RICS Competencies Explained for Commercial Surveyors

RICS competencies are the technical and professional standards that every candidate for the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) must demonstrate before RICS will award chartered status. For anyone working toward MRICS as a quantity surveyor or commercial manager, understanding exactly which RICS competencies apply to your pathway, and to what level, is usually the difference between a confident submission and a rushed one.

The competency framework can look intimidating at first glance: mandatory competencies, core competencies, optional competencies, three levels of attainment, and a pathway guide that runs to dozens of pages. Once you understand how the pieces fit together, though, the framework becomes a practical checklist rather than a mystery to be decoded the week before submission.

This guide breaks down the RICS competencies relevant to the Quantity Surveying and Construction pathway and commercial management routes, explains the difference between Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 evidence, and shows how your written submission and final assessment interview are built around them.

If you're still mapping out your APC journey more broadly, our companion piece on the RICS APC process covers timelines, counsellors and the structured versus senior professional routes in more detail - this article focuses specifically on the competencies themselves and how to evidence them well.

The same core structure applies whether you are qualifying as an Associate (AssocRICS) or a Chartered Member (MRICS), though AssocRICS candidates are assessed against a shorter list of competencies and generally to Level 1 or Level 2 only, without the Level 3 reasoned-advice requirement that defines the full MRICS route. For commercial surveyors specifically, the practical difference comes down to depth: MRICS candidates need at least one core technical competency, almost always Commercial Management of Construction Works for contracting-side candidates, pushed all the way to Level 3.

What Are RICS Competencies and Why Do They Matter?

A RICS competency is a defined area of professional ability that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors expects a candidate to demonstrate before admitting them to chartered membership (MRICS) or associate membership (AssocRICS). Competencies exist because RICS needs a consistent, comparable way to assess candidates working in very different roles, sectors and countries - a cost manager on a hospital scheme in Manchester and a project quantity surveyor on a data centre in Dublin are assessed against the same underlying framework, even though their day-to-day work looks nothing alike.

The three categories of competency

• Mandatory competencies - the professional and ethical foundation every candidate must evidence, covering areas such as ethics, client care, communication, health and safety and business planning, irrespective of pathway or specialism.
• Core technical competencies - the compulsory subject-specific skills tied to your chosen pathway. For Quantity Surveying and Construction, these typically include commercial management, cost planning, contract practice, procurement and quantification.
• Optional technical competencies - additional subject areas you select to reflect the reality of your role, allowing the framework to flex around specialisms such as NEC contract administration, dispute resolution or capital allowances.

Every APC submission, whichever pathway you follow, blends all three categories into a single structured document: a summary of professional experience, a CPD record, individual competency statements, and a case study describing one project in depth. Getting the balance right across mandatory, core and optional competencies is one of the most common areas candidates fall down on, particularly when they concentrate all their effort on technical detail and neglect the mandatory competencies that assessors are required to test at every interview.

How your pathway shapes which competencies apply

RICS runs more than 20 different pathways, from Quantity Surveying and Construction through to Building Surveying, Valuation and Project Management, and each one specifies its own set of core and optional technical competencies while sharing the same 11 mandatory competencies. This matters in practice because a candidate who moves employer, or moves from a consultancy role into a contracting role, sometimes needs to re-check whether their original pathway still reflects their day-to-day work, since RICS expects your declared competencies to genuinely match what you do, not simply what looks strongest on paper.

It is also worth distinguishing RICS competencies from generic workplace skills. A skill such as being good at Excel or a strong communicator is not, on its own, evidence of a RICS competency. What assessors want to see is that skill applied within a specific professional context, against a defined standard, with an outcome you can describe and defend. That is why the strongest competency statements read less like a CV bullet point and more like a short, structured case study: situation, action, and the professional judgement behind it.

The Three Levels of RICS Competence: 1, 2 and 3

Every competency, whether mandatory, core or optional, must be evidenced to a specific level of attainment. RICS defines three levels, and confusing them is one of the most common reasons candidates are referred at final assessment.

How many examples do you need at each level?

Assessors generally look for two to three worked examples to support Level 2 statements, and at least three for Level 3, since Level 3 evidence must show a pattern of sound professional judgement rather than a single lucky outcome. Level 1 statements do not require personal experience at all - a well-referenced, concise explanation of the underlying knowledge is sufficient, which is why many candidates over-write Level 1 answers and under-write Level 3 ones.

At least one of your core technical competencies must reach Level 3, demonstrating that you have gone beyond simply doing the work to advising a client on it, exercising judgement, and being able to defend that judgement under cross-examination at your final interview. Every candidate, on every pathway, is also tested on Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism at Level 3, regardless of whether it is one of their declared competencies at that level.

A common mistake is treating the levels as a difficulty scale rather than a type of evidence. A Level 1 answer that is padded out with anecdote is not automatically stronger than a crisp, accurate definition - it is often weaker, because it suggests the candidate does not understand what the question is actually asking for. Equally, a Level 3 answer that only describes what was done, without explaining the advice given and the reasoning behind it, will not satisfy an assessor even if the underlying project experience was genuinely substantial.

Mandatory Competencies: The Professional Foundation

Eleven mandatory competencies sit underneath every APC submission, regardless of pathway or specialism. Most are assessed at Level 1 or Level 2, with one significant exception.

• Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism - the only mandatory competency assessed at Level 3 for every candidate; expect direct questioning on RICS Rules of Conduct at your final interview.
• Client Care - how you identify, manage and exceed client expectations throughout a professional relationship.
• Communication and Negotiation - written, verbal and negotiation skills appropriate to a professional advisory role.
• Health and Safety - awareness of your personal responsibilities and the wider legal framework, including CDM regulations.
• Accounting Principles and Procedures - understanding of business accounts, cash flow and financial reporting.
• Business Planning - awareness of how your employer's business plan shapes strategy and resourcing.
• Conflict Avoidance, Management and Dispute Resolution Procedures - recognising and managing conflict before it escalates into formal dispute.
• Data Management - handling, storing and protecting professional and client data appropriately, including GDPR awareness.
• Diversity, Inclusion and Teamworking - working effectively within diverse teams and recognising your own responsibilities around inclusion.
• Inclusive Environments - contributing to environments, both physical and cultural, that are accessible and inclusive for all.
• Sustainability - understanding the sustainability agenda and its practical relevance to your day-to-day role.

Because Ethics is tested at Level 3 for every single candidate, it is worth treating it with the same seriousness as your strongest technical competency. Assessors report that otherwise strong candidates are referred because they treat the mandatory competencies as a formality, submit thin, generic statements, and then can't answer confidently when questioned in the interview.

Why assessors weight ethics so heavily

RICS has built its professional reputation on trust, and the Rules of Conduct exist to protect that trust across every discipline the institution regulates. That is why Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism is the one competency every candidate is guaranteed to be questioned on, regardless of pathway, specialism or which competencies they have chosen to focus on elsewhere. Assessors are specifically trained to probe how a candidate would respond to realistic ethical dilemmas - conflicts of interest, confidentiality breaches, instructions from a client that cross a professional line - and a hesitant or evasive answer here can undermine confidence in the rest of an otherwise strong submission.

Core and Optional Technical Competencies for the QS and Commercial Pathway

Technical competencies are where your pathway choice matters most. On the Quantity Surveying and Construction pathway, RICS requires you to demonstrate competence across a defined set of core technical competencies plus a small number of optional competencies you select to fit your role. The exact number of core competencies and the required levels have been refreshed periodically, so always check the current pathway guide on the RICS website against your enrolment date, but the broad structure has stayed consistent.

For candidates working in commercial or contracting environments specifically, Commercial Management of Construction Works is usually the natural choice over Design Economics and Cost Planning, since it more closely reflects day-to-day work on cost value reconciliations, subcontractor accounts, change control and profitability. Whichever you choose, at least one core competency must be evidenced to Level 3, and it's sensible to pick the competency where you have the strongest, most recent Level 3 experience rather than the one that sounds most impressive on paper.

Structured training versus the senior professional route

Candidates on the structured training route build their competencies gradually over a minimum 24-month training agreement, supported by a supervisor and counsellor who sign off progress at regular intervals. The senior professional route, by contrast, is designed for experienced practitioners with ten or more years of relevant experience and compresses the same competency requirements into a shorter, more intensive preparation period. Both routes are assessed against the same competencies and the same three levels of attainment - the difference lies in how much time candidates have to gather fresh evidence, which is why senior professional candidates are often advised to focus their case study and Level 3 statements on the most recent, most relevant projects rather than trying to cover an entire career.

How Your Competencies Are Assessed: Submission and Interview

RICS competencies are assessed twice: once on paper, through your written APC submission, and once verbally, at your final assessment interview.

Your written submission brings together a summary of professional experience, a CPD record covering your training period, individual competency statements against every declared competency, and a case study describing one project you've worked on in depth. Word counts are tightly controlled - mandatory competency statements are typically limited to around 1,500 words in total, technical competency statements to around 4,000 words, and the case study to around 3,000 words - so concise, specific evidence matters far more than volume.

The final assessment is a one-hour interview with a panel of two RICS-chartered assessors. It opens with a ten-minute presentation on your case study, followed by around 40 minutes of questioning covering your case study, your declared competencies at the levels you claimed, and the RICS Rules of Conduct. Every candidate is questioned on ethics and professionalism, and assessors are trained to probe Level 3 claims specifically to check the advice was genuinely yours and genuinely reasoned.

Not every candidate passes first time, and that is not necessarily a reflection of weak underlying experience. Referral typically happens when a candidate's written evidence does not match what they say under questioning, when Level 3 claims turn out to be Level 2 in substance, or when a candidate cannot clearly explain the reasoning behind advice they say they gave. RICS provides written feedback after every final assessment, and candidates who are referred can resubmit, usually within three to six months, addressing the specific competencies the panel flagged rather than rewriting the whole submission from scratch.

Practical Tips for Evidencing Your Competencies Well

Knowing the competency framework is only half the job - evidencing it convincingly is what actually gets candidates through final assessment. The following sequence reflects how successful candidates typically build their evidence over the course of their training agreement, rather than compressing it all into the final months.

• Use the RICS pathway guide as your primary reference, not third-party summaries, since wording and required levels are updated periodically.
• Choose optional competencies you can evidence to Level 3 with real client-facing examples, not simply the ones that sound impressive.
• Cross-reference your case study against your competency statements so the two are consistent, not contradictory, under interview questioning.
• Revisit your Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism statement last, once you have a clear view of your whole submission, since it's guaranteed to be tested.

Timing matters as much as content. Candidates who start actively mapping their experience against the competency framework in the first few months of their training agreement, rather than in the final quarter before submission, consistently produce stronger evidence simply because they have had more opportunities to seek out the specific types of work - client-facing negotiations, cost advice under pressure, contractual disputes - that Level 3 statements depend on. If your current role is not naturally generating that evidence, raise it with your supervisor early enough to do something about it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are RICS competencies?

RICS competencies are the specific areas of knowledge, skill and professional behaviour that RICS requires candidates to demonstrate during the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) before they can qualify as chartered (MRICS) or associate (AssocRICS) surveyors. They're grouped into mandatory, core technical and optional technical categories.

How many mandatory competencies are there in the RICS APC?

There are 11 mandatory competencies, covering professional and ethical skills such as ethics, client care, communication, health and safety, business planning, data management, sustainability and inclusion. Every candidate must evidence all 11, regardless of pathway.

What is the difference between Level 1, 2 and 3 in RICS competencies?

Level 1 is knowledge and understanding, evidenced through concise factual statements. Level 2 is application of that knowledge in practice, usually supported by two to three worked examples. Level 3 is reasoned advice, showing you've advised a client, exercised judgement, and can defend that judgement under questioning.

Which technical competencies do quantity surveyors need for the APC?

Candidates on the Quantity Surveying and Construction pathway typically need core competencies covering quantification and costing, commercial management or cost planning, construction technology, contract practice, procurement and tendering, and project finance, plus two optional competencies chosen to reflect their role. Always check the current RICS pathway guide, as requirements are periodically updated.

How many competencies must I take to Level 3?

You must evidence at least one core technical competency to Level 3, plus Ethics, Rules of Conduct and Professionalism, which is tested at Level 3 for every candidate regardless of pathway. Many candidates choose to push two or three technical competencies to Level 3 to strengthen their submission.

What happens in the RICS APC final assessment interview?

The final assessment is a one-hour interview with two RICS-chartered assessors. It begins with a ten-minute presentation on your case study, followed by questioning on your case study, your declared competencies, and the RICS Rules of Conduct, with every candidate tested on ethics and professionalism.

Can I choose my own optional competencies?

Yes. Optional technical competencies are selected by the candidate, in agreement with their counsellor, to reflect the reality of their day-to-day role. Common choices for commercial surveyors include contract practice specialisms, dispute resolution, capital allowances and programming and planning.

Final Thoughts

RICS competencies can feel like an abstract checklist until you start mapping them against your own day-to-day work, at which point they become a genuinely useful structure for reflecting on your professional development. The candidates who struggle at final assessment are rarely the ones who lack the underlying experience - they're usually the ones who never took the time to translate that experience into the specific language and levels the framework demands.

Start early, keep evidence as you go, and treat the mandatory competencies with the same rigour as your technical ones. Do that consistently over your training period, and the APC submission itself becomes an exercise in organising what you already know, rather than a last-minute scramble.

Whichever stage of your training you're at, the underlying advice is the same: treat the competency list as a living document you revisit every few months, not a form you fill in once at the end. The candidates who make the APC look easy are, almost without exception, the ones who started early.

Want the full picture? Want the full APC picture?

This article focused on the RICS competencies themselves. For the wider process - routes, timelines, counsellors and common referral reasons - read our RICS APC Guide for Quantity Surveyors and How to Pass the RICS APC Final Interview First Time on Surveyor Success.