Building Surveying MSc

Facts about Building Surveying

Qualification	MSc
Duration	Full time: 1 year Part time: 2 years
Attendance	Full time: 2 days a week Part time: 1 day a week
Assessment	Exams; essays; projects; and a dissertation in the second semester (or the second year of the part time course).
Course structure

Choose Kingston's Building Surveying MSc

Our Building Surveying MSc is ideal if you are interested in the construction and maintenance of buildings and interested in being the equivalent of a 'building doctor'.

The course is designed to allow graduates from a variety of disciplines to obtain the skills and knowledge they need to enter into practice within their field of building surveying. The demand for construction professionals, primarily within the UK but also in Europe and elsewhere, has never been greater, particularly as the sustainability agenda has emerged.

The role of the building surveyor has come very sharply into focus with the increased recognition that buildings themselves are the single largest source of carbon within our economy. The ways in which they are constructed, maintained and used is of crucial significance in the drive towards a low carbon economy.

Those studying on the part-time route will normally be expected to be working within a profession related to the course subject matter.

The course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

What will you study?

The course is based on a core body of knowledge of:

building materials, construction technology and pathology;
specialist legal and regulatory issues;
the design of simple structures; and
the preparation of schemes for the rehabilitation of buildings.

It has been designed to enable you to develop knowledge and skills both through its curriculum and through the teaching and learning approach adopted.

Research areas

Many of the staff in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture are research active. This ensures they are in touch with the latest thinking and bring best practice to your studies.
Find out more...

Course structure

Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list. Those listed here may also be a mixture of core and optional modules.

Core modules

Building Design and Specification
Building Defects and Pathology
Building Defects and Pathology

The study of building defects and pathology aims to develop in students the ability to recognise causes of obsolescence and dilapidations in buildings and to prepare schedules of condition and dilapidations. It also develops in students an understanding of the need for building management and maintenance together with the skills and knowledge to prepare effective plans.
Building Control and Contract Administration
CAD and Building Structures
European Built Environment Law
European project
European project

One of the highlights of the programme is a week long field trip to a major European city. This normally takes place at the end of the Spring term. This module provides the opportunity for students to work in groups and undertake a major task involving various aspects of their study and enabling them to integrate learning from across several modules.

Additionally, students undertake individual work to ensure that they gain the ability to reflect and to deepen their technical knowledge in an aspect of their studies. The module is delivered primarily through the field trip and assessed by reports, both group and individual.
Strategic Project Management
Sustainable Construction Technology

Research modules

Conference Paper
Conference Paper

This half module provides students with the opportunity to devise and deliver an original piece of research in open forum and thereby helps them to extend the ethos of research culture into their subsequent professional work, and to encourage continuing professional development and life-long learning. The module requires them to develop an aspect of their dissertation or master's project (as applicable) into a short conference paper and presentation and to deliver this. Assessment is of both the written paper and the oral presentation.
Dissertation Proposal
Dissertation Proposal

The Dissertation Proposal aims to:
- enhance your critical evaluation of research methodologies and intellectual frameworks appropriate to the study of architecture; and
- provide practice in devising an original primary research strategy for a specific topic.
It is assessed through a 3000 word text.
Dissertation
Dissertation

This double module is designed to ensure that students can produce a substantial, original body of authoritative work by engaging in both primary and secondary research at masters level. It enables them to achieve a comprehensive understanding and application of the key issues of the subject selected and aims to develop in students a commitment to research and understanding of its likely role in their future careers. Students are supported by tutorials and assessment is by a written dissertation.
Research Concepts