What is the Valuer Registration Scheme?
The Valuer Registration Scheme is RICS's compulsory scheme for members who carry out most kinds of valuation work. It is not a separate grade of membership. It is a layer of regulation that sits on top of your MRICS, FRICS or AssocRICS status. When you join, you agree to risk-based audits by RICS Regulation, which checks that you follow the Red Book and the other mandatory standards. In return you can call yourself a RICS Registered Valuer, use the scheme logo and appear as a Registered Valuer in the Find a Member directory.
The designation belongs to individuals only. A firm cannot register, but a firm can sponsor its valuers and pay their fees. Associates have to show both titles together, as AssocRICS Registered Valuer. An Associate cannot describe themselves as a chartered surveyor.
Who has to join, and who is exempt?
Any RICS member who provides valuation services has to join, and that includes members who only do a handful of valuations a year. RICS counts as a valuer anyone who calculates a written opinion of value or accepts responsibility for one. That covers people who write reports someone else signs and people who sign reports someone else writes. Public sector members are covered too, and members who value local authority assets for the accounts must be registered.
You are exempt only if every valuation you do falls under the exceptions in Red Book Global Standards PS 1 paragraph 5. Those exceptions are agency or brokerage advice on buying or selling, advice given for negotiations or litigation, expert witness work, statutory functions, and internal valuations given on terms that exclude liability and are not passed to third parties. A purchase report that includes a valuation does not count as agency work.
What is the Red Book and why does it matter?
The Red Book is RICS Valuation – Global Standards. It sets the mandatory rules and best practice for valuation, and every RICS member has to follow it, whether registered or not. The current edition took effect on 31 January 2025 and is aligned with the International Valuation Standards. It added new material on modelling, technology and ESG. RICS has said it will write the next edition, Red Book 2028, once the updated IVS is published.
One rule catches out new valuers. Your terms of engagement have to tell clients that RICS may monitor your work and review your files. If a client asks you to work to a different standard, you can do so as long as you also meet the Red Book and disclose any departures. A valuation with departures can still comply with the Red Book. It cannot claim to comply with IVS, because IVS allows no departures.
How does monitoring work?
RICS chooses valuers for review based on risk. There is no fixed cycle, and valuers doing higher-risk work can expect reviews more often. A review is held either on site, normally over one or two days, or remotely through a secure data room. The reviewers are experienced RICS Members or Fellows with valuation backgrounds. They look at your files, your process and your audit trail. They do not test whether your figures are right. After the review you get a written report with recommendations.
If a review uncovers widespread non-compliance, or you refuse to cooperate, RICS can escalate the matter under its Monitoring and Investigation Rules. If you practise outside a RICS-regulated firm, you also need a complaints handling procedure with approved redress, plus professional indemnity insurance covering all your past and current valuation work.
Pay
GBP a year, before tax. Ranges run from the 25th to the 75th percentile for ONS SOC 3541, estimators, valuers and assessors, based on the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2026 (provisional), brought up to the current year with a wage index. Regional figures are modelled. The group is not limited to RICS Registered Valuers, so chartered status and specialism move individual pay. Refer to the Valuation salary guide for figures from live adverts.
What you need
- RICS membershipYou can apply only once you are a qualified Chartered Member (MRICS or FRICS) or an Associate Member (AssocRICS). Candidates still working through assessment cannot apply.
- Valuation competencyChartered members need the Valuation competency or the Valuation of Businesses and Intangible Assets competency at Level 3 from their final assessment. Associates need the Valuation competency from their assessment.
- Valuer Registration AssessmentIf you qualified without the required competency, you take a bespoke assessment. It has four parts: an application form, up to 100 days of valuation experience signed off by a Registered Valuer, one work-based case study and a CPD record.
- Professional indemnity insuranceYou need suitable PII before you take on valuation work. If you practise outside a RICS-regulated firm, the cover must include all your past and current valuations.
- Fees and annual returnYou pay a registration fee to join and an annual fee at each renewal, and you file a regulatory return every year. Sponsoring firms pay less per valuer, and the discount grows with the number of valuers they sponsor.
- Red Book complianceYou must follow RICS Valuation – Global Standards and accept monitoring by RICS Regulation. If you stop practising as a valuer, you must deregister.
How to get there
- During trainingGain supervised valuation experienceBefore you value on your own, work under an experienced, qualified valuer. Choose the Valuation competency, or the business valuation competency, for your APC or AssocRICS assessment.
- On qualifyingQualify as MRICS or AssocRICSPass your RICS assessment with the valuation competency at the level required. You cannot apply for registration before you qualify.
- After qualifyingTake the Valuer Registration Assessment if neededIf you qualified without the competency, submit the application form, experience record of up to 100 days, case study and CPD record.
- Before valuingApply through My AccountApply online in the Regulation section and give details of the valuations you carry out. If your firm sponsors you, enter its code. If not, pay by card.
- Every yearRenew and file your returnEvery year, pay the annual fee and file your regulatory return. Be ready for a risk-based review at any point.
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Questions people ask
Is RICS Registered Valuer a qualification or a licence?
It is a regulatory designation that comes with joining the Valuer Registration Scheme. It sits on top of RICS membership and does not replace it. To keep it, you renew every year and accept monitoring by RICS Regulation.
Can an AssocRICS member become a Registered Valuer?
Yes, as long as the Valuation competency was shown at assessment. The title must then be used as AssocRICS Registered Valuer. An Associate cannot call themselves a chartered surveyor.
Do estate agents who give market appraisals need to register?
An RICS member whose only valuation advice is part of agency or brokerage work on buying or selling falls within the Red Book exception and does not have to register. The exception does not cover a purchase report that includes a valuation.
Can my firm register instead of me?
No. Only individual valuers can join the scheme. A firm regulated by RICS, or one registered as a sponsoring organisation, can buy sponsorship codes, pay your fees and file part of your regulatory information for you.
How often will RICS review my files?
There is no fixed schedule. Reviews are chosen on risk, so valuers doing higher-risk work may be reviewed more often. You get notice beforehand, and an on-site review normally takes one or two days.
What happens if I do valuations without registering?
Doing valuation work without registering, when the scheme applies to you, breaks RICS rules and can lead to regulatory action. RICS can find out through monitoring, audits or information passed on by firms and clients.
