What does a building surveyor do in Australia?

More than 7 years after I wrote for RICS on the challenges I faced as a building surveyor relocating from the UK to Australia, my article continues to help others peer through the looking glass. And just as it was for Alice, things on the other side are not what you’d expect – increasingly so the more time passes.

When I wrote that article, I included the kind of information I would have liked to have had when I was working out how to move to Australia. As a result, I've had UK-based building surveyors from various walks of life reach out to me seeking guidance when making a similar move. The past 12 months alone have seen a rise in such messages: I can only speculate about the impact that Brexit and COVID-19 have had on the prospects for UK professionals.

With this increasing interest, then, it’s a good time to provide an update. In this article, I will take a look at some frequently asked questions about relocating to Australia as a building surveyor.

In Australia, the property and construction sector remains generally ambivalent about this term, so the role is typically referred to as a building consultant. On a job website such as Seek [seek.com.au] or Jora [au.jora.com], or on LinkedIn, you will find what you are looking for if you search for this.

RICS Oceania has made efforts to trademark "chartered building surveyor" in response to an attempt by Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) to do the same. However, the construction sector in most states and territories continues to recognise the AIBS definition of building surveyor, sometimes also referred to as a "building certifier" or "building code consultant". This role focuses primarily on compliance with the Building Code of Australia (BCA),  and closely corresponds to the role of the building control surveyor in the UK.

This issue of terminology is among many currently being addressed by the Australian Building Code Board (ABCB)’s public consultation on the National Registration Framework for Building Practitioners, for which RICS issued positioning statements. The public consultation closed on 23 August.

Used by itself, the word "surveyor" is closely associated with the enormous national mining and engineering industries in Australia, and the work undertaken for them by cadastral surveyors. This definition transcends those sectors, and reflects the way the term is commonly understood in Australia.

Meanwhile, even though chartered surveyors (building surveying) are used to exercising a broad skill set in project management and contract administration, roles in both of those fields remain reserved to individuals with dedicated qualifications for separable skill sets.

Australia still has use for chartered surveyors (building surveying) as building consultants, when they undertake commercial technical due diligence (TDD) and life-cycle reporting, or prepare schedules of dilapidation and negotiation. Rarely will the role extend into project management or contracts, but it’s not unheard of. It is more likely that your qualification will land you in a specific project management role that overlaps with building consultancy from time to time.

Typically, firms and the people responsible for hiring building consultants include RICS-qualified expats who occupy project management roles at corporate real-estate firms, so these are a good place to start looking for jobs.

As for project management and contract administration roles elsewhere, such as tier-1 builders or Australian project management firms, you will as a chartered surveyor (building surveying) have to go to some lengths to demonstrate not just your experience but also that your qualifications reflect the necessary competencies. Having your qualification subject to a skills assessment by an Australian assessing authority may help; this is also a requirement of some classes of visa.

Confidence, competency, and communication can take you far. If you begin to focus outside commercial and corporate real estate, though, matters become more challenging. Indeed, there are even barriers that will stop you completely.

For example, a building surveyor may be perfectly competent in undertaking a residential pre-purchase inspection; however, some states and territories have laws that require a licence to do so. RICS building surveyors may be unable to meet the requirements for this licence because it is designed to reflect the experience of AIBS professionals or tradespeople looking to "get off the tools", to use the Australian vernacular.

Just as important, however, is understanding the cost of living in Australia compared with the UK. While salaries may be more than twice the figures of those for similar roles in the UK, currency conversion means that not all the extra cash stays in your pocket.

You should use property rental websites such as realestate.com.au or Domain [domain.com.au] to gauge weekly rent in various areas, and supermarket websites such as Aldi, Coles or Woolworths to estimate how much you might spend on groceries. You might be surprised – or shocked.

It’s entirely possible to estimate online the minimum salary you’d be comfortable agreeing to. A wealth of information is available on the Department of Home Affairs website, which confirms that the minimum annual pre-tax salary of a worker with a visa subject to the temporary skilled migration income threshold is currently A$53,900, while an Australian pay calculator can accurately extrapolate your post-tax salary.

All I can add to this anecdotally is that it is possible to earn up to twice that amount as a building consultant or project manager – or a hybrid of both – as a first-time skilled visa worker. Of course, this depends on your qualifications and experience. A qualified chartered surveyor (building surveying) is still considered to have a unique skill set in Australia; corporate real-estate firms recognise its value and are well versed in deploying it.

Be prepared, however: in some scenarios, visa applications and sponsorship schemes may require an employer to demonstrate that it first gave sufficient time to advertise the role in the Australian market before proceeding with a temporary skilled migration worker.

Last, you should consider how any outstanding student loan or other debt outside Australia will be handled. The UK’s Student Loans Company will ask you to complete an income overseas assessment, following which it will demand a flat-rate repayment updated annually. You might see the rate jump a couple of hundred dollars per month more than you expected when this happens, and each payment you transfer will be subject to the foreign exchange rate.

There will be more detail on the subject of visas and sponsorship, along with other RICS members sharing their experiences, in a later article.

Related competencies include: Ethics, Rules of Conduct and professionalism