Asking the membership: plans for the future

Green light

1 April 2019

An overwhelming ‘yes’ from our membership means RICS can move forward with its plans for the future of the profession, as the chair of the Standards Transformation Project Implementation Advisory Group details

In November 2018, Governing Council asked the profession to vote for a modernised, future-facing form of governance fit for a 21st-century professional body. The result was announced at the AGM on 27 November.

Of those who voted, 86% favoured this modernising agenda. The proposals for change have been ratified and sent to Privy Council for formal approval. This positive step will structure RICS to continue building a global professional body that is ready to equip the profession for the challenges and opportunities ahead. It will also enable RICS to meet the changing expectations of stakeholders, clients and the wider public.

The vote also allowed for the formation of a joint board to create and regulate standards, replacing the previously separate regulation and standards boards. RICS has been piloting the joint board for the past year, and the interaction between its professionals, regulators, staff and laypeople has been fascinating to watch. The standard-setters and regulators are all passionate about their remit: differences are debated and outcomes altered to ensure the standards we create are fit for purpose.

Modernised, future-facing governance

  • a smaller, more diverse council;
  • equipping the profession for the future;
  • meeting the needs of clients, stakeholders and the public;
  • changes to the professional group board structure;
  • a joint standards and regulation board;
  • leader forums; and
  • a new digital community.

Governing Council has also reconfirmed its support for changes to the professional group board structure. We will be working with the active existing boards over the next year as they move away from their traditional single-discipline function to a cross-disciplinary, collaborative structure, focusing on market insight and standards creation and enforcement.

We have already run several successful leader forums – a key function of the new structure that brings together clients, fellow professionals from RICS, government departments and other market influencers. We aim to pilot a new digital community this year as well to reflect the activities of the standard-setters. This will be managed through an app, enabling much more interaction between the profession, RICS and the market. The new model will also enable better collaboration with the regional structure of RICS.

Overall, the aim is simple: to encourage active members of the profession to stay involved and for more of you to take part in shaping our profession’s future. To keep up to date with the changes to the structure of RICS, visit rics.org

Justin Sullivan FRICS is chair of the Standards Transformation Project Implementation Advisory Group

Further information

Download a complete “Asking the membership: plans for the future” PDF