture and building science • building surveying • construction and project management • surveying, property appraisal and real estate • environmental sustainability.
Research and learning modules also support your study.
We have an established research track record, attracting over £400,000 funding each year from research councils and industry. Our £3.5 million investment means we can offer some of the best specialist computing and laboratory facilities in the UK.
Our facilities aid the effective teaching of our built environment courses. They create a successful environment for research activities and allow us to provide invaluable services to business.
There are specialist laboratories for research and study, supported by technicians and academic staff. We also have seven computer suites running specialist software.
Our architecture studios are fitted with drawing boards and networked PCs with AutoCAD software. We also have an artificial sky for daylight testing with miniature model photography.
This degree is hosted within the Faculty of Development and Society Graduate School. The Graduate School website provides a communication hub for students and staff engaged in research, information about our research work, and useful contact information.
The research programme is based on your individual requirements. You can also design it around your employer’s requirements or research and development programmes.
Research specialists can enter industry and the professions as acknowledged experts in their chosen specialism.
This programme accepts graduates from any discipline to convert and become full RICS accredited in Land Economy and Rural Surveying.
Land Economy and Rural Surveying is very employable internationally, and it is an essential discipline in which you can contribute to the built environment covering anything from towns, cities, roads, transport systems and leisure venues. We are moving towards mega cities in which people will connect via technology to improve quality of life and infrastructure. This gives society a considerable challenge in terms of ensuring quality of life in the future where there will perhaps be more regulation. In order to give you the best start in the profession our programme is fully RICS accredited and it is the only programme of its type in Scotland. The discipline has been a strength at University of Aberdeen for many years now and our connections with industry are excellent over this time.
The programme gives you a very thorough knowledge of all areas associated with land economy and rural property management. This includes looking the wide range of environmental challenges, rural management such as forestry and game management, agriculture and planning and environmental law. These modules are disciplines in themselves and very useful for your career opportunities which could be wide ranging, adding real value to your programme.
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
Find out more detail by visiting the programme web page
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Find out more about fees on the programme page
*Please be advised that some programmes also have additional costs.
View all funding options on our funding database via the programme page and the latest postgraduate opportunities
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