Building Surveying (with Foundation Year)

The BSc (Hons) Building Surveying course will focus on a wide range of key industry areas equipping you with the skills required to working in one of the largest employment sectors in the United Kingdom.

This course:
• Sets you up for a career in building surveying which is part of one of the largest employment sectors in the United Kingdom.
• Will extend your knowledge and understanding of how existing buildings are recorded, assessed and often refurbished as a tangible financial asset.
• Is catered towards those who have identified building surveying as an area of interest, or those who have worked in the construction and renovation sector previously.
• Equips future building surveyors with the knowledge to measure, assess, re-organise and refurbish existing buildings of varying size and complexity.

Key Course features:
• Further opportunities to directly engage with industry through conferences, guest lectures and visits to refurbishment projects to observe surveying, re-design, and site operations in practice.
• A wide-ranging industry-standard digital resources available for use on- and off-campus.
• Lectures are delivered in consecutive blocks as far as possible, to ensure flexible study time away from University.
• A variety of teaching and learning methods are used to ensure that technical content is applied to typical building surveying scenarios.
• The Built Environment subject area is part of the Faculty of Art, Computing and Engineering (FACE) and therefore content benefits from association with arts, computing, engineering and renewable energy subject disciplines.

Course Modules

This year of study ensures that students from all subject backgrounds and life experiences get a foundational course of study that both prepares for subject specific and wider, university skills at an undergraduate level. You will spend time with a subject specific teaching team and a wider support network to ensure you get the support for a wide range of skills.

MODULES

• Study Skills for Success (Core): Develop the essential academic, digital, and organisational skills you will need to thrive at university. From managing your time and structuring assignments to researching and referencing, you will build the confidence to study independently and successfully.

• Collaborative Practice (Core): Work with students from other subject areas to explore cross-disciplinary challenges. You will develop key skills in teamwork, communication, and research while tackling relevant themes across different fields.

• A Day in the Life (Core): Explore the range of career paths linked to your chosen degree. You will gain insight into professional roles in your field and start creating a portfolio to support your development as a future graduate.

• Engineering Principles (Optional): Build your understanding of core topics in physics, mechanics, and electrical circuits. The module also introduces sustainable energy technologies and their role in modern engineering.

Year 2 (Level 4)

The second year of the BSc (Hons) Building Surveying programme comprises seven core modules and one optional module that combine to provide an informed introduction to the range of aesthetic, functional, legal and environmental considerations that contribute to the measurement, assessment and refurbishment of buildings and infrastructure.

MODULES

• Building Surveying 1 (Core)

• Digital Technologies in Drawing and Modelling (Core)

• Digital Technologies in Surveying (Core)

• Legal Principles, Compliance and Liability (Core)

• Science and Materials (Core)

• Construction Technology (Core)

• Professional Practice 1 (Core)

• Architectural Design Technology 1 (optional)*

• Construction Management 1 (optional)*

• Civil Engineering Design (optional)*

• Quantity Surveying 1 (optional)*

*One to be selected

Year 3 (Level 5)

The third year of the Programme builds upon the first through modules that explore important technical and procedural considerations in the practice of building surveying. Building Services considers the importance of ensuring that buildings function comfortably for users in terms of the internal environment through essential services such as lighting, power, air handling, emergency fire warning/suppression systems and mechanical conveyance, and Procurement and Contract Practice addresses the ways in which building appraisal and refurbishment projects are commissioned and implemented towards completion and use.  

MODULES

• Building Surveying 2

• Modern Methods of Construction

• Building Services

• Procurement and Contract Practice

• Commercial Management

• Professional Practice 2

Year 4 (Level 6)

The final year of the programme provides an opportunity to research a particular area of interest in Individual Research Project, and to identify and develop a significant building surveying proposal in Major Project.  All nineteen modules combine to engage students in their chosen field of study and are intended to encourage confidence and enthusiasm in the development of their expertise.

MODULES

• Project Management

• Design for Climate Resilience

• Individual Research Project

• Professional Practice 3

• Major Project

Modules are delivered using a variety of teaching and learning techniques, including traditional lectures, practical ‘hands-on’ activities, tutorials and group discussions, laboratory work, construction site-based observation and peer appraisal. The main priority is to ensure that students feel comfortable within the academic learning environment and feel able to contribute to the discussion of subject matter within any class, tutorial or other learning activity that forms part of their studies – teaching and learning is fundamentally a two-way process within which student opinion is vitally important.

A range of assessment methods are used within the programme to simulate the sorts of written, practical, visual and oral communication skills that are expected of building surveyors; written reports, the practical use of technical equipment, visual presentations, laboratory analyses, in-class tests, examinations, coursework and oral presentations are all important ways in which students can demonstrate their understanding. The types of assessment selected for each module have been chosen to best-suit the nature of the technical content in each subject, and collectively provide a range of opportunities for students to demonstrate their interest, enthusiasm and interpretation of content during their studies.

In terms of particular assessment needs, the University’s Inclusion Services department can provide appropriate guidance and support should any students require reasonable adjustments to be made to assessment processes because of a recognised prevailing disability, medical condition, or specific learning difference.