Accreditation and Quality Assurance – mobility of Surveyors across International Professional Institutions

This paper will analyse a method for investigating the quality assurance schemes in FIG Professional Member Institutions to determine the ability of surveyors to transfer between countries. The aim of the eventual research is to provide a guide for FIG members who may wish to operate in a different country from the one that they qualified in. There is a need to undertake a ‘difference’ analyses across international professional standards and then ascertain what supplementary training the Surveyor would require in order to operate internationally. The paper will take an initial case study of the UK and North America to provide a pilot for further research. Definitions of the profession of Surveying will be discussed as by their very nature this may provide a barrier against labour mobility between countries. This paper relates directly to the work of Commission 2 Work Plan which has established a Working Group 2.4 – Accreditation and Quality Assurance. This working group, chaired by the author, is investigating cross border quality assurances in Surveying Education. One of the outputs from this group will be an information point on the FIG Web site to help and promote international professional mobility of FIG members. This paper represents the start of that work.