RICS Rules of Conduct and Global Professional Standards RB-VPS1: Red Book VPS 1: written terms of engagement with the minimum contents

All valuation work, internal or external, needs written terms of engagement, agreed before any valuation advice or draft (with any additional items confirmed in writing where a master service agreement applies), and must address: the responsible valuer's identity and status (objectivity, material involvement or none, competence and reliance on others); the client; other intended users and whether they may rely; the assets or liabilities valued; the currency; the purpose; the basis of value; the valuation date; what work and investigations are done, how far they go, and their limits; the information relied on; all assumptions and special assumptions; the report format; restrictions on use, distribution and publication; confirmation of IVS and/or Red Book compliance; the fee basis; for regulated firms the complaints procedure; a statement that compliance may be monitored by RICS; agreed limitations on liability; and significant ESG factors. Marketing constraints must be agreed in the terms (the phrase 'forced sale value' is banned) and any change before completion must be agreed in writing.