Good surveyors are hard to find

Signs are emerging of a potential shortage of surveyors as the industry looks forward to a prolonged upturn in workload starting in 1997, it was claimed this week.

David Tuffin, former president of the building surveying division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and senior partner of Tuffin Ferraby & Taylor, told CJ: "We've been busy for the last 18 months and flat out for the last 12. We are actively recruiting at the moment, but we're finding difficulties attracting good candidates. That, for us, seems to be across the board in all sectors. It doesn't take long for spare capacity to be used up."

Tuffin said that the reluctance of to move to new jobs seems to stem from job security fears and the general lack of a "feel good" factor in the industry. "I think there is a problem finding enough good surveyors because they tend to be in a fixed stable position and a lot of people want to hang on until after the election."

Allister Collins, senior partner with Davis Langdon & Everest said: "Certainly there is an idea that for the first time for many years we are looking at increasing workload, until the millennium. With people with a particular skill, you may find a dearth of them in the market. There are certainly indications that people can perceive shortages."

He said that rather than a general industry boom, there are likely to be "sector booms" in areas such as retail and leisure in the years ahead. "In a high demand situation lead times shorten and that in itself can create pressure on resources," he said.