Rashmi

Graham Chase, head of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, scouting for tie-ups with local business schools

After management, finance and baccalaureate courses, it's time for property to go to the university. In town is Graham F Chase, president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), London, scouting for opportunities to tie up with Indian universities and business schools for offering RICS accredited courses in India.
So far, surveyors are generally considered property valuation experts. But as Chase explains, RICS provides surveyors with a diverse range of courses and skills. As a group, these professionals cover every area concerned with land, property, construction and development.
RICS offers courses in a total of 17 major disciplines. These include minerals, hydrology, buildings, quantity (cost estimate), project management, antique and fine arts, valuation, investment, building control, planning & development and rural planning. Within these 17 disciplines, there are 172 specialisations.

For instance,a person can be a specialist in commercial property; another professional could specialise in residential property. Further, within commercial property, one can specialise in retail property; and within retail property, someone can do micro-specialisation in areas like investment, development and financing.

But why opt for an RICS-accredited course?
With an RICS qualification, which is internationally recognised, one can find employment with international property firms operating in India. One can also be able to find employment overseas.

Emphasising the need for qualified professionals in the Indian real estate sector, Chase said, "The real estate market is growing rapidly. Construction costs are rising. Alongside, you have a very fast-growing economy. Unless there are proper standards and quality professionals who can render proper advice, markets might become overheated, or even collapse."

If, for instance, a lot of loans have been made against property, the economy at large could get affected, he said. "So it's vital that proper standards and methodologies are instituted in the Indian property market to ensure that it doesn't overheat, and is able to support stable economic growth."

He expects that even if the ball is set rolling right away, it would take at least four years for the country to get an RICS-accredited professional working in the sector - a year to put the course together, another year to complete it, and two more to complete the practical training.