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26 March 2026
The Valuation Compliance Framework (VCF) is a new firm‑level approach designed to support consistent, high‑quality valuation practice across the profession. It provides a clear, proportionate structure for how organisations oversee valuation work, manage risks, and ensure compliance with RICS Valuation - Global Standards (Red Book Global Standards) and other relevant standards.
The firm pilot programme will help RICS test the Framework in practice and ensure it works for different types of valuation firms before wider rollout.
“The Firm Pilot for the Valuation Compliance Framework is an important step in strengthening confidence in the valuation profession. By involving a broad mix of valuation practices, we’re shaping a framework grounded in real world experience and reflective of the profession’s diversity. This collaboration is vital to building a practical, proportionate model that supports consistent, high-quality valuations. We are grateful to all participating firms for helping raise standards and enhance trust across the profession.”
Victor Olowe
Chair, Valuation Assurance Committee
The RICS Review of Real Estate Investment Valuations (Valuation Review) recommended introducing a Valuation Compliance Officer (VCO) role to strengthen oversight and reduce risks to objectivity and independence, particularly where client influence may affect valuation outcomes. The Review also recommended establishing the RICS Valuation Assurance Committee (VAC) to take forward reforms and strengthen confidence in valuation oversight.
Following extensive engagement with firms, the VAC refined the original VCO proposal to make it more flexible and proportionate for different practice types. Instead of requiring a dedicated VCO, the VAC developed the Valuation Compliance Framework (VCF): a scalable model that focuses on firm‑level governance, controls, and oversight.
The Framework focuses on the controls and systems firms use to deliver valuations, not just the actions of individual valuers. It applies to all valuation work, regardless of purpose, helping to raise consistency and clarity across the profession.
The VCF is designed to:
The Framework complements (rather than replaces) the professional responsibilities of individual valuers. It will be reviewed regularly to reflect market and regulatory developments.
The RICS Standards and Regulation Board (SRB) has approved the VCF for use in a pilot involving selected firms in the UK and UAE. The pilot will help RICS ensure the Framework is practical, proportionate, and grounded in real world practice.
Firms will complete a pilot version of the VCF annual return and may take part in workshops. Insights from the pilot will inform the final Framework and supporting guidance.
If you have any queries about the Valuation Compliance Framework (VCF) or expression of interest form, please contact RICS by email at VCFPilot@rics.org.
The VRS focuses on individual valuers and ensures they meet RICS professional, ethical and technical standards, including Red Book Global Standards.
The VCF focuses on the firm-level systems that support high quality valuation practice. This includes governance, oversight, policies, procedures, and controls used to manage risks, independence, and objectivity.
Although the Valuation Review focused on regulated purpose valuations, the key risks identified - such as pressures on independence, inconsistent approaches, and variable oversight - affect all types of valuation.
Extending the Framework helps create a more consistent, well governed approach across the profession and reflects the fact that firms often use the same processes and judgements across different kinds of valuation assignments.
No. Individual valuers still hold full responsibility for meeting all their RICS professional and regulatory requirements. The VCF is designed to support, not replace, those responsibilities by strengthening firm-level oversight.
The pilot allows RICS to test how the VCF works in practice. It will help identify:
The pilot includes an amnesty for procedures and requirements that are new for VCF implementation. Pilot responses will be used to help refine the Framework, guidance, and annual return and our monitoring and assurance systems.
Firms must still meet all existing RICS professional and regulatory obligations that apply beyond any new requirements in the pilot VCF.
Based on practice types, invitations will be extended to selected RICS regulated firms based in the UK and UAE that have more than one valuer. RICS will also invite selected nonregulated firms within these regions.
Eligible firms that are not directly invited may still express their interest by submitting the Expression of Interest form.
These regions offer well established engagement with RICS and provide environments where the Framework can be tested effectively. The UK provides one of the most established valuation markets, while the UAE is a rapidly developing market with strong international investment activity, offering a different operating environment for testing the Framework. Limiting the pilot to two regions at this stage helps RICS to provide bespoke support, remain sensitive to regional circumstances, and manage feedback in a controlled, manageable way before exploring wider rollout.
For the pilot stage, the VAC has decided not to include one-valuer firms, as it is specifically looking to evaluate how the framework supports valuers who are outside the assurance mechanisms already embedded in the VRS for sole practitioners.
Firms outside the UK and UAE cannot participate in the pilot. Participation in this phase is limited to firms within these regions to ensure the pilot generates meaningful data and supports informed recommendations to the VAC and SRB.
Firms will:
Workshops will offer:
The current deadline is 31 July 2026, though this may change depending on pilot launch timing.
Pilot findings will:
Individual firms will not receive bespoke feedback or assessments. However, RICS will publish an aggregated insight report summarising the responses and common compliance approaches, supporting firms in benchmarking and developing their own policies. As part of the pilot evaluation, RICS will also contact a range of firms to undertake monitoring and assurance following submission of the pilot return.
RICS will confirm next steps once the pilot is complete. No decisions on timing or mandatory status will be made until pilot findings are reviewed and discussed with the Valuation Assurance Committee (VAC) and Standards and Regulation Board.
The proposed Framework is designed to be scalable and proportionate. No additional staff resource is suggested as being essential for this pilot. Approval of the VCF after the pilot is subject to RICS governance procedures (see the question above). Firms will need to make sure compliance is resourced at a level that meets existing RICS, client and external regulatory requirements.
RICS may review a small sample of participating firms to understand how they are applying the proposed Framework. Information provided will be used to refine the Framework, the supporting guidance, the annual return and our future monitoring and assurance activity.
No. The VCF does not replace the VRS, Red Book Global Standards, or any other professional requirements. It is designed to complement them.
The Framework is proportionate and scalable and can be adapted to the nature, size, and risk profile of specialist practices. The pilot will help ensure it works for diverse valuation types.
The annual return will not require client‑identifiable information. Any sample reviews during the pilot will follow RICS confidentiality and data protection requirements.
These are evolving documents that are subject to the procedures of the Pilot, so will only be shared with participants at this stage. Subject to the pilot outcomes and RICS governance the final documents will be published at a suitable future date.
