BCOs, building inspectors, and certified inspectors are all used to describe building control surveyors. They ensure that new buildings, alterations, installations, and extensions meet the criteria for safety, sustainability, accessibility, and design.
One of the main ways they do this is by ensuring that building surveyors fulfil their responsibilities of maintaining, modifying, repairing, remodelling, and restoring buildings. When the local planning authority authorises ideas for new buildings or structural changes, they begin work on a project.
They might be working on anything from adding a conservatory to developing a major retail complex in the centre of a metropolis. They assist building surveyors, construction employees, and the general public with any challenges relating to the proposed work, using their professional judgement and knowledge of current building standards.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- work closely with architects, designers, builders and engineers
- suggest ways to make building projects more cost effective
- carry out site inspections
- write inspection reports and issue completion certificates
- survey unsafe buildings, giving advice or approving their demolition
- authorise entertainment licenses and check safety at public venues and events.
Salary
- Starting salaries for an apprentice is £22,000 per year.
- Experienced building control surveyors can earn up to £60,000 per year.
Working hours
You will typically work 38 to 40 hours per week and sometimes you may be on call.
Working environment
You could work in an office or on a construction site.
Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers and at height.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice building control surveyor include:
- Level 6 Building Control Surveyor – Entry requirements for this level include 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship. This qualification will take 48 months to complete.
Skills
On a building control surveyor apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- knowledge of building and construction
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- customer service skills
- the ability to use your initiative
- knowledge of English language
- analytical thinking skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently.
Career path and progression
With experience, you might specialise in a field like fire safety or proceed into technical and planning jobs in other industries like town planning.
You can work as a consultant as well.