We’ve been catching up with a number of finalists shortlisted for this year’s RICS Young Surveyor of the year awards.
As proud sponsors of the Building Surveying category, GoReport are privileged to find out more about the career path of these inspirational young professionals and share valuable insights into how they got to where they are today and what they believe is the future of surveying.
It was great to catch up with Nicola Forest from ISG Ltd.
Can you provide some background on your career to date?
"Genuinely if someone had told me when I was 21 and just out of university that I would be in the surveying or construction industry, I don't think I would've believed them. The opportunities weren't available or advertised when I was looking at my career options, but I continued to follow my passion for sustainability and eventually fell into the industry almost by mistake, which I always feel guilty saying out load because I love it!
I finished university almost 10 years ago and during that time there weren’t many jobs in sustainability that had a big impact. For me, it wasn't necessarily about going down the surveying route, I was more interested in how sustainability can have a positive impact on the environment and how buildings are constructed. Going down the construction route gave me the opportunity to see the tangible results of sustainability.
I'm currently the Sustainability Manager for ISG - a predominantly interior fit out and refurbishment contractor and I focus quite heavily on the design stage. After we win a contract for a project, we procure it, making sure that the design is correct. I look after healthy building certifications, such as BREEAM, LEED and WELL’s. I also look at embodied carbon and how we can enhance specifications, working closely with clients to identify what their aspirations are and what we can do above and beyond any innovations for the building.
There's a bit of a crossover with sustainability in terms of carbon, environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. One part of my job is to make sure we’re dealing with legal compliance, to ensure ISG are acting as the most responsible contractor that we can be. From the corporate social responsibility side, we’re always trying to do things a little bit different, for example some construction sites are like mini towns, and want them to be a great place to work for all the operatives that we have on site.
Pre-pandemic such topics were relevant, but now they are at the top of the agenda. Sustainability is one of the main drivers for the majority of clients and bids we receive. It’s intertwined throughout everything we do and it is no longer a bolt on, which is leaps and bounds from where we were five years ago.
Where previously an ISO 14001 and environmental policy would suffice, now everyone wants to stand out and be more innovative in the process, whether it’s placing trees inside buildings to using materials that can all be recycled. We even completed a project recently where everything was a circular economy, nothing was new. The world has completely changed and incredible to witness. My job is different every day from the clients I meet to every project I work on."
What motivates you as a surveyor?
“The sustainability aspect of having an impact is one of the main drivers for me, but I also enjoy how hands on the surveying role is, not to mention the network of people you come into contact with. There are many surveyors involved in delivering one project and it's such an interdisciplinary industry and profession that you learn so much from other people.
The construction industry and the property industry is actually quite small, so it's great when you win a new project and you’re building legacies with people that you know and enjoy working with.”
What is your ultimate career goal as you see it today?
“I am extremely career driven. My goal is to be chief sustainability officer and ultimately be on a board to have that real governance and drive to steer a company to be exceptionally innovative, sustainable, and forward thinking. I would also love to build a team below me and inspire other professionals in the industry.”
What do you do to stay relevant in the industry?
“Currently the world of sustainability seems to attract more women than men, which is fantastic in a male dominated construction industry. I've got incredible women who I've had the pleasure of working with and who are extremely inspirational. I really look up to them as mentor and for career advice and support.
In sustainability, you’re always training, whether its learning about a new strand of embodied carbon, circular economy, a new thinking or way of doing things. Staying relevant is also about how innovative you can be. Clients love anything that’s unique, even if it's just reusing timber, to building something outside, it's simply about ‘what can you do that's tangible that makes us a little bit different’. It’s about being able to come up with an idea and either make it happen yourself or build a great team around you to help deliver that idea.
I'm also completing my APC through the RICS and ready to start a part time Masters. I like to challenge and push myself to further my own development. I’m completing a Masters as a passion for sustainability and to learn more around the built environment and what can be done for sustainability.”
What advice would you give to individuals who are pursuing a career in surveying?
“When I was leaving school in 2012, there was such an emphasis placed on going to university. However, nowadays I think apprenticeships in the surveying industry are a great route to explore. So much so, if I knew I was going to end up where I am now, I would've looked into an apprenticeship, rather than university. Learning from the people you meet in the workforce and having the confidence and ability to translate that into the real-life surveying world is invaluable.
When I started out in working world, I also found it beneficial to move around companies. With so many disciplines and sectors in different areas of surveying, how do you know which one you want to work in? I think people can quite easily get siloed into a certain sector, whether that's healthcare, commercial, education etc.
I would also encourage anyone starting out to push themselves out of their comfort zone in terms of networking and getting involved in professions or industry bodies. As it is a small industry, connections help, and it makes it easier to pick up the phone and speak to someone or send an e-mail if you have already built up that rapport.”
How has the adoption of technology solutions and surveying tools benefited your career so far?
“I couldn't imagine a word without it. When I started out, software such as BIM and Revit models were in in the early stages. But the power of technology now is unbelievable, for every aspect of surveying. I don't think the industry could survive without it and it’s quite exciting to think about what's next, where technology can take us and how we can all benefit. Going back to sustainability, technology can even have a positive impact on waste reduction, for example if you can model something, get exact quantities, you'll bring in the correct amount of materials to site, so it has a knock on impact and cascades through every aspect of property, construction, surveying.
At ISG we use virtual reality (VR) quite a lot, designing building sites for our clients to walk around. For example, we worked on a healthcare project recently and all the all the surgeons came in and used VR to make sure that they could reach everything from where they needed to be. The exciting part of using VR links back to sustainability and efficiency in that you’re not going back to change things after the project is complete, you’re getting it right the first time!
It’s truly unbelievable what technology can do to enhance surveying, the industry, but most importantly the client.”
What do you believe is the future of surveying?
“I hope that in the future, the perception of the industry changes and there is a growth in the talent coming into the profession. It’s a career that covers so much and I hope we continue to celebrate the success of the work we do through events such as Young Surveyor of the Year Awards to help inspire young people to join the surveying community.”