By upholding the highest standards of professionalism, expert witnesses help maintain the integrity of the surveying profession and protect public interest. RICS’ expert witness standard is written for surveyors who provide expert evidence to be relied upon in civil proceedings before a wide range of tribunals.
RICS is now updating the professional standard for members acting as expert witnesses through a new consultation, supporting best practice, global consistency and the public interest in expert witness services. This major update to the standard highlights new risks such as conditional fees and modern technology challenges and focuses on integrity, impartiality and acting within an area of expertise.
This document:
- Explains the need for clear instructions and terms of engagement
- Gives guidance on what to do in situations of conflict of interest
- Outlines the written report format
- Clarifies the differences between the roles of expert and advocate
- Helps remove pressure upon experts to support their clients’ cases irrespective of their honest professional opinion
This practice statement is also published in the form of an accompanying client guide, a copy of which can be supplied by the expert witness to the prospective client. This guide may be provided without copyright permission; however, the expert witness must make clear to the prospective client that his/her copy is for his/her use only, and that any reproduction of the guide for the use of a third party would breach RICS copyright, as specified in PS 3.4(b).
Note
This document was amended in February 2023 to remove wording from PS10 and GN19 which could be read as prohibiting expert witnesses from taking instructions from solicitors who are engaged on a conditional fee, even if the expert is instructed on an unconditional fee basis. This was not the intention of RICS and has therefore been amended for clarity.
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Published date: 06 February 2023
Published date: 20 March 2014
For surveyors in Scotland
Published date: 01 August 2015
