How much does a building surveyor earn?

How much do building surveyors earn?

Present at both construction sites and to assist in the assessment of properties, building surveying plays an important role. Without them, it would be much harder to plan and manage projects in the building industry.

Naturally, given their necessity in this area, building surveyor work is always available. This means it’s also very easy to make a profitable career if you choose to become a building surveyor.

But what exactly is the average building surveyor’s salary?

To give you an idea, we’ve put together this handy salary table below. It lays out exactly what you could be earning at each stage of your surveyor career. Giving you a clear insight into the potential building surveyor salary you could earn:

What is the average building surveyor salary in the UK?

As our table shows, the typical building surveyor salary in the UK is varied and considerable. You earn plenty as a qualified surveyor, and this can increase to greater heights if you run your own business.

However, when looking at the average salary earned by a building surveyor, you can look to earn around £49,920 per year. This is based on the assumption that you are an experienced building surveyor.

Alternatively, if you’re an apprentice building surveyor, you’re likely to earn closer to £24,584 per year. However, this is not a bad thing as you’ll be earning as you learn.

Finally, if you choose to run your own business, you could earn as much as £66,377 per year. This is as a sole trade. As the owner of a limited company, this has the potential to increase to £72,277.

What is the average building surveyor salary per month?

While knowing how much you can earn per year is very useful, so too is knowing your monthly earnings. Below is the typical building surveyor salary you can expect to earn per month, based on your experience:

• Apprentice surveyor – 2426.48 per month
• Newly qualified surveyor – 2946.44 per month
• Employed surveyor – 4159.68 per month
• Sole trading surveyor – 7799.4 per month
• Limited company surveyor – 8492.68 per month

What is the average building surveyor salary per day?

When it comes to salary rates, having an idea of your day rate can be handy when estimating project costs. Here are the average day rates for those on a building surveyor salary:

• Apprentice surveyor – £112 per day
• Newly qualified surveyor – £136 per day
• Employed surveyor – £192 per day
• Sole trading surveyor – £360 per day
• Limited company surveyor – £392 per day

On top of this, you might also want to be aware of your hourly rate as well. This may be needed if you want to employ staff on hourly rates of pay.

Take a look at our data below for the typical building surveyors’ hourly salary:

• Apprentice surveyor – £14 per hour
• Newly qualified surveyor – £17 per hour
• Employed surveyor – £24 per hour
• Sole trading surveyor – £45 per hour
• Limited company surveyor – £49 per hour

How to earn more money as a building surveyor

Regardless of if you’re a new building surveyor or one with experience, you likely want to increase your salary. This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on what stage of your career you’re currently at.

For example, as a new surveyor, the best way to increase your salary will be with more experience and qualifications. This in turn will let you take on more complex jobs and acquire promotions.

Alternatively, if you have plenty of experience in the surveying industry, you could consider starting your own building survey business.

However, if you do choose to do this, then you need to be sure the jobs you do are profitable. To help with this, here are our top tips to consider when running your own business to reduce costs:

• Always make sure you charge enough to cover your outgoings. This includes the cost of tools, materials, insurance, marketing, wages, fuel, etc
• Try to focus on jobs that make you the most money while requiring you to spend the least money to complete
• Aim to limit how far you need to travel between jobs to cut down on fuel costs
• Minimise your outgoings by avoiding taking out excessive loans and debts
• Get your business name out there through marketing to attract more customers
• Provide a good customer experience on every job to boost your reputation and get repeat business
• Join a trade directory, like Checkatrade, to get access to a wider customer base

Earn more as a building surveyor with Checkatrade

With that last point covered, you should have a good idea of how much a building surveyor can earn.  But if you want help boosting your salary potential, then you should consider signing up with Checkatrade.

All our members get access to great discounts and benefits to help save on costs in all business areas. Not only that, but our forum is filled with countless experienced tradespeople, ready to share their knowledge with you.

Get in touch with the Checkatrade process today to learn more about our joining process. And don’t forget that we have a trade blog filled with similar articles to this one. Such as how to become a building surveyor.

Building surveyor salary FAQs

Is building surveying profitable?

Absolutely. As you can see from the data in our table, becoming a building surveyor is incredibly profitable. Even after take-home pay.

Of course, your actual earnings will be less than your total salary due to various factors. These include the size of your business, the work you do, and the profitability of your jobs.

Only once you consider these and deduct your outgoings will you see how profitable your business is.

To put this in perspective, after outgoings, sole traders tend to make about £66,377 per year. For limited companies, this is closer to £72,277.