The Surveying Profession in the United Kingdom
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Keynote Address The Surveying Profession in the United Kingdom INTRODUC~ON veying" first appeared in English and was described T IS A VERY GREAT PRIVILEGE to be at this Opening as relakg mainly to the ''management" of land and I ceremonyofyour 50th convention, bringing to- buildings. But before I turn to the profession his- gether as it does two of your long-established profes- torically, let me put into context the ~oyal~nstitu- sional societies to consider the immense subject em- tion of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)and its relevance braced by your theme, "Technology in Transition." When I was invited to present this paper I was In the UK, professional interests in the fields of not aware that that would be the theme, and at first surveying and mapping are primarily (but not ex- sight the relevance of how the surveying profession clusively) represented by the RICS,which is the only is organized in the United Kingdom may not be such body incorporated by Royal Charter. apparent. Indeed, this becomes even more ques- A Royal Charter is granted by the Sovereign and tionable in view of this audience being primarily confers on the incorporated body extensive powers concerned with surveying and mapping and related of self-regulation, including (a) determination of sciences whereas in the UK the profession of sur- standards for entry to the profession, (b) holding veying has a much broader base. qualifying examinations and accepting university It is, however, relevant that the way in which that degrees in lieu, (c) prescribing a code of conduct broader base evolved can be traced to a beginning and exercising disciplinary powers, and (d) pro- in an earlier era of transition in technology, the in- viding services for the profession. The qualifications dustrial revolution of two and more centuries ago. of Chartered Bodies are normally those prescribed No doubt our forefathers were as concerned about for public appointments in relevant fields. the changes of their time as we are today about the The RICS comprises seven main specializations, implications of micro-electronics and other techno- viz., logical developments. A few days ago 1 had the opportunity of linking (a) building surveying (mainly construction, main- the old with the new, for on a visit to Washington tenance, and refurbishment of buildings), (b) general practice (mainly property management, New Town in the North East of England I not only appraisals, and handling property transactions), saw the form of current urban development but also (,) land agency and agriculture (rural land manage- the ancestral home of George Washington, the first ment, development, and appraisal), President of the United States and after whom was (d) planning and development (land use, land plan- named the great city in which this convention is ning, and land development), being held. It is fortunate that, in the 12th Century, (e) minerals- William de Hertburn changed his name to William (i) mineral property management, develop- de Wessyngton, from which the name Washington ment, and appraisals, was derived; as otherwise, presumably, Wash- (ii) mine surveying (surveying of mines, plan- ning of mining operations, and records of ington, D. C. would now be called "Heartburn." It mineral workings), was that reminder which prompted me to realize (f) land surveying (all aspects of surveying and map- that, if I went back far enough, I would find a time ping, including geodetic, topographic, engi- when the term "surveying" meant the same for all neering, cadastral and hydrographic, plus rele- in Britain. That would have been in 1534 when, vant aspects of photogrammetry and remote from the quill of John Fitzherbert, the word "sur- sensing), 957 PHOTOGRAMMETRICENGINEERING AND REMOTESENSING, 0099-1112/84/5007-0957$02.25/0 Vol. 50, No. 7, July 1984, pp. 957-962. O 1984 American Society of Photogrammetry (g) quantity surveying (economic aspects of con- combined, but it gained special recognition as a struction works, including cost planning and cost function of the surveyor largely in connection with control; construction contract management; and land transactions for the building of canals, railways, the appraisal of construction works). and other "public works" in the eighteenth and Internationally, the RICS re-groups the foregoing nineteenth centuries. into three cognate categories, namely, Building surveying was also a specialized aspect of management, and was often combined with prac- (a) land economy (categories (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) tice as an architect. For example, Sir Christopher (i) above; Wren, who designed St. Paul's Cathedral and many (b) surveying and mapping (categories (e) (ii) and (f); and other churches in London, was often described as a (c) quantity surveying. "surveyor." Land surveying also evolved on the civil side out In this paper I shall describe how these groups of the function of estate management (providing evolved within one professional organization, ex- maps to identify estate boundaries, and to record plain the advantages of the multi-disciplinary struc- details of tenancies and other information about the ture, and comment on any disadvantages. "estate") and was later extended to include "county" I do not suggest that the RICS is necessarily a maps. In a military context, "land surveying" de- model for the organization of the "profession" in the veloped out of the needs of military operations United States; this would involve bringing under (which eventually led to the establishment of the one umbrella, what are probably regarded in the Ordnance Survey as the national mapping agency United States as totally unconnected groups of (a) in the UK). realtors, (b) surveyors and mappers, and (c)cost en- Mineral surveying evolved as a kindred skill re- "gineers. Indeed. in some Commonwealth countries quired in connection with the management and (e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Nige- working of mineral-bearing land, especially coal. ria) these three activities are organized as quite sep- The surveyor was the owner's "agent," responsible arate professions. Other countries, however, (such for overseeing all aspects of the tenant's activities, as India, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore) follow the UK including the assessment of "royalties" on the pattern. amount of minerals extracted. Even though the United States may not follow Quantity surveying began with the measurement the UK pattern, it may well be that UK experience of building works, for the assistance of the con- has certain lessons from which the United States tractor who was to carry out the construction and to could benefit. provide a reliable basis on which he could be paid for his work. The "quantity surveyor" was some- times also a "building surveyor" or even an archi- It would appear that surveyors were regarded tect; but the function gradually developed as a sep- with some suspicion at the time the first English arate specialization. Colony was being established in Virginia, for in John Before turning to the events of 1868 and there- Norden's Surveiors Dialogue (1607) the farmer after, it is important to remember that, before the starts off "Sir, I am glad I have so happily met with Industrial Revolution which turned Britain into a you, for if I be not mistaken, you are a surveyor of place of development, some surveyors looked fur- land." But then his very next remark is "I have ther afield to the new lands of promise and profit, heard much evil of the profession, and to tell you and, as is recorded by the historian D. S. Freeman, my conceit plainly, I think the same both evil and the surveyor with his compass, st&, and chain was unprofitable." Time does not permit further quo- one of the familiar figures of Britain's colonies in tations from this dialogue, but needless to say, as North America. And so we are back to George the author John Norden was himself a surveyor (and Washington again, for as a colonial surveyor at the in fact produced and published maps of five counties age of 17 he was authorized by Colonel William before 1600), he persuaded his critic that the em- Fairfax to survey an ungranted tract, and later that ployment of a capable and honest surveyor was in year (1749) was commissioned as County Surveyor the true interests of tenants as well as of landlords. of Culpeper County, Virginia. Within a year he had Between the 16th and 19th centuries estate man- saved enough out of his surveying fees to buy some agement developed into a recognized professional land at the "Head of the Marsh," and joined the function, which eventually subdivided into (a) urban westward movement which was the essence of ex- estate management (concerned with the develop- pansion in the Virginia of the time. ment and management of urban property) and (b) In his book about Chartered Surveyors (1968), rural estate management (concerned mainly with Professor Thompson wrote "The qualities and at- the management and improvement of rural estates). tractions of such a position should not be ignored, Both were closely linked with the "landlord and though popularly over-shadowed by the qualities of tenant" system, which was the basis for ownership leadership-and unbelievable honesty-associated and occupation of most land in the UK. with the military and civil experience of his later The function of valuation (or appraisal) evolved colonial days, in assessing the factors which made alongside "management," with which it was often George Washington such an appealing and trust- KEYNOTE ADDRESS worthy figure for the property-conscious