Estate surveyors tasked on collaboration, ethics for practice

Practitioners under the auspices of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) have been urged on the need to embrace collaboration, ethical standards and alternative dispute resolutions among others, in order to expand the practice of the profession.

Besides, they were also urged to embrace collaboration by forming partnership in order to tap into opportunities offered by the facility management segment of the profession.

Speaking during the 2023 Valuation Assembly, themed: “Regulating Other Areas of Estate Surveying and Valuation Profession” which was organised by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) in Lagos, Principal Partner, Estate Link/Gbenga Olaniyan and Associates, Mr Gbenga Olaniyan, described partnership among professionals as the future of property management in Nigerian cities.

According to him, collaboration on facility management service would offer estate surveyors a range of opportunities and benefits from accurate valuation to comprehensive property management solutions.

This, he said, would ultimately lead to improved client satisfaction and business growth.

“Estate surveyors have messed the opportunity in facility management but can still take control of the opportunity the sector offers,” he said.

Besides, he called ESVARBON to promote interdisciplinary education and training among professional estate surveyors and valuers, adding that there is the need to establish industry standard for effective collaboration

“We must leverage technology for efficient property management in urban Nigeria

“We must aggressively promote the advantage of using the service of the estate surveyor and valuer as a facility manager to enable us take over this space,” Olaniyan said.

Emmanuel Omuojine a board member of ESVARBON, told estate surveying and valuation practitioners that professional ethics and accountability are essential ingredients for maintaining trust, credibility and integrity in the professional space.

Another board member, Francis Okpaleke, who spoke on how to leverage arbitration in the practice and regulation of estate surveying and valuation profession in Nigeria, urged ESVARBON to include arbitration and ADR provisions in the industry’s regulatory guidelines.

He also encouraged estate surveyors and valuers to include mandatory arbitration and ADR clauses in their contracts with clients, to promote consistency and mitigate the impact of dispute in the industry.

“Restructure the operational framework from committees to directorate and the establishment of a dispute resolution directorate. The directorate should be expanded to align with the expanding scope of the profession and the professional groups outlined in this paper as a guide.

“Deploy the appropriate regulatory tool as identified in this paper to produce guidance notes and competency requirements in collaboration with the professional groups through NIESV (as internal stakeholders) and other professional bodies whose areas of operation converge or encroach with any of the listed scope of the profession (as external stakeholders),” he said.

The board, according to him, should be research-driven, carrying out market research by monitoring compliance to standards and guidelines, reviews of such standards and guidelines based on market fundamentals.

This, he said could be done by collaborating with the academics and tertiary institutions or by commissioning research grants.

He urged the regulatory body to expand its operations by collaborating with professional groups to develop certification processes and programs and in some cases, authorised professional groups to issue licenses with the institution’s and board’s authentication.

In his presentation on “Regulatory Frameworks for Involuntary Land Acquisition Compensation Valuation in Nigeria,” a board member, AdamuDanlandiKasimu, said that ESVARBON has provided a robust standards for compliance by registered persons.

This, he said amplified the need for the development of additional templates to specifically guide compensation and contamination valuation practices.

He explained that land valuation and compensation processes for involuntary land acquisition in Nigeria were statutorily governed by the Land Use Act, LFN CAP L5, 2004 (LUA) along with other domestic regulatory laws/policies of the state governments.

He identified inconsistent/non-systematic issuance of revocation notices as one of the issues affecting compensation valuation, saying that property condemnations sometimes preceded official communication of revocation notices.

Others issues, he said include “Non-existing fit for all valuation formats due to absence of executive orders outlining state resettlement policies; assets compensation on Depreciated Replacement Cost model; heads of claims are restricted to land, economic trees, crops, structures and improvement; land value is based on a generic amount -allowances.”

He also identified other issues to include inter- ministerial conflict, use of depreciated structures without any scientific basis, and non-take-off of a digitalised land registry to manage overlaps, double allocations from different bodies.

Earlier, Chairman of ESVARBON, GershHenshaw, said the regulatory body has left no stone unturned in building capacities of registered persons since assumption of office.

“It is our concerted beliefs that it holds up large glimmer of hope and future of immerse significance to the practitioners.

“As a foremost regulatory body of the valuation and property profession, an institutional member of the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), we have chosen to dwell on the valuation of Intangible Assets and Intellectual Property applying the globally accepted IVS 210,” he said.

Chairman, Professional Practice Committee of the board, Mr Stephen Jagun, said the theme of the forum: “Regulating Other Areas of Estate Surveying and Valuation Profession,” was chosen to provide members with the necessary skill set to launch into valuation of intangible assets.

This, he said would enable them to meet the needs and expectations of their clients, stakeholders,regulators and the public.

To achieve this, Jagun urged members to adhere to the valuation standards, popularly known as the “Green Book” among the professionals, describing it as a set of globally recognized principles and guidelines that establish a common framework for valuing different types of assets across various jurisdictions.

 

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