The APC for building surveyors
UK guide · last reviewed September 2026
The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is how you become a chartered surveyor (MRICS). It isn't an exam you revise for over a few weeks: it's a period of recorded, supervised experience, followed by a written submission and an interview that tests whether you can practise on your own. This guide covers the building surveying pathway.
Which route applies to you
- RICS-accredited degree, less than five years' experience: 24 months of structured training.
- RICS-accredited degree, five to ten years' experience: 12 months of structured training.
- Accredited degree and ten or more years' experience: the APC without structured training.
- Five or more years of relevant experience with any degree, or an approved professional qualification: the preliminary review route, where a panel reviews your submission before you go forward to the final assessment.
RICS also has routes for senior professionals, specialists and academics. Entry routes have changed several times in recent years, so check RICS's current candidate guides before you enrol.
Structured training
During structured training you record your experience against the building surveying competencies, with two people supporting you: a supervisor, usually your line manager, who oversees your day-to-day work, and a counsellor, a chartered surveyor who reviews your progress and signs off that you're ready. The competencies fall into three groups: mandatory ones such as ethics, communication and health and safety; core technical ones for the pathway; and optional ones you choose. Each has to be reached at a set level, from knowing about it to being able to advise on it.
For building surveyors, the technical competencies centre on inspection, building pathology, construction technology, design and specification, contract administration, and legal and regulatory compliance. Read RICS's building surveying pathway guide early, list the competencies in a spreadsheet, and track which jobs give you evidence for each one. A single job often covers several.
What you submit
- A summary of experience: 1,500 words on the mandatory competencies and up to 4,000 on the technical ones.
- A case study: up to 3,000 words on a project you worked on in the 24 months before you submit.
- A CPD record: 48 hours over the last 12 months, or 96 hours over the last 24.
The final assessment interview
The interview is held online, lasts an hour, and follows a set structure:
- 10 minutes: Your presentation of the case study
- 10 minutes: Questions on the case study
- 30 minutes: Questions on your wider experience, competencies, CPD, ethics and the RICS Rules of Conduct
- 10 minutes: Final questions from the chair, and a chance to go back to anything you want to clarify
Results come back within about a week. If you're referred, meaning you haven't passed this time, you receive a report explaining why within about three weeks, and you can resubmit. Candidates who are referred and wait too long may find their case study falls outside the 24-month window and needs rewriting.
How long it really takes
The structured training sets a minimum, not a typical time. Two to three years from starting work is common at best, and many building surveyors take longer: the pathway is broad, and you can only evidence the competencies your work gives you. The most common causes of delay are:
- Too narrow a range of work, such as only condition surveys or only contract administration. Council and housing association roles can make design and specification hard to evidence.
- Workload, with the APC diary the first thing to slip.
- Limited support from a busy counsellor or an employer that doesn't prioritise it.
- Putting it off. Surveyors who delay often say it gets harder once life and caseloads fill up.
Getting support
- Choose your employer partly on APC support. At interview, ask how much counsellor time you'll get, whether they pay RICS and assessment fees, and how they'll give you the variety of work you need.
- LionHeart, the charity for the RICS community, offers APC candidates free support, including practice sessions for the presentation.
- Mock interviews help. Paid APC trainers exist and are generally well regarded, but they aren't cheap, so ask whether your employer will pay.
What chartership does for your pay
Becoming chartered is usually the biggest single step up in pay and responsibility: you can lead and sign off your own work, and senior roles open up. UK base salaries in the index so far:
- Assistant / Junior Surveyor: £32,500 typical, from 5 salaries
- Surveyor (often recently chartered): £52,500 typical, from 9 salaries
- Senior Surveyor: not enough data yet (4 salaries so far)
The rise isn't automatic. Some employers hold pay back until later, and surveyors often find the biggest jump comes from moving firm once they qualify. The salary guide has more on how pay grows.
AssocRICS
AssocRICS is a professional grade below chartership. It's the minimum RICS grade for carrying out RICS home surveys, the usual qualification for residential surveyors who trained through a diploma, and a stepping stone to MRICS for people without an accredited degree. The experience needed depends on your qualifications, so check RICS's current AssocRICS requirements.