Do Daleks live in Bungalows?

It is thirty years, this year, of my adventures as a General Practice Chartered Surveyor. 

I think back to my early post qualification years when the only problems found with houses tended to be damp, woodworm and subsidence. 

It was a simpler world as they say "back in the day".

That idea of a two seater sports car in which to travel between residential survey jobs in a busier than ever diary remains impractical and I rely on the trusty old estate car if only to keep to hand in the load bay my portable reference library covering all manner of defects and issues in todays more demanding and litigious working environment. 

For all of the compliance and due diligence at the pre-inspection stage, whilst at a property and in the research for SCT and report writing afterwards I am still as excited and enthusiastic about my Profession as I was three decades and more ago. 

I have embraced the changes in working practices whether I feel they are for the good or as a retrograde step in the portrayal and promotion of the services of a Chartered Surveyor to our client base be they house buyers, lenders or those who would benefit from good sound and impartial property advice. 

In the coming weeks I will be out and about armed with what is fast becoming the industry standard equipment in the form of a branded Tablet platform inspection and report production system. 

It has on first impression a good logical approach to survey and valuation and with enough common sense built in to at least make every report customised and specific to someones prospective purchase rather than a bland, generic and non-commital set of sentences that could be produced by a robot. 

Oh yes, I ran the role of Chartered Surveyor through one of those questionnaires about whether the job could be done by a robot. 

Unfortunately it could or at least if its "mummy" could drive it out to the property, help it over the doorstep and then after the ground floor inspection be lifted physically up the stairs and then shoved into the roofspace. 

Of course, no such issues with a single floor level bungalow. 

What did hit home about the need for our Profession, in all specialisms to adapt and survive was the keynote speech at a large conference attended (mandatory) by Residential Chartered Surveyors/Registered Valuers where, bluntly put, we were actually told that the merit of our Profession was as better quality Data Gatherers. 

That was not something that I originally signed up for but, well, go with the flow as they say, or is it that other cliche, grin and bear it?