Diary of an APC Candidate – Bradley Mackenzie

I joined Peter Barry Surveyors in June this year following the completion of a Masters degree in Real Estate Development at the University of Westminster. This qualification has enabled me to enrol on the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) and begin working towards becoming a Chartered Surveyor. I will be writing about my training experiences here on the blog over the coming months.

The APC is a structured training & experience program, that when combined with a relevant degree leads to Chartered Surveyor status. The APC sets out a list of professional competencies that the candidates must cover in order to be proficiently trained within their selected area of surveying. Candidates also have a supervisor and councilor to guide them through the training and oversee progress.

I have chosen to follow the Building Surveying APC pathway as this will give me an excellent opportunity to develop hands on experience within the property sector and coincides perfectly with the professional services that we offer such as RICS Homebuyer Reports, Building Surveys, Party Wall Consultancy, Property Valuations and Leasehold work.

The APC essentially gives the candidate the opportunity to develop & obtain experience, skills and knowledge within their chosen pathway. Before I will be ready to sit the final assessment I must record a minimum of 23 months experience. The final assessment consists of a presentation to a panel 3 experienced surveyors followed by an extensive interview.

Throughout the APC period the candidate must maintain a day to day log book and diary setting out details of the various professional competencies that have been covered. The objective of the APC is to ensure that at the end of the structured training period the candidate has sufficient knowledge, understating & experience to enable them to undertake professional work on behalf of clients and provide suitable advice as needed.
Over the coming months I will be writing about the challenges that my APC brings and the experiences gained along the way.