Sue Goulding

NAME Sue Goulding
JOB Building surveyor
EMPLOYER Cluttons LLP
QUALIFICATIONS BSc building surveying, Anglia Ruskin University

After working in telecoms for 15 years I decided to combine my passion for buildings with my project management skills to become a building surveyor. I took a degree in building surveying and, using contacts established through a government-sponsored mentoring scheme, managed to get work experience with my current employer, which led to a permanent job offer after graduation.

My role

My role is primarily focused on managing refurbishment projects for residential and commercial properties. This involves designing and specifying the improvements, preparing tender documents, analysing tender responses and managing the progress and finances of projects on site. I’ve recently finished refurbishments on two maisonettes, a four-storey town house and a commercial office. I’m about to start a project to improve access arrangements for four commercial offices and the conversion of two flats into maisonettes.

'I manage refurbishment projects'

I’m also gaining experience in dilapidations, party wall agreements and reinstatement cost assessments. The level of responsibility was scary at first but I’m fully supervised and the challenge makes the job more rewarding. I am also training for my APC: I have a supervisor and counsellor who I meet with regularly to review progress and address any concerns. I try to get involved with as much technical work as possible to build up my knowledge base.

I like...

... the feeling of accomplishment seeing a dilapidated property fully refurbished.

The tough bit is...

... the amount of paperwork!

Key tools

1. Sensible clothing – to wear when I work on site.
2. Digital camera – to build up a library of images to assist with training and monitoring.
3. Dictaphone – to speed up processing and distribution of information.