Departments are being asked to complete a staff and skills census in a bid to put the Property Asset Management (PAM) profession on a firm footing.

The cross-civil service survey of skills and specialisms amongst staff looking after public sector estates has been instigated by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

The procurement body is already in contact with a number of professionals through its 'High Performing Property Strategy', which aims to cut estate costs by £1.5bn by 2013.

OGC officials believe that there are up to 1,500 civil servants who could be included in the property asset management profession, and a spokesman said the census is the first step in identifying the true size and make-up of the group.

Vice Admiral Tim Laurence, who is PAM profession head as well as chief executive of Defence Estates, said the scale of the government's estate and the need for savings meant property had to be managed as effectively as possible.

"Building a sense of a broad professional community is a key objective of this new profession," he said. "The pan-government campaign will help develop our identity and our role in managing government’s property assets to meet business objectives."

The campaign would provide the "foundations of the profession", he said, encouraging all property staff to complete the census promptly, and saying that the census "engages us with initiatives aimed at improving the management of the government estate".

The OGC has asked departments to complete the census by March 12, and plans a launch event for the profession later this year.