RICS issues new international property measurement statement ⁰

From 1 January 2016, all property measurements undertaken or commissioned by RICS’ professionals will need to comply with its new Property Measurement Professional Statement, which incorporates the new International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS), that changes the way office buildings are measured worldwide. The IPMS was developed by the independent Standards Setting Committee to address how different measurements create inconsistencies between regions. According to RICS, the change represents a major advance and will be welcomed by investors, occupiers and governments. RICS is making the new Property Measurement Professional Statement (incorporating IPMS) mandatory for all its professionals that undertake or commission property measurements in order to assure clients of surveyors that they will benefit from international best practice as the norm when working with RICS professionals.

Says Ken Creighton, Director of Professional Standards (RICS): “Equipping and positioning our professionals as the preeminent experts in the delivery of IPMS is a priority for us. The new Professional Statement, which incorporates IPMS, is freely available, along with further training and guidance on how to apply it. An FAQ document has also been published.

“We want our professionals to be recognised as the leading experts when it comes to providing IPMS measurements to the market. To support this we are doing two things in particular:

“We are promoting the value of IPMS to end users including occupiers, investors and developers in all markets around the world. We are helping them to understand the benefits to their business of consistent, internationally adopted standards for property measurement.

“We are making the new Property Measurement Professional Statement (incorporating IPMS) mandatory for all our professionals that undertake or commission property measurements. This way, we can provide assurances to clients of surveyors that they will benefit from international best practice as the norm when working with RICS professionals.”

A time of transition

RICS does acknowledge that any transition to a new measurement standard will necessarily take time, especially in markets where the local standard is so well established. Not all clients will seek IPMS measurement immediately, so to manage this RICS is:

• Launching a free online converter tool which will allow RICS professionals to automatically convert IPMS measurement back into local equivalents such as the Code of Measuring Practice. Thus providing clients two measurements, one which reflects the local standard and another which offers an international benchmark.
• Accepting deviation from the Professional Statement in situations where a client has stated, in writing, that they would prefer an alternative, specified standard to be used.
• Adopting a form of regulation in the initial months where compliance with the Professional Statement will be assessed in response to complaints made against an RICS professional.

Says Creighton: “We’re excited about the introduction of a standard which is gaining much attention throughout the world and we are confident that, working together with our professionals, we can demonstrate the benefits to practitioners and their clients.”

A FAQ document can be downloaded from the RICS site.