ESVARBON advocates new standards in valuation practice as NIESV inducts fellows 

WITHOUT upgrading the standards of valuation practice in Nigeria to compete with the acceptable codes in the international realm, estate surveyors plying their profession in this country may not be able to adequately compete on the global scene, Chairman, Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria, (ESVARBON) Elder William Odudu, has said.

  Odudu spoke last weekend in Abuja during the 21st John Wood Ekpenyong Memorial Lecture and induction of 45 new fellows into fold of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV). About 3,277 registered estate surveyors are practicing in the country. 

 Speaking at the occasion, Odudu called for the upgrading of the standards of valuation practice in Nigeria to internationally accepted standards.

 He observed that for the Institution to move to the next level, professionals must not be limited by local practice standards.

He said. “For the noble Profession to move to the next level, our Noble Colleagues must be prepared to upgrade their standards, in order to be competitive and acceptable internationally”. 

  Odudu, who noted that one of the seven-point agenda of the current board is to intensify the training of our trainers stated that the ESVARBON has put in place Train-the Trainer Programme which is aimed at upgrading the knowledge level of our lecturers in the Tertiary Institutions offering courses in Estate Management and Valuation. The programme has started and all the lecturers are encouraged to actively participate.

  He noted that surveyors and Valuers while carrying out valuation exercises in the past, had no proper guidelines before 1995 adding that the NIESV valuation standards and guidance notes, which was first published in 1995 was reproduced in 2006 with a view to provide a standard against which valuation processes and procedures are matched, for greater accuracy and understanding of valuation exercise and to provide information, commentary, advice and recommendations to members undertaking valuations of property, plant and equipment for all purposes.

 Odudu observed that a member of the International Valuation Standards Committee, the NIESVs has produced these Guidance Notes in line with the International Valuation Standards to make her members internationally competitive to provide a benchmark for greater convergence of definitions and common understanding of terms by the institution and users of our services.

  He observed that in spite of the Guidance Notes of the institution, there were and still haphazard style of carrying out valuation exercises by registered estate surveyors and valuers. 

  He said: “There is still inconsistencies and lack of uniformity in the bases, methods and reporting standards amongst our Noble Colleagues. This is evidenced in the use of dissimilar bases and methods of valuation as well as dissimilar reporting styles for the same valuation assignment. For example, Bank Managers have noted widely divergent mortgage values for the same property carried out by different estate surveying firms. This was partly due to the use of “open market value” bases by some of the firms and the use of the “depreciated replacement cost” bases by other firms”.

  “The second source of problem has to do with the lack of uniformity in the presentation of reports, despite the Institution Guidance Notes. The third source of concern is that there is apparently a carefree attitude in respect of the supervision of and implementation of the use of International Valuation Standards by the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON). There are currently no enforcement mechanisms put in place by the NIESV or ESVARBON for proper implementation and application of the International Valuation Standards (IVS)”. 

  Pointing out that the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) is not a regulatory body and it has no ability to sanction any entity or valuer for breach of its standards, Odudu however stressed that the NIESV and the ESVARBON must wake up to their responsibilities to establish and maintain internationally accepted valuation standards and the ESVARBON has to put in place proper and effective mechanism for monitoring and regulating the practice of the Noble Profession in Nigeria.