Quantity Surveyors & Cost Managers – Consider a move into Bank Monitoring Services

If you are a Quantity Surveyor or Cost Manager that feels like you are at the stage of your career where you want to explore a role outside of the core traditional Quantity Surveying, considering a move into Bank Monitoring services is a great option to look at.

A number of premium cost and project management consultancy companies are getting increasingly involved with providing bank monitoring advice to banks and lenders, which involves helping them minimise risk when financing projects. This is being driven by buoyant economies in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong and elsewhere but also from an increase in banks requiring these services, as no development project is without its risks that need to be mitigated. So, appointing the right project monitor is often the difference between sound investment funding and good profits and a wasted opportunity for a good yield and profit on a substantial investment.

With the demand for staff in the construction bank monitoring sector growing, this is a sound career change into a stable and expanding aspect of professional construction cost management and cost monitoring.

Bank Monitoring

Bank monitoring, also known as loan monitoring, project monitoring and independent monitoring surveying, is a specialist service that focuses on development project risks in order to manage and protect the interests of a lender whilst driving a successful development to completion and handover.

The cost consulting aspect is generally advising the lender on the progress of the project and where they need to take action. Carrying out regular site inspections, attending progress meetings and valuation meetings whilst providing monthly progress reports to the lender.  These duties will be familiar to a PQS or client side cost consultant.

A Bank Monitoring Surveyor role could also have job titles such as:

• Project Monitoring Surveyor
• Project Monitor
• Bank Fund Monitor
• Lenders Technical Advisor
• Senior Monitoring Surveyor
• Development Monitoring Surveyor
• Building Surveyor – Loan Monitoring
• Quantity Surveyor – Loan Monitoring

What Experience and Qualifications are required to perform a Bank Monitoring job role?

Previous Job Experience:

Ideally, the perfect candidate for this bank monitoring or Lenders Technical Advisor role will have a few years’ experience of project monitoring duties from a Quantity Surveying or Building Surveying background, although excellent transferrable PQS experience can be considered.

The Fund Monitoring Surveyor role includes working directly with the lender to provide advice and support for a planned development, to essentially assess the risk involved.

Project Monitoring Surveyor role combines the following:

• Performing Bank Loan monitoring control work for a range of banks and funds.
• Advising clients as part of a full initial review of development proposals, reporting and advising on all aspects of the project delivery.
• Visiting the site to check on the progress and continue checks to ensure that the development continues to be a safe investment.

Whilst many Consultancies prefer candidates to have performed Bank Monitoring duties previously, they appreciate that there is a shortage of good candidates with this experience.

Therefore, many will consider good, Chartered QS and competent Surveyors with the right personality traits and experience to suit the role and quickly help them to learn the bank monitoring processes and duties.

Qualifications:

Qualification to Degree level in a relevant cost or construction related subject is strongly desirable, however the most important is undoubtedly:

• MRICS – Being a Chartered Quantity Surveyor of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

This is seen as the essential requirement to be considered for bank monitoring / loan monitoring / lenders technical advisor job roles. However, similar equivalent professional body, such as CIOB are also considered.

If you are seriously interested in a role within this specialist and well paid sub-sector of Quantity Surveying, becoming Chartered should be your priority.

Summary

The bank monitoring service is a specialist area that is expanding within the construction industry.  Specialist Bank Loan Monitoring Consultancies used to dominate this marketplace, however many of the smaller, medium and larger sized mainstream Consultancies that also offer quantity surveying, project management and building surveying are now also offering a Fund Monitoring service due to the level of banking client demand.  There are some great employers and jobs out there if you know where to look!

The Lenders Monitoring Surveyor roles in the fund monitoring sector may provide a great opportunity for Quantity Surveyors looking for something a bit different from the traditional QS route. Those who enjoy very methodical and analytical processes can get a job in this rapidly growing sector of the construction industry.

Candidates with previous experience of loan monitoring will have a real advantage in securing a role this sector, however with increased demand MRICS Chartered Quantity Surveyors and Chartered Surveyors with little to no previous experience in a bank monitoring role have a great chance of being placed in junior roles and can expect fast career progression if they can demonstrate competence and commitment.

If you are interested in exploring a career in Bank Monitoring sector, please have a look our latest Bank Monitoring Jobs.

Daria Tkach
Graduate Recruitment Consultant

Daria is a Graduate Recruitment Consultant with day-to-day responsibility for researching, shortlisting, contacting, and interviewing premium construction industry candidates.  She works with our UK team to help construction industry jobseekers into exciting new construction jobs with our market leading employer clients.