Building Surveyor Salary Index

Building surveyor interview questions

UK guide · last reviewed September 2026

The questions that come up in interviews for graduate, assistant and newly chartered building surveyor roles, what the interviewer is looking for, and how to prepare. Nobody expects a graduate to know everything. They want to see that you think methodically, know the basics, and are honest about what you don't know.

What the interview will look like

  • Large firms' graduate schemes have several stages: an online application, online tests, a video interview, then an assessment centre. Assessment centres usually include a presentation prepared in advance, a group exercise, a written task and an interview. Knight Frank, for example, uses a case study and a strengths-based interview. Most schemes open in September or October and close by November or December.
  • Mid-sized consultancies usually hold one or two interviews, often with a technical element such as commenting on photos of defects.
  • Councils and housing associations use panel interviews scored against the person specification in the advert. Go through it line by line and have an example ready for each point. Housing roles are likely to ask about damp and mould, and stock condition surveys.

Motivation and competency questions

These come up in almost every interview:

  • Why building surveying, and why this firm?
  • What did you do on your placement or in your last job, and what did you learn?
  • Tell me about a time you worked in a team, dealt with a difficult person, or juggled deadlines.
  • Tell me about a mistake you made and what you did about it.
  • What changes in the industry will affect building surveyors?

Answer competency questions with the STAR method: the situation, the task you had, the action you took, and the result. Talk about what you did, not what "we" did, and say what happened as a result. Prepare five to eight examples from work, study or elsewhere, and adapt them to the question. For "why this firm", look at its services, clients and recent projects, and say what appeals to you.

Technical questions: defects

You may be shown photos and asked what you see. The interviewer wants a method more than a diagnosis: describe what you can see, suggest possible causes, say what else you'd check and what further information or specialists you'd need, and mention cost and urgency. Common subjects:

  • Damp. Rising damp, penetrating damp and condensation look different, and are often misdiagnosed. Explain how you'd tell them apart from the pattern, the location, the season and the building, and why a moisture meter reading alone isn't a diagnosis. The condensation and mould risk calculator shows how dew point and surface temperature fit together.
  • Cracking. Describe a crack's width, pattern and location. BRE Digest 251 grades damage from category 0 (negligible) to 5 (very severe): up to about 5 mm is usually cosmetic, and over 25 mm usually needs structural repair. Know the possible causes, such as subsidence, heave, thermal movement, wall tie failure and lintel failure, and when you'd recommend monitoring or an engineer.
  • Cavity wall tie failure. Horizontal cracks in the mortar joints at regular intervals, caused by rusting ties expanding.
  • RAAC. Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete planks can fail suddenly. Know how to recognise them and that suspected RAAC needs a structural engineer.
  • Roofs and older buildings. Common defects in pitched and flat roofs, and in the housing types in the firm's area.

The defects books surveyors recommend are the best preparation for this.

Technical questions: law, contracts and regulation

  • Party walls. Know the three types of notice under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996: two months for work to a party structure, and one month for a new wall on the boundary or for excavating near a neighbour. If the neighbour doesn't reply to a party structure or excavation notice within 14 days, a dispute is treated as having arisen, and surveyors are appointed. The party wall notice calculator sets out the deadlines.
  • Dilapidations. What a schedule of dilapidations is, what the repairing covenants in a lease do, and the pre-action protocol for claims.
  • Contracts. The JCT Minor Works and Intermediate contracts (both updated in 2024), when you'd use each, and what a contract administrator does: instructions, certificates, extensions of time, practical completion and the rectification period. The JCT key dates calculator shows what follows practical completion, and the payment notice calculator the payment timetable.
  • CDM 2015. The duties of the client, principal designer and principal contractor, and when a project must be notified to HSE: when it lasts more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at once, or exceeds 500 person-days.
  • The Building Safety Act. What a higher-risk building is (at least 18 metres or seven storeys, with at least two homes), the three gateways, and the dutyholder and competence rules that now apply to all building work. The Building Safety Regulator left HSE to become a standalone body in January 2026.
  • Asbestos. The duty to manage asbestos under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and the difference between a management survey and a refurbishment and demolition survey.

Technical questions: current issues

  • Cladding. An EWS1 form is for mortgage valuations, not a fire safety certificate. Fire risk appraisals of external walls follow PAS 9980. A new RICS standard on valuing buildings with cladding takes effect on 1 November 2026.
  • Damp and mould in social housing. Awaab's Law has applied to social landlords since October 2025, with fixed timescales for investigating and fixing significant hazards. Expect this in any housing association or council interview.
  • Retrofit and net zero. PAS 2035 takes a whole-house approach to energy improvements, with a retrofit coordinator on every project. Know why insulating older buildings without thinking about moisture can cause damp.
  • Technology. Drones, thermal imaging and AI in reporting come up as "how is the profession changing" questions.

Questions about RICS and ethics

  • The APC. The Building Surveying pathway's competencies (updated in December 2025), and how you'd plan your experience. See the APC guide.
  • The RICS Rules of Conduct. The five rules: honesty and integrity, competence, service, respect, and the public interest. Expect a scenario about a conflict of interest or a gift from a contractor.
  • The Home Survey Standard. The difference between Level 1, 2 and 3 surveys, if the role includes residential work.
  • Professional indemnity insurance. Why firms need it, and why surveyors must stay within their competence.

Questions to ask them

  • How do you support the APC? Who would be my supervisor and counsellor, and how long does it usually take here?
  • Do you pay RICS and APC fees, and give study time?
  • What mix of work would I get, and would I move between teams?
  • How much of the job is on site, and how much travel is there?
  • How do people progress from graduate to surveyor here?

A firm that can't answer the APC questions clearly is a warning sign. For the rest of the job search, see the graduate jobs guide.

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