rics business planning guidance note

APC Support and mentoring

Rics apc – business planning.

Posted on June 23, 2018 Updated on June 23, 2018

Introduction.

Business Planning is a mandatory competency that APC candidates from all pathways need to achieve at Level 1.

Candidates from the Art & Antiques pathway may elect to take this competency to Level 2 or 3 as part of their optional selection.

Business Planning is a Core Competency at Level 3 for the Management Consultancy pathway.

Please note that the requirements at Level 1 when taken as a Technical Competency within the aforementioned pathways are slightly different from the requirements as a Mandatory Competency. You should refer to your specific Pathway Guide for more details.

What is it about?

The official RICS definition is:

Level 1 = ‘ Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how business planning activities contribute to the achievement of corporate objectives’.

It includes several topics:

• Legislation and principles of law – See Pg. 33 of the RICS Practice Management Guidelines
• Types and essential elements of Business Plans
• Short term / long term strategies
• Market analysis (SWOT / PEST)
• Organisational structures / Staffing levels – recruitment / turnover
• Business support services – administration, secretarial, HR, IT etc.

Most APC candidates will have come across the key concepts of Business Planning – knowingly or not – at some point during their graduate studies. Some of the largest employers may also offer on-line management training modules. Alternatively nothing stops you from picking up a basic book on business management to brush on your knowledge in strategy, organisational structures, market analysis, etc

I also strongly recommend you to read the  RICS Practice Management Guidelines   to understand how business planning is relevant to surveyors. It has now been withdrawn but we have saved a copy for you!

Those working in the largest companies may recognise some of the tools used by their employers and gain an understanding of why those are in place. Those working in small practices or as self-employed may find very useful advice to grow their business acumen.

Potential APC Questions

Due to time constraints, assessors will only have time to ask you a few questions on Business Planning. As a minimum they will expect you to know what a business plan is, be familiar with your company’s business plan and business model, and understand how you can contribute to the achievement of your company’s corporate objectives.

If you are applying under the Senior Professional Route (SPA), assessors will expect you to have a detailed understanding of the development and implementation of your company’ s business plan.

Some very classic questions would be;

• What is a business plan? What do you find in a business plan?
• Can you tell us about your company’s current business plan?
• What is your company’s management structure / business model?
• What are your company’s values?
• What tools does your company use to manage its business?
• How do you ensure that you contribute to the achievement of your company’s objectives / business plan?
• What is contained within an appointment document? What are your company’s terms of business?
• What is the relevance of a SWOT or PEST analysis to business planning?

Some points that you will have stated in your Summary of Experience may trigger some questions more specific to your experience and personal knowledge .

For example you may state in your Summary of Experience that you have studied Porter’s Five Forces Model, SWOT analysis and PEST analysis as part of a business module at University. This may lead the APC assessors to ask you to explain what they are and to give an example specific to your company.

Business Planning is a crucial competency for those considering setting up their own practice or progressing to a management role after attainment of the MRICS status. I therefore recommend that you do not neglect it, both for your APC and future career development.

Familiarise yourself with your company’s business plan and its management structure and tools. Consider how you personally contribute to achieving its objectives (‘achievement of corporate objectives’ is contained within the definition of this competency). This may be by completing your timesheets and expenses in a timely manner or assessing your own competences and planning your CPD’s to acquire the relevant skills.

Make sure that you understand how to prepare a business plan and what it should look like.

All our past APC candidates will give you the same advice: do not underestimate the time required to revise (learn?) for your APC! It will easily take you 3 months of solid studying every evening.

To make this task a little easier, APC Support Ltd offer on-demand revision webinars covering all the technical and mandatory competencies in Quantity Surveying, Built Infrastructure, Building Surveying, Building Control, Project Management and Facilities Management.

Alternatively, we offer face-to-face training for corporate clients across the UK. Please e-mail us at [email protected] to discuss your requirements.

All the modules are recorded and will provide you with over 30 hours of formal CPD. You can attend them on a pay-as-you-go basis or subscribe to our unlimited revision package .

Best of luck!

Share this:

This entry was posted in Mandatory Competencies , Uncategorized and tagged APC , business planning , coaching , Experience , Mandatory competencies , mentoring , Record of Experience , RICS , Summary of Experience , support , tips .

• RICS APC – Accounting Principles and Procedures
• Routes to MRICS chartership

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• Consultation Home

RICS Draft Guidance Note: Planned preventative maintenance of commercial and residential property, 1st edition

This guidance note is an essential addition to the suite of documents produced by RICS in relation to building surveying and health and safety. It is intended to provide guidance to surveyors on how to go about undertaking a Planned, Preventative Maintenance (PPM) survey and report. This GN is aimed at PPM reports for built assets (e.g. the type a Building Surveyor would undertake) rather than the type of ‘Planned Maintenance’ reports for MEPF asset / component replacement, as may be undertaken by an MEP engineer or Facilities Manager.

PPM refers to the type of maintenance that is performed purposely and regularly to keep the structure and fabric, facilities, plant and equipment of a building in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection and correction of failures, either before they occur, where actually present or before they develop into major defects. PPM also helps to identify the point at which such items can reasonably be deemed to have reached the end of their economic lives, such that replacement or renewal may be necessary. PPM programmes are usually prepared to cover 5–10-year maintenance periods and should be regularly reviewed and updated at frequent intervals.

Please read our guidance before commenting.

When responding to this consultation, please respond in English.

iConsult copyright notice:

In using the iConsult web-space you agree to license RICS and its group companies to reproduce in any format and at any place worldwide the contents of any posted material for any business purpose in perpetuity.

Commenting effectively:

When commenting on this RICS consultation draft, please make sure you:

Comment only on the individual section to which your comment refers, rather than inserting all comments into one section. As responses are collated through an automated system, this will help us to present all comments to the working group in chronological order

Please avoid leaving comments that do not reflect a point of view, and keep comments as brief and to the point as possible.

If you require further assistance or information, please contact Simon Hall .  

This consultation will close on 10 May 2021  at 23:59

• Opened 12 Apr 2021 at 00:00
• Closed 31 May 2021 at 23:59

Consultation Documents

• Planned Preventative Maintenance, RICS guidance note, 1st edition [add blurb]
• Planned preventative maintenance 1st edition, consultation draft A PDF equivalent of the structured document
• Appendix 1: Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) services This will form appendix 1 to the guidance note and will be available on isurv.com together with the other Scopes of services documents.
• Sign up for notifications about this consultation
• X (Twitter)

© RICS 2017

Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Accessibility

Powered by Kahootz

Knowledge and Science Bulletin Board System

Exploring the World of Knowledge and Understanding

How to Implement RICS Business Planning Guidance Note for Your Business

By knbbs-sharer.

Have you been thinking about improving your business planning but don’t know where to start? Look no further than the RICS Business Planning Guidance Note. This valuable resource provides practical advice and guidance for businesses of all sizes, from start-ups to well-established enterprises. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how you can implement the RICS Business Planning Guidance Note for your own business.

Understanding the RICS Business Planning Guidance Note

Before you begin implementing the guidance note, it’s crucial to understand what it is and what it aims to achieve. The RICS Business Planning Guidance Note is a comprehensive set of guidelines that cover various aspects of business planning. The note covers topics such as market analysis, financial projections, risk management, and performance monitoring.

The guidance note emphasizes the importance of strategic planning, highlighting the need for a sound business model that aligns with your overall goals. The ultimate objective is to develop a flexible and dynamic plan that will enable your business to adapt to changes in the market and capitalize on new opportunities.

Implementing the Guidance Note for Your Business

The RICS Business Planning Guidance Note is a useful tool that can assist you in developing a robust business plan. However, it’s essential to customize the guidance note to suit your business’s unique needs and circumstances. Here are some practical steps you can take to implement the guidance note for your business:

Step 1: Define Your Business’s Mission and Objectives

Before you start planning, it’s crucial to define your business’s mission statement and objectives. This will provide clarity and direction for your planning efforts, enabling you to focus on what matters most. Your mission statement should be concise and reflect your business’s purpose and values.

Step 2: Conduct a Market Analysis

A comprehensive market analysis is essential for understanding your target market, competitors, and current trends. This analysis should include information such as market size, potential growth, customer demographics, and key influencers. This research will help you develop a marketing strategy that capitalizes on market opportunities and sets you apart from your competitors.

Step 3: Develop a Financial Plan

A sound financial plan is critical for ensuring the long-term success of your business. This plan should include financial projections, cash flow forecasts, and a budget that aligns with your business objectives. You should also consider factors such as financing options, investment opportunities, and risk management.

Step 4: Monitor Your Performance

Implementing the guidance note is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process. Regular monitoring of your business’s performance is key to identifying trends and opportunities for improvement. This monitoring should include key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, profitability, and customer satisfaction.

In conclusion, the RICS Business Planning Guidance Note is an invaluable resource for businesses seeking to improve their planning processes. By following these guidelines and adapting them to your business’s unique needs, you can develop a comprehensive and dynamic plan that will enable you to achieve your objectives. Remember that planning is an ongoing process, and regular monitoring and adaptation are critical for success. So why wait? Start implementing the RICS Business Planning Guidance Note for your business today!

(Note: Do you have knowledge or insights to share? Unlock new opportunities and expand your reach by joining our authors team. Click Registration to join us and share your expertise with our readers.)

Share this:

Discovery new post:.

• A Summary of RICS Business Planning Guidance Note: Essential Tips for Successful Business Planning
• Maximizing Your Business Potential with RICS Business Planning Guidance Note: A Comprehensive Guide
• The Importance of Analyzing Market Data for Sound Business Decision-Making
• How to Create a Business Plan that Attracts and Secures Investors

Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way.

Related Post

Unlocking the future of business: how smartpay transforms your enterprise’s financial landscape, unlocking the power of smes: defining the heartbeat of business growth, maximizing business potential: a comprehensive guide to snapchat marketing strategies, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Revolutionizing Travel: Exploring the Top 5 3D Travel Apps for Unforgettable Adventures

Unveiling the enigma: 11 secrets behind december 11th birthday personalities, unlocking your child’s iq potential: top strategies for boosting knowledge acquisition, transforming lives: detroit’s top 5 mental health services for holistic healing.

BUILT ENVIRONMENT JOURNAL

BRE revises guidance on access to daylight and sunlight

Updated advice from BRE on planning site layouts for optimum daylight and sunlight aims to ensure new dwellings are sufficiently well lit

• Gareth Howlett

08 May 2024

Building surveying

Commercial property

Residential

In June 2022, BRE published a third edition of Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice to reflect BS EN 17037: 2018 Daylight in buildings .

This is widely used by local authorities, designers, surveyors and consultants across the UK and Ireland when assessing daylight and sunlight issues for planning applications; although these planning assessments and guidance should be distinguished from the issue of rights to light , a separate area of law that is not part of deciding planning applications.

While parts of the daylight and sunlight guidance remain the same as in the second edition, there have been significant changes and additional advice in other areas, particularly the way provision to new dwellings should be assessed.

Assessments of daylight and sunlight for planning purposes should therefore now be carried out with reference to the latest guidance and the methodologies it outlines.

Light lost by neighbours assessed in same way

It is important to understand the way a proposed development can affect neighbouring areas. The methodologies in the BRE guide to assess daylight – natural light received from the sky – and sunlight – light received directly from the sun – lost by neighbouring properties in these circumstances remain the same as in previous editions.

These methodologies include simple initial angular criteria and rules of thumb such as the 25° obstruction angle, which serves as a basic measure of the external obstruction to daylight for a window.

More detailed assessment methods including vertical sky component (VSC) – a measure of daylight to the outside of a window – and daylight distribution, measuring how much of a room can receive direct daylight. The latter is also referred to as no-sky line, which separates areas in a room that can receive direct daylight from those that cannot.

Probable sunlight hours for the whole year and for winter are measures of direct sunlight, which are still used to assess loss of sunlight to existing living rooms and conservatories. Loss of sunlight to gardens is assessed using the hours of sunlight received on 21 March, with the spring equinox offering representative conditions between summer and winter as an average for the year.

The revised version of the guide includes additional advice to practitioners, for example on how to use a weighted average related to glazing size for a room lit by multiple windows, as well as on appropriate presentation of the results.

Related article

Caution urged when taking on boundary disputes

Advice offered on solar panel positioning

The radiation received by solar panels was an area where there was a growing need for guidance as the number of installations increases. The revised BRE report therefore includes advice on the optimum positioning of panels.

It also suggests numerical targets to assess the potential loss of radiation to an existing solar panel if a development is proposed nearby, to ascertain whether any such loss is significant.

This is based on a comparison of the radiation that would be received with the proposed development in place and existing conditions, as well as the slope of the panel from the horizontal.

New dwellings are main focus of revision

The most significant changes from previous guidance concern the assessment of daylight and sunlight provision to new dwellings, in response to the 2018 edition of the standard BS EN 17037 .

The average daylight factor (ADF), for instance, is no longer used as a measure of daylight in such dwellings, and has been replaced by a choice of two methods.

The first of these uses a target illuminance – a measure of the amount of light incident on a surface – that should be achieved over a proportion of an assessment area for at least half of daylight hours, referred to as spatial daylight autonomy.

This involves climate-based daylight modelling, which uses the weather data closest to the site's location to determine average natural lighting conditions throughout the year on at least an hourly basis.

The alternative method uses a daylight factor target based on a value also to be achieved over a proportion of an assessment area. This daylight factor is calculated using a standard overcast sky, so – unlike the illuminance method – the results do not vary by site location or orientation. However, site location is still accounted for different target values by latitude.

Either method can be used in an assessment. A discussion and comparison of the two methods is given in CIBSE Research Insight 07 .

Meanwhile, the UK national annex in BS EN 17037 and the revised BRE report give additional recommendations. These include minimum illuminance targets that bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens should achieve over at least half of an assessment area for at least half of the annual daylight hours.

Equivalent daylight factor targets are also given, which are referred to as median daylight factor targets. The previous recommendations were in contrast based on mean targets; that is, ADFs.

The recommendations given for dwellings in the UK national annex and BRE guide are lower than those in the main BS EN 17037 standard, and were designed to be closer to the previous ADF targets. However, it is important to note that the targets should be seen as minimum recommendations rather than aspirational ones.

Guidance supports complex modelling calculations

The new daylight methodologies in the BRE guidance involve complex modelling, which requires specialist software using calculations across a grid of points in a room. This is more sophisticated than the previous ADF method, which could be calculated using a formula or complex modelling.

The revised guide sets out best practice for these calculations, including advice on which surface reflectances to use, the assessment grid of calculation points, window framing, and a glazing maintenance factor to account for dirt on windows.

When assessing sunlight provision to new dwellings the BRE guide no longer uses the probable sunlight hours methodology, in response to BS EN 17037 . Instead, this is assessed according to the amount of time that windows can receive direct sunlight on 21 March, assuming cloudless conditions.

Similarly, assessment of sunlight provision to proposed gardens and open spaces is based on the areas that can receive at least two hours of sunlight on the spring equinox.

To ensure their assessments follow the latest recommendations, therefore, designers, surveyors, consultants and local authorities using the BRE guide now need to be clear about the implications of all the changes made to it.

'The new daylight methodologies in the BRE guidance involve complex modelling, which requires specialist software using calculations across a grid of points in a room'

Gareth Howlett is a built environment senior consultant at BRE Contact Gareth: Email

Related competencies include: Design and specification, Inclusive environments, Legal/regulatory compliance, Sustainability

RICS Building Surveying Conference

17 May | 8:30-17:00 GMT | 133 Houndsditch, London, EC3A 7BX

The conference provides an opportunity to keep abreast of sector updates, the latest regulations, and emerging trends in the building surveying industry.

Expert speakers will provide comprehensive insights into how these changes will affect professionals in the industry by delivering case studies and essential updates from a range of specialisms including building and fire safety, dilapidations, party walls, building conservation, rights of light, retrofitting and sustainability.

Find out more and book now

Enabling RICS SME members to thrive

At RICS, we want our SME members to flourish. Our SME Business Support Hub  is a great place to start finding out more.

Whether an experienced or start-up SME, you'll find tailored support and resources, such as: 

• guidance on business models
• statutory requirements
• financial management
• marketing and promotion
• practical advice on aspects of buying, selling or leasing property.

We also send a monthly SME newsletter, sharing relevant support, insight and knowledge. You can sign up for this by emailing  RICS directly.

Our quarterly UK Economy and property market update  is also designed with SMEs in mind, providing the kind of detailed analysis and insight that may otherwise be out of reach. We conduct regular webinars as well, to take members through the latest updates and provide a forum for their questions.

Related Articles

go to article Why BSR is extending building control registration date

Sandra Ashcroft 14 May 2024

Building control

Fire safety

Health and safety

go to article Car park guidance fire safety around EVs

Sally Friswell 03 May 2024

PROPERTY JOURNAL

go to article How has war in Ukraine affected its property market?

Ludmila Simonova 26 April 2024

Commercial valuation

• Skip to content
• Skip to main navigation
• Newsletter sign-up
• Login / Register

Communication and negotiation

This document is only available with a paid isurv subscription..

Explore the subscription options here to get full access to isurv, including downloads.

Try isurv for free!

You can get instant access to a free, 7-day trial of isurv simply by filling in the free trial form . Please note that the free trial includes full access to isurv with the exception of downloadable content which is only available with a paid subscription.

Sign up for the isurv newsletter , to receive a monthly round-up of the latest isurv updates.

For further questions, don't hesitate to call: +44(0)247 686 8555.

• Document templates
• Features archive
• Fill in the form