Valuation Guidance

Red Book Valuations Overview

Undertaking valuations is a significant part of the work of many Chartered Surveyors. In 1974, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), now represented in Ireland by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), published its Appraisal and Valuation Manual, commonly known as Red Book.

The purpose of Red Book was, and remains, to promote and support highest standards in delivery of valuation standards, worldwide. Red Book contains mandatory practice statements and supporting guidance for valuers, valuation users and other stakeholders. Adherence to Red Book became mandatory for Chartered Surveyors in 1991.

To ensure that its members complied with Red Book, RICS and SCSI introduced the Valuer Registration Scheme in 2012 on a voluntary basis, making it mandatory in 2016 in Ireland. A key part of Valuer Registration is ongoing monitoring of members’ compliance with Red Book through remote reviews and physical visits to members offices where adherence to Red Book is robustly scrutinised with detailed compliance reports and recommendations issued to members. The SCSI Valuation Surveying Professional Group believes that the introduction of Valuer Registration on a mandatory basis in Ireland was an important step in improving the quality of valuations and reducing the risk associated with valuations for financial institutions, valuation users and other stakeholders.

Essentially, Valuer Registration is a quality assurance scheme which assures the quality of valuations, raises the credibility of valuers and provides clients with a clearly identifiable designation for the best regulated and qualified professionals in the field. Valuer Registration provides the end consumer with the assurance that the property valuation report has been prepared using the highest standards and complies with the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC). Red Book is regularly reviewed has evolved over the years through many editions – the current edition of Red Book is RICS Valuation – Global Standards, Effective from 31^st January 2025.