Surveyors Advising in Respect of Compulsory Purchase and Statutory Compensation, UK, 1st edition

This professional standard applies when you provide advice regarding property interests in the UK that relates to the seeking or use of compulsory purchase or other statutory powers by or against your client, or where the seeking or use of such powers is contemplated.

It also applies when you are advising a body that is relying on or seeking to rely on another body to seek or use compulsory purchase or other statutory powers to assist with a project.

This document derives from the 2012 guidance note The calculation of surveyors’ fees relating to the exercise of statutory powers in connection with land and property (1st edition), for Scotland. Both this professional standard and the Appendix supersede the 2014 guidance note The calculation of surveyors’ fees relating to the exercise of statutory powers in connection with land and property (1st edition), for Scotland.

The following clarifications and additions which apply to this professional standard must be noted by all – effective from 17 September 2019.

1.
A clarification:
Paragraph 2.1 in the professional standard which reads ’This professional standard applies when you provide advice regarding property interests in the UK that relates to the seeking or use of compulsory purchase or other statutory powers by or against your client, or where the seeking or use of such powers is contemplated‘, should refer to both property interests and rights.

2.
A clarification:
Paragraph 2.2 in the professional standard which reads ’This includes work in contemplation of or under the shadow of compulsory purchase or the exercise of statutory powers to take rights over or in a property interest‘, should read ’This includes work in contemplation of or under the shadow of compulsory purchase or the exercise of statutory powers in connection with the taking of property interests and rights’.

3.
An addition:
Regarding the reimbursement of professional fees, although the Acquiring Authority has no statutory liability to reimburse professional fees until notices have been served, the Acquiring Authority may find it beneficial to agree to reimburse professional fees reasonably incurred by the claimant prior to when a statutory obligation arises.

In cases where no notices have been or will be served and the Acquiring Authority has not elected to reimburse professional fees, the claimant should build any fees for any professional advice received in connection with their negotiations with the Acquiring Authority into those said negotiations.

4.
An addition:
RICS Regulation can act on concerns from an individual who is not a client of an RICS member or an RICS regulated firm regarding a breach of an RICS Professional standard. Evidence would need to show that the member or firm who is the subject of the complaint was culpable for the breach and that the breach was sufficiently serious to warrant disciplinary action and that such disciplinary action was necessary in the public interest.