If you’re a quantity surveyor weighing up a move between the UK and Australia, the honest answer is that RICS and AIQS run two genuinely different systems, not two versions of the same exam. One is a single chartered designation earned through a formal, time-bound assessment. The other is a graded membership ladder you climb as your experience grows. Neither is more rigorous than the other – they’re just built on different logic, which makes them awkward to compare and harder still to move between. If you’re still getting your bearings on what the role covers before worrying about which letters to chase, our piece on what a quantity surveyor actually does is worth reading first. This guide sets out how each body’s route works, what actually connects them, and what that means if you’re trying to move between the two markets.
Two different models, not two versions of the same thing
RICS runs one core professional qualification: Chartered membership, or MRICS, earned through the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). It’s a single process with a defined start, a defined training period, and a defined final assessment – you enrol, you train, you sit the interview, and you either pass or you don’t (yet).
AIQS works differently. Membership runs as a ladder of grades – Student, Graduate, Affiliate, Member (MAIQS), Fellow (FAIQS), plus a non-practising Subscriber grade – and you move up it as your experience and standing increase, rather than sitting one defined final exam. The professional marker that actually matters for most working QSs is Certified Quantity Surveyor (CQS), which sits on top of Member or Fellow grade. For anyone who has joined AIQS at Member or Fellow grade since 1 January 2024, CQS comes bundled in automatically; longer-standing members who joined before that date apply for it separately, against its own criteria.
The RICS route, in brief
The APC splits into four routes depending on how much relevant experience you already have: APC 24 for candidates with at least two years’ experience by final assessment (a 24-month structured training diary); APC 12 for those with at least five years (a 12-month diary); APC Preliminary Review, also for the five-year-plus group, which swaps the diary for an independent review of your submission ahead of the interview; and APC Non-Structured Training for candidates with at least ten years’ experience at enrolment, who skip the diary entirely. Every candidate is assessed against three competency levels that build on each other – knowledge, application, and reasoned advice with real depth – and the final step is a roughly 60-minute panel interview covering a case study presentation, questions, and a broader discussion of your experience and conduct. We’ve covered the full process – routes, competency levels, word counts, the interview, and current fees – in our RICS APC guide; that’s the detail to read if you’re actually enrolling. Here, it’s enough context to set the comparison up.
The AIQS route: a ladder, not a single gate
Entry starts with an Expression of Interest; AIQS’s Membership Team assesses your eligibility and points you to the right grade, and every applicant has to pass an online Code of Conduct quiz before membership is granted. Moving into Member grade turns on reference letters rather than a written submission: you need either two current supervisors or managers, one current and one former supervisor or manager, or – if you have no current supervisor to call on – one former supervisor plus two external clients. Whichever combination applies, the letters have to cover the past two years, state the referee’s role and your position and duration, describe the actual work, link it explicitly to AIQS’s competencies, and sit on company letterhead with a signature.
CQS designation itself requires at least three years of demonstrated professional quantity surveying experience, no breach of the AIQS Code of Conduct in the preceding five years, and – for members applying separately rather than getting it bundled in – no unsuccessful Advanced APC interview in the previous 12 months. That Advanced APC interview sits in the pathway in a similar spirit to RICS’s final assessment, though AIQS publishes far less public detail on its exact format and structure than RICS does on its own process.
| Aspect | RICS (UK) | AIQS (Australia) |
|---|---|---|
| Core professional marker | MRICS (Chartered) | CQS, held by Member or Fellow grade |
| Structure | One APC process, four experience-based routes | Graded ladder: Student → Graduate → Affiliate → Member → Fellow |
| Minimum experience | 2 years (APC 24) up to 10 years (Non-Structured) | 3 years for CQS; reference-letter requirements vary by Member grade route |
| Assessment format | Written submission plus a ~60-minute panel interview | Supervisor/client reference letters, plus an Advanced APC interview for CQS |
| Ongoing obligations | CPD during candidacy (48 hrs/yr) and an annual subscription | Code of Conduct compliance, CPD, and an annual membership fee |
Is there a mutual recognition agreement between AIQS and RICS?
Not a true two-way agreement – but there is a real, usable bridge, and it runs mostly from AIQS into RICS rather than the other way round. AIQS’s own mutual recognition page is explicit about this: it lists RICS under bodies with “No Mutual Recognition Agreement in place.” Instead, AIQS says it “recognises the RICS Quantity Surveying and Construction, and Infrastructure pathways for membership entry,” subject to its own Membership Entry & Elevation Policy. In practice, that means an MRICS-qualified surveyor moving to Australia gets a defined, documented entry route into AIQS membership – not an automatic grade, and not a skip-the-queue conversion.
RICS’s side is more generous and more specific. Its Recognition of Professional Qualifications (RPQ) scheme names AIQS directly, with two separate routes depending on grade. AIQS Certified Quantity Surveyors who hold Associate Member or Member grade with five years’ relevant experience after membership can apply through the “AIQS Chartered Alternative Designation” route, which leads to Chartered (MRICS) status with exemption from RICS’s standard assessment. AIQS Affiliate Members have a separate route – the “AIQS Pathway” – leading to AssocRICS rather than full Chartered status. Both routes still require a Proposer who already holds the relevant RICS status (MRICS or FRICS for the Chartered route; AssocRICS, MRICS or FRICS for the Associate route), completion of RICS’s Professionalism module, a CV covering your relevant experience, and a letter from AIQS confirming your membership is current, unsanctioned, and explaining how it was gained. RICS can still decline an application, in which case you’re directed to the standard APC instead.
So the relationship isn’t reciprocal in form, even though it’s genuinely useful in practice. RICS gives AIQS members a named, exemption-based route in. AIQS gives RICS members a recognised pathway for entry, assessed under its own policy rather than a formal MRA. Both sides call it “recognition” of the other’s qualification; neither side calls it a mutual recognition agreement.
Where AIQS does have true mutual recognition
RICS is a notable absence from AIQS’s actual MRA list. AIQS holds formal, two-way mutual recognition agreements with Singapore’s SISV and Hong Kong’s HKIS (both signed in 2023), plus Canada’s CIQS, Sri Lanka’s IQSSL, Malaysia’s RISM, Papua New Guinea’s PICQS, Nigeria’s NIQS, South Africa’s ASAQS, Brunei’s PUJA Brunei, and India’s IIQS. New Zealand’s NZIQS sits in its own category – a “Strategic Alliance” rather than a full MRA. Each agreement sets its own body-specific requirements, so a CIQS or ASAQS member’s route into AIQS looks nothing like the RICS-specific process above.
What this means if you’re actually moving between the two markets
- Moving from the UK to Australia: contact AIQS’s membership team and apply through the recognised RICS QS&C or Infrastructure pathway entry route under the Membership Entry & Elevation Policy, rather than assuming your MRICS converts automatically. Expect to submit evidence of your RICS membership and your actual experience, not just your certificate.
- Moving from Australia to the UK: if you hold CQS as an Associate Member or Member with five years’ post-membership experience, look at the RPQ Chartered Alternative Designation route first – it’s an exemption from RICS’s standard APC assessment, not a full re-sit. If you’re at Affiliate grade, the RPQ route leads to AssocRICS instead, which is a genuine stepping stone rather than full Chartered status.
- Either direction: you’ll need a Proposer who already holds the relevant status and clean, verifiable standing with your current body. Budget realistic months for paperwork and references even on the recognised routes, not weeks.
- If you’re bridging the move with contract work: while an application is pending, our guide to hiring a freelance quantity surveyor covers how day rates, fixed fees and engagement models actually work in practice – useful context whichever side of the move you’re sitting on.
The short version: these are two differently-shaped systems with a real but asymmetric bridge between them, not a shared qualification with two names. RICS’s exemption-based RPQ routes for AIQS members are the clearer and more generous side of that bridge; AIQS’s recognition of RICS pathways is real but runs through its own policy rather than a named agreement. For the exact grade-by-grade requirements and current detail, the primary sources are worth checking directly – RICS’s own Recognition of Professional Qualifications document and AIQS’s mutual recognition page – since both are updated periodically and the figures above reflect where things stand in 2026.