Red Book guide

RICS Valuation – Global Standards (Red Book Global Standards) is the leading set of practice guidelines available internationally to the valuation community. This section complements Red Book Global Standards by providing additional practical commentary on the interpretation and implementation of some of the most important provisions.

This section is a perfect companion for all valuation professionals. It covers duties under the standards relating to:

• compliance with Red Book Global Standards/IVS where a written valuation is provided
• ethics, competency, objectivity and disclosures
• minimum terms of engagement
• inspections and material considerations
• valuation reports
• valuation bases and assumptions
• valuations for financial statements
• valuations for secured lending
• material valuation uncertainty
• specialist valuations
• applying Red Book Global Standards outside of the UK
• a brief summary the latest and forthcoming changes due to updates to Red Book and UK national standards.

A range of frequently asked questions and guidance on common problems with reports will help valuers to avoid pitfalls. The Red Book Global Standards route map provides pointers on key issues to be considered at each major stage of a valuation.

All references are to RICS Valuation – Global Standards effective from 31 January 2022 and the UK national supplement 2018, effective from 14 January 2019.

The reader should be aware that an updated UK national supplement was published in November 2023 and is effective from 1 May 2024. Although these changes are relatively minor, they must be taken into account when preparing valuations from May 2024 onwards.

Note that the RICS Valuation – Global Standards are being updated to align with the forthcoming revised International Valuation Standards and will be effective from 31 January 2025. In this case there will be major changes, particularly relating to section references.

Red Book guide is maintained by Anthony Banfield.

Please be aware that comments in this guide and answers to FAQs may not represent the views of RICS or IVSC. Readers are strongly advised to refer to the appropriate part(s) of Red Book Global Standards and other RICS standards, taking further advice where necessary. The author of this guide cannot accept any liability for comments and interpretations in this guide, which represent his personal opinion.

In the event of any differences between the requirements as set out in the latest edition of the RICS standards and this section, the RICS standards should be taken as the correct version.

The latest versions of RICS Valuation – Global Standards and national supplements can always be accessed from the RICS website.

RICS standards: RICS Valuation – Global Standards

RICS standards: RICS Valuation – Global Standards: UK national supplement

isurv sections: Valuation approaches

RICS journal article: Red Book: UK updates reflect changing practice

RICS journal article: An A–Z of Red Book for APC

RICS journal article: RICS publishes guidance for valuers operating in the US