How the Service Works

Property type, region, the purpose of the report, and the documents you have. You do not need a complete file; enough to understand the property and the purpose.

The information is assessed to establish:

• Whether the service you asked for is actually the right one for your objective.
• Which documents are needed, and what is missing.
• Whether an inspection is necessary.
• The appropriate scope for the report.
• The expected timeframe and the fee.

This stage commits you to nothing. Sometimes it ends by pointing you to a different service from the one you asked for, or to another professional if that is what your file needs.

Purpose, scope, fee and timeframe are agreed before work begins.

This step becomes decisive where the report is going to a court, a bank or an embassy, because that institution's requirements have to be known before the writing starts, not after.

A visit is arranged where needed, and the property's characteristics, condition, surroundings and everything bearing on value are recorded.

The appointment and who will provide access are agreed in advance. Where a file holds several properties in one region, they are grouped into a single visit wherever possible.

Market evidence, comparables, and the planning and technical factors are reviewed, and the appropriate approach is chosen.

The report is written to the agreed scope, stating the valuation date, the assumptions, the methodology, the conclusion, and the report's limits.

The report is delivered in the agreed format. The methodology and conclusion can be talked through within the bounds of the instruction — a report its own reader cannot follow has done only half its job.