RICS APC interview questions
80 questions across 10 competencies of the Quantity Surveying & Construction pathway, with what the assessor is listening for under each. Free, and no account.
The interview these are asked in
Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), Quantity Surveying & Construction. The sections below are the shape the assessment runs to, and they decide which competency gets questioned when.
- Welcome & introductions - 4 minutesConfirm the candidate's name, pathway and route verbally; settle the candidate; outline format.
- Case study presentation - 10 minutesCandidate presents their case study (10-minute time-limited talk).
- Questioning on the presentation - 10 minutesProbe the case study: decisions, figures, alternatives, the candidate's own role.
- Technical competencies - 25 minutesTest technical competencies to the declared level: measurement, procurement, contract practice, cost control.
- Mandatory competencies, ethics & Rules of Conduct - 10 minutesEthics decision-making, Rules of Conduct, conflicts of interest, client money, professionalism.
- Close - 3 minutesThank the candidate, explain next steps, invite final questions.
Confirm current timings against the awarding body's own candidate guide for your route. They can change.
Mandatory competencies
Common to every candidate, and the chair's territory. Ethics carries the most weight in the room.
- Ethics and Rules of ConductEthics, Rules of Conduct & professionalismThe competency the chair owns, and the one you can be referred on by itself. Open questions on the Rules of Conduct, conflicts, client money and the decision tree, with the structure of a strong answer under each.
- Client careHow you take a brief, manage expectations and handle a complaint. Open panel questions on terms of appointment, scope creep and difficult clients, with what a strong answer covers.
- Accounting principles and business planningAccounting principles & proceduresThe mandatory competency candidates most often admit is rusty. Questions on the three financial statements, ratios, cash flow and insolvency risk, with the structure of a strong answer under each.
- Data managementThe mandatory competency that has grown teeth. Questions on data protection, confidentiality, information security and how you handle a breach, with what a strong answer covers.
Technical competencies
Specific to Quantity Surveying & Construction, and questioned to the level you declared.
- Quantification and costing (measurement)Quantification & costing of construction works (measurement)Measurement questions a technical assessor actually asks: rules of measurement, what a bill is for, how you deal with incomplete design, and how you check your own quantities.
- Procurement and tenderingProcurement & tenderingProcurement route advice and tendering process questions: how you match a route to a client's priorities, how you run a fair tender, and how you evaluate what comes back.
- Contract practiceThe technical competency assessors probe hardest. Questions on standard forms, notices, extensions of time, valuing change and termination, with the structure of a strong answer under each.
- Design economics and cost planningDesign economics & cost planningCost planning questions from first estimate to tender: how an estimate is built, how a plan is kept alive through design, and how you advise when the design outruns the budget.
- Commercial management and cost controlCommercial management of construction worksCost control during construction: interim valuations, cash flow, change control and cost reporting, with the structure of a strong answer under each question.
- Risk managementRisk questions a commercial assessor asks: how a register is actually used, how risk is quantified, how it is allocated in the contract, and how you advise a client on their exposure.
What these questions are pitched at
Each question is marked with the level it probes. The levels are the awarding body's, and they are what an assessor is measuring against when they follow your answer up:
- Level 1
- Knowledge & understanding - you can explain the principle.
- Level 2
- Application - you have done it yourself and can describe how.
- Level 3
- Reasoned advice & depth of judgement - you have advised others and can justify decisions and trade-offs.
Interboard is independent practice software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by RICS, IChemE, or any awarding body. It does not provide accreditation and does not guarantee any assessment outcome.
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