Education
HND Estate Agency – Sheffield Hallam University - 2004 - 2006
When I went to university, I had no idea what a surveyor was. I had lived in the same house all of my life and the house-buying process was an unfamiliar one. I seem to recall I watched a programme on television about estate agents and with little in the way of a plan when I left college, this seemed like it would suit me. At induction, we had talks by academics and previous students and during the course of these talks, I found out more about surveying and erred on the side of that being a solid career to pursue.
During the two-year HND, I studied a range of modules. I still distinctly remember the module on Building Pathology. I learned with great interest why buildings stay up, fall down and everything in between (that can be covered in an hour or so a week over the course of a term...). At this point, I should have probably investigated changing courses to do something more related to building surveying. Hindsight, ey.
BSc (Hons) Urban Land Economics – Sheffield Hallam University - 2006 - 2009
Following completion of the HND course, I continued to study for the BSc in Urban Land Economics. The end goal was to graduate with an RICS-accredited degree so that I could enrol on the Assessment of Professional Competence and become a chartered surveyor.
Whilst undertaking the HND and BSc, I had purchased a house and was working seven days a week when not in lectures trying to earn enough to pay for and refurbish it. This took somewhat of a toll on my coursework and exams, but after three years, I graduated with the degree needed to become a chartered surveyor.
Following ten years of working in the build environment sector, the opportunity for more education presented itself.
MSc Building Surveying – Sheffield Hallam University - 2017 - 2019
Whilst working at SIG and CEG, I went back to Sheffield Hallam University to study for a Master’s degree in building surveying which I undertook part-time whilst working full-time. This was somewhat challenging from a work/university/life balance point of view, but I got there in the end and graduated with a Distinction and an award from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). It was during my research and writing up of my dissertation, titled ‘Is there confusion within the surveying profession about the existence of rising damp and is the correct advice being given to homeowners?’ that brought me to where I am today. If you are struggling to sleep and haven’t heard enough from me by now, you can have a read here.
NVQ Level 3 - Understanding Repair and Maintenance of Traditional Buildings – Twyi Centre - 2021
A two-day course followed by an exam with Tom and Nell at the Twyi centre in Carmarthenshire covering the repair and maintenance of traditionally constructed pre-1919 buildings with a focus on analysing buildings and triaging of decisions on maintenance, carpentry and timber repair, use of lime bound mortars and aggregate particle size and ratios, specialise investigation techniques, principals of alteration and low carbon and historic buildings.
Understanding Building Conservation - The Charted Institute of Building - 2022
A two-day course followed by an exam led by Professor John Edwards covering; significance and philosophy; technical analysis; decision-making on technical and significance issues; interventions; and specification writing and management.
Retrofitting Traditional Buildings - The Scottish Lime Centre - 2023
A three-day course led by Nicholas Heath on retrofitting traditionally constructed buildings followed by a day of case study analysis.
PgCert - Teaching in Higher Education - Sheffield Hallam University - 2023
As part of my part-time lecturing position, and in case I did not have enough on, in September 2023 I started a PgCert in Teaching in Higher Education.