Technical Disrepair Surveyor

Orbit Group; St Leonards; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading housing association in England seeks a Disrepair Surveyor to deliver a quality service to residents. You will manage cases involving disrepair claims, conduct site inspections, and sometimes attend court as an expert witness. Essential skills include familiarity with building safety legislation and the ability to communicate effectively with clients. The ideal candidate will have experience in disrepair surveying, a strong understanding of building pathology, and a commitment to promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Training programmes

Professional qualifications support

Qualifications

• Previous experience of Disrepair surveying and knowledge of the legal protocol.
• Ability to attend court and be an expert witness and give evidence.
• Working knowledge of current Building Safety, Health & Safety and other relevant legislation.
• Good understanding of building pathology, especially hazards, defects and their causes.
• Ability to communicate with customers and be a good advocate of the company.

Responsibilities

• Deliver a quality, resident-focused Disrepair Surveyor Service.
• Carry out site inspections and investigations to produce detailed specifications.
• Manage caseloads from cradle to grave ensuring you act as the main point of contact.
• Attend court to give evidence of your investigation.

Job description

We're building thriving communities as one of the UK's largest housing groups and a leading developer of affordable housing.

We believe everyone is entitled to a good home they can afford, in a place they are proud to live. More than 100,000 people live in our homes.

If you want to experience work that's truly rewarding, join us. Because when we achieve together, customers and communities thrive.

Work for Orbit. Believe in people.

The role

Deliver a quality, resident-focused Disrepair Surveyor Service working collaboratively with internal and external Legal Counsel, external contractors, and internal departments. Technical Disrepair Surveyors will be responsible for overseeing individual caseloads consisting of live disrepair claims (including damp and associated repairs), repair diagnostic cases, referrals from repairs teams / health and safety and environmental teams. Surveyors will also be required to undertake training and act in an advisory capacity for colleagues across the business and will from time to time be required to give expert evidence in court.

This role is part of Property where you'll help us to lead the way investing and maintaining 46,000 homes.

What you'll achieve

This role will play a significant part of the customer facing, visible presence attending our buildings and acting as the main contact for customers and legal representatives while their case is being processed, seeing works through to completion. You will be able to work unsupervised and be highly organised. You will be required to learn and update Orbit's systems to support the work that you will be engaged in. This information needs to be recorded securely and any remedial actions processed.

• Carry out site inspections and investigations, as necessary to produce detailed specifications of works using the national schedule of rates and composite values. Prepare estimates, feasibility studies, plans, sketches and drawings as may be necessary.
• Be proficient in the correct diagnosis of building failures and to this end be competent in the use of devices, aids and instruments for the purpose of making assessments and diagnoses.
• To attend court on occasions to give evidence of your investigation and support the disrepair case.
• To take responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young person's / vulnerable adults with whom you encounter
• To manage caseloads from cradle to grave ensuring you act as the main point of contact for customers
• Responsible to report any repairs that are identified and required to ensure we always maintain our homes or communal areas to the highest standard. This includes the logging and monitoring of repairs in line with our repairs policies
• To be organised and have good time management skills by booking survey appointments with customers directly and attending appointments on time and to ensure you cater for Orbit and its values to our customers

What you'll bring

Essential skills

• Previous experience of Disrepair surveying and knowledge of the legal protocol
• An ability to attend court and be an expert witness and give evidence
• Working knowledge of current Building Safety, Health & Safety and other relevant legislation
• Knowledge of Legal legislation in relation to Housing disrepair and ability to interpret legislation in application of legal repair works
• Good understanding of building pathology, especially hazards, defects and their causes
• Ability to communicate with customers and be a good advocate of Orbit and its values
• Ability to travel
• Willing and able to participate in the out of hours emergency rota.

Desirable skills

• HND/C Building with demonstrable post qualification experience or BSc Building with post qualification experience or RICS qualification
• Working knowledge of the building industry codes of practice, measured term and building forms of contract, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations and Statutory requirements applicable to the industry

Why Orbit?

Choosing us means being rewarded in every sense.

Here's what you can expect to enjoy with us.

A rewarding experience that works for you

We strive to create an inclusive experience with benefits and wellbeing programmes designed to help you, and your loved ones, to thrive. For a better work life balance, we offer flexible working opportunities for many roles.

A place to progress

From training programmes to professional qualifications, we provide opportunities to learn and develop at every stage of your career. Whether you're a student, graduate or experienced professional we'll support you to grow.

For leaders, our tailored development journeys are designed to stretch and strengthen your leadership skills. As well as practical training, we give you access to renowned business schools and experiential programmes for greater breadth and depth of learning.

A purpose to feel proud of

We're proud to make a difference to people together. We're values-driven with a commercial focus on performance - because the more profit we make, the more we can achieve for people.

What brings us together is a passionate belief in progress and people.

Read more about the values and purpose that drive us on our careers website.

How we hire

We aim to make our hiring process simple and fair:

1. Online application
2. Interview(s)
3. Decision and offer

We put the safeguarding of our customers, colleagues and contractors at the heart of everything we do and as such, certain roles will be subject to a DBS check.