The role of a building surveyor cannot be reduced to,"someone who draws buildings". Creating a professional existing conditions document requires knowledge which spans across residential, commercial, industries, luxury, landmarks, and many more projects. In the most fundamental sense, building surveyors represent a binary profession of both the architectural and construction industries.
The nature of the work is dangerous, and often requires 2 man crews or more. Entering a burned out tenement, a chemical factory, underground tunnels, etc. is dangerous for anyone, but is necessary for a surveyor to obtain the most accurate measurements. Proper gear is required, as is physical endurance considering larger-scale projects that could take a couple days to measure.
Measuring Queens College Tunnels |
In other countries, such as Scotland and Great Britain, building surveying is a revered profession and the highest-profiled surveyors come from abroad. Why is that? Some argue that the United States doesn't appreciate architecture the same way other countries do, especially European countries. Others will say that the United States doesn't have as much antiquated architecture for there to be a demand of surveyors. Both points of view are erroneous; surveyors deal with all real estate professionals and all forms of architecture. Although slow to catch fire in The States, BSC is a proud surveying company and growing more everyday.