The Victoria Building Authority (VBA), Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) and Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) have joined forces and created the Building Surveyor Career Pathways Program.

The initiative sees final year students and graduates apply their academic knowledge to real situations in a dynamic environment, gaining invaluable on-the-job experience.

Recruits will spend six months at each of the organisations over 18 months with the inaugural six participants already hitting the ground running.

VBA chief executive Sue Eddy says it was important to back our future building surveyors: “Building Surveyors play such an important role in the efficient and effective operation of the building industry. They often save homeowners time and money by spotting issues early before they become a bigger problem.

“We have a responsibility to do all we can to help prepare the future generation of building surveyors, which is why we are putting them in real life situations to test and hone their skills,” she says.

She adds that the graduates have already demonstrates their thirst for learning and are not turning their minds to how they can influence positive change.

VMIA chief officer, domestic building insurance Efy Karagiannis says the career pathways program gave Victoria’s next generation of building surveyors a head start.

“As someone who’s spent their whole career involved in the construction sector, I’m proud to give back to the industry by sharing my experience and ideas with our graduates during their rotation,” she says.

“Our first graduates will get hands-on experience in insurance claims management including on-site inspections with our assessors and litigation cases.

“As a provider of domestic building insurance, we issue more than 70,000 certificates a year, protecting homeowners when their building or renovation work has defects or can’t be completed because the builder has died, disappeared or become insolvent.”

Candidates receive support with training, development and mentoring to develop valued work skills, technical experience aligned to the requirements of registration in the categories of building inspectors and surveyors.

Candidates also gain exposure to the operation of the regulatory framework from a variety of different perspectives, through both internal and external rotations.