PROPOSED BUILDING SURVEYOR FRAMEWORK
Building Surveyor Competencies Developing an Effective Conceptual Framework By Darryl O’Brien PhD Introduction Following several high-profile building failures, the construction sector, including the building surveying profession has come under increased scrutiny. For example, reviews into the building and construction industry have been undertaken in Scotland and Australia. Perhaps the most significant was the Building a Safer Future Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety: Final Report authored by Dame Judith Hackitt in the wake of the UK Grenfell fire tragedy. Whilst each inquiry made several valuable and significant recommendations to improve the building regulatory system, the Hackitt review identified improving practitioner competencies as of particular importance. The identification and mapping of practitioner competencies are
24 Straight Up | Autumn 2022
upstream of, and significantly inform, education and CPD training packages. Thus, it is critical that competencies reflect the needs of both the profession and the broader community to ensure that both graduates and practitioners have access to relevant and accurate training. This paper sets out a conceptual competency framework for the building surveying profession.
The statutory building surveyor – an overview To better understand the need to identify the range of required building surveyor competencies, it is first necessary to describe the role of the building consent authority. As described by the NZ Building Act 2004, consent authorities have responsibility for auditing building work in three broad areas: •
Assessing applications to determine compliance against the building code and issue
building consents •
Inspecting stages or aspects of work to determine compliance against the relevant building consent
•
Issue code compliance at the completion of work.
However, as we know this shorthand description of what constitutes statutory building surveying work does not fully capture the nuances and complexities associated with our profession. It is by identifying and understanding the complete role of a building surveyor we can ensure that the education and CPD training being provided is fit for purpose. When considering the roles and responsibilities of building surveyors it may be helpful to consider a broader definition. The Australian Institute of Building Surveyors (AIBS) a building surveyor as a ‘professional who is tasked with understanding the building control process. A
