The Board of Directors is the primary governing body of the Society and also acts as the Officers of Council. The Board comprises

• The President;
• The Immediate Past President;
• The Senior Vice President;
• The Second Vice President; and,
• The Honorary Treasurer
• Co-opted Directors

Role of the Board of Directors

• Provide “Entrepreneurial leadership to the company, within a framework of prudent and effective controls, which enables risk to be assessed and managed.”
• Set and uphold the company’s values, culture and ethical standards
• Approve, monitor and review the company’s strategic and business performance.
• Ensure the long-term success of the company.
• Protect and represent the interests of the members
• Ensure the public interest in the work of the company
• Act in whatever way they consider to be the best interests of the company.
• Ensure the performance of the statutory role given the SCSI as Registration Body pursuant to the Building Control Act 2007 [and any other statutory function assumed by the SCSI].

Responsibilities of the Board of Directors

• Set the strategic direction and objectives for the company, ensuring that the financial and other resources are in the place to achieve them.
• Review, approve and monitor the strategic plan, annual business plan and supporting budget on an ongoing basis.
• Review company performance against targets, including benchmarking against the competition.
• Ensure that the company puts in the place the appropriate policies to assist in the effective and efficient governance of the company. g. – Conflict of Interest, Matter reserved for the Board, Financial management and internal controls etc.
• Ensure that the CEO and the executive team consistently adheres to and implements policy and procedures as advised.
• Ensure that the company meets all its regulatory and compliance obligations. For example, legal, taxation, ethical, risk and environmental compliance.
• Determine the nature and extent of the significant risks the board is willing to take to achieve its objectives and maintain sound risk management and internal control systems.
• Allocate responsibility for specific tasks to board members, such as being a chair / member of one of the board’s committees.
• Draw up a schedule of matters specifically reserved to the board for decisions e.g.:
• changes in governance structures
• issue of new capital
• borrowings
• new bank mandates
• acquisitions and divestments
• remuneration of the CEO and Senior Executives.
• Draw up the delegated authority arrangements for the Council.
• Appoint and / or remove the CEO and plan for orderly succession.
• Oversee the review of the performance of the CEO and executive management team and its individual members.
• Oversee the hiring and compensation policies of the executive management team, and, if necessary, the removal of the executive management team.
• Outline in the company’s annual report in a statement on Corporate Governance how it meets it governance obligations.
• Ensure that the company’s financial statements are audited in accordance with accepted accounting standards and policies.
• Approve the financial statements of each of accounting period, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company.
• Hold an annual general meeting to communicate with the members
• Hold board meetings on a regular basis. The number of board meetings will depend on the workload of the board, the number of committees, the size and complexity of the company. A minimum of six meetings will be held.
• Meet with the executive management team as a whole at least once a year to review the strategic direction of the company.
• Undertake a formal evaluation of the board’s own performance and that of individual directors on an internal basis every year and on an external basis every three years.
• Share responsibility for board decisions on a collective basis(whether present at the board meeting or not). Note: as individuals, directors have no specific powers to make the decisions or take actions on their own. Decisions are those of the board as a collective.
• Ensure there is a healthy and constructive relationship between the board, the chief executive and the executive management team.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland is named in the Building Control Act 2007 as the registration body for Quantity Surveyors and Building Surveyors.

In this capacity, the Society:

• Provides for the registration of titles including Building Surveyors and Quantity Surveyors.
• Maintains the statutory register to ensure that anyone using the professional title “Building Surveyor” or “Quantity Surveyor” has the recognised qualifications, training and experience in accordance with the provisions of the Building Control Act 2007.
• Promotes the statutory register to provide members of the public with reassurance that the Building Surveyors and Quantity Surveyors listed on the register are qualified professionals who comply with strict codes of ethical and professional conduct.
• Investigates complaints about professional performance of registered parties.

Only registered Quantity Surveyors or registered Building Surveyors may use the title. A person who is not registered and who practices or carries on business under any name, style or title containing the registered title(s) in any format may be guilty of an offence.

The role of the Council is to support the position of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland as the pre-eminent representative body for the surveying profession In Ireland, working in conjunction with RICS in the public interest including, setting and maintaining the highest standards of competence and integrity among the profession; and providing impartial, authoritative advice on key issues for business, society and governments worldwide. 

Membership

• The composition of the Council shall be structured so as to achieve an appropriate balance of recent and relevant experience taking into account the full range of the Council’s activities in order to perform it’s role.

The Council shall comprise of 28 representatives including;

• 3 nominated board members to include the President and the Immediate Past President
• The Chair of each of the 4 Council Committees
• 1 nominated representative from each Professional Group
• a nominated representative from each Regional Committee
• a nominated representative from the Young Members Committee
• a nominated representative from ADR Committee
• The Chair of the RICS Ireland Board
• Two co-opted members from the general membership of the company

The Standing Committees are Education & CPD, Membership & Public Affairs, Practice & Policy, and Regulation & Standards which provide the following support to the Board:

• Delegated authority from and accountable to the Board and report regularly;
• Providing reports & updates to Council, as applicable
• Developing and overseeing implementation of the strategic objectives in their area of responsibility and linked to the Board business plan;
• Advising the Board and the Council on such other matters as they require, and
• Delegating work to sub-committees or working parties of members and non-members as considered appropriate.

The Council has delegated authority from the Board to develop and implement general policy across a number of core areas represented by Council Standing Committees including:

• Regulation and Standards
  • Professional Regulation
  • Regulatory and sectoral standards (conduct, ethics & competence)
  • Dispute Resolution
  • Disciplinary process
• Membership and Public Affairs
  • Membership engagement
  • Member supports and services
  • Promotion of the profession
  • Public affairs
  • CSR
• Education and CPD
  • Education related projects
  • Routes of entry to the profession
  • Academic partnerships and education accreditation
  • Assessment of professional competence (APC)
  • Technical training programmes
  • Continuing professional development
• Practice and Policy
  • Research
  • Policy development
  • Technical standards
  • Professional practice guidance
  • Consumer guides