The title "Chartered Building Surveyor" is protected by law, there are only 9,150 within the 140,000 "Chartered surveyors" worldwide who are qualified to use this term.

It is not the same as being "A member of the Building Surveying faculty" of the RICS which currently has 23,406 members.

How a "Chartered Building Surveyor" is trained

• A qualifying Degree or Diploma from an RICS approved University in Building Surveying.
• 2 years of structured training in a professional office under supervision.
• Assessment of Professional Competence.

Only after satisfying the academic qualification, supervised training, and final assessment can the title "Chartered Building Surveyor" be used.

Being a "Chartered Surveyor" is not in itself a qualification to undertake Building Surveys. There are many specialism's within the RICS such as "Fine Art" & "Minerals Surveying"

However many "Chartered Building Surveyors" have limited experience of working on older buildings such as we see in rural France. Therefore to be safe look for a surveyor who is an expert and holds a qualification such as a "Masters Degree" or "Post Graduate Diploma in Architectural Conservation".