Your day-to-day duties might include:

• surveying properties, identifying structural faults and making recommendations for repairs
• assessing damage for insurance purposes
• establishing who’s responsible for building repair costs
• advising clients on issues like property boundary disputes
• acting as a client’s supporter or acting as an expert witness during legal proceedings
• checking properties to make sure they meet building regulations, and fire safety and accessibility standards
• dealing with planning applications and with improvement or conservation grants

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work on a construction site, at a client's home or in an office.

Your working environment may be at height, outdoors in all weathers and you may spend nights away from home.

With experience, you could move into project or senior management.

You could go into partnership in private practice, or become self-employment as a consultant.

You could also move into a related field, like building control.