I have to admit that making a book that discusses valuation regulation “interesting” is not an easy task. Procedures and regulatory frameworks are not the normal stable foundations for a book of thrills and excitement. It is therefore not surprising that the A Valuer's Guide to the RICS Red Book, now in its sixth edition and relating to the 2012 edition of the RICS Valuation – Professional Standards (Red Book) (RICS, 2012), is not the most riveting read. It is, however, essential reading.
The book, or e‐book, is a veritable companion to Red Book. As the RICS[1] web site cites in its advertising synopsis:
This newly updated guide to the RICS Valuation – Professional Standards (the Red Book) is the perfect companion, helping you to understand your duties when carrying out valuations worldwide.
Fully revised to reflect the RICS Valuation – Professional Standards (the Red Book 2012), this guide includes:
- 1.
Clear commentary on the latest changes to the RICS Valuation – Professional Standards.
- 2.
A handy Red Book route map summarising key stages for every valuation, from Preliminary Questions through to Valuation Preparation, and Reporting.
- 3.
Sample questions and answers.
- 4.
Common problems and how to avoid them.
Ideal for all valuation professionals at all levels, this practical guide will help you to understand your duties under the Red Book and to avoid negligence claims.
So does it achieve in its stated objectives? I have to answer with an emphatic “yes”. I feel that, personally, I understand the Red Book quite well given my history of committee work on setting standards both at the RICS and the International Valuation Standard Council (IVSC). But, I also feel that I have a better understanding of the RICS Professional Standards after reading this text. In fairness, I doubt that many people will read the book form cover to cover as I did for this review. The book is designed to “dip into” and to use as a reference document that will help when you are undertaking specific valuation tasks. And it succeeds in this aim too. I found the Q&A section and the Red Book Route Map particularly useful in directing the valuer around the myriad of rules and regulations. Some of the book, by its nature is what my cockney father used to describe as “stating the bleedin' obvious” (STBO) but sometime that is as necessary and useful as some of the more insightful reflections and advice also contained within.
In short, I like this book. The author, Anthony Banfield, has seamlessly taken over from the author of the previous five editions, Andrew Cherry. Andrew was a hard act to follow but Anthony succeeds. The new author brings freshness to the robust style of his predecessor and the book is both a match for the earlier versions and also a natural improvement.
The Red Book has undergone significant change in the last few years, the most fundamental of which is that the 2012 edition reprints the IVSC International Valuation Standards (IVSC, 2011) in their entirety. This has been done as the RICS now recognised that the RICS is no longer the “Standards Setter” of the property valuation profession but, instead, now is holds the role of “Educator and Auditor” of the same. As it sates, the RICS Valuation – Professional Standards replaces all previous issues of the Red Book and is completely compliant with International Valuation Standards (IVS, published by the International Valuation Standards Council, July 2011). These changes are significant but the RICS has managed the change in sea‐level and jurisdiction in such a way that the users of the Red Book will not see significant changes in the way that they go about their valuations. This is also true of the “Valuer's Guide”.
Overall, this is text book that may not be as “un‐put‐downable” as the more popular book of today (James, 2012) that extols the virtues of things not being “black and white” but, for valuers, this is much the more important book.
Notes
RICS refers to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
