The principles

The following ethical principles formulate the rules of conduct that the Expert in property valuation must observe with regard to himself, his clients, his colleagues.

These rules are binding on all members of Associations signatory to the Charter of Expertise in Real Estate Valuation. Failure to comply with them may result in the application of the said Charter's Application Committee and expose any member concerned to the penalties provided for by the texts governing the Association to which he adheres.

These provisions constitute general principles that apply to all Experts in property valuations, whatever their specialty, place of practice or membership.

Associations or Groups of Experts in real estate valuations may provide, in addition to the provisions below, specific or additional obligations for their Members.

The expert must be completely independent.

This independence requires:

- the absence of any relationship of subordination or family with clients,

- the absence of personal economic interest.

If a building to be appraised is owned by more than 5% of the expert himself or of the group to which he belongs, the expert can only intervene as an "internal" expert and this quality must appear in the 'mission statement.

As a general rule, when the expert considers that there is a risk of bias or suspicion, he will renounce the Mission.

Methodological guide relating to the Valuation of Real Estate Assets

The expert who was, directly or through the company that employs him, a stakeholder in the purchase of real estate, may not carry out the appraisal of the building concerned before a period of two years. from this operation.

The expert must always act with probity and impartiality.

He must refrain from any behavior likely to bring his profession into disrepute.

The real estate expert must obtain from his client, before any start of execution, a writing defining the mission entrusted and specifying the amount of the remuneration.

He can refuse an assignment and has, in this case, no reason to provide to his client.

When he accepts an assignment, he undertakes to fulfill it until its complete execution, unless it is a major impossibility of which he must immediately notify the client.

He is bound by professional secrecy for any information of which he becomes aware during his mission.

This rule can be materialized by a letter of reinforced confidentiality engaging the responsibility of the expert.

At the end of the mission and within the time limit, the expert must give his client a dated and signed report. This document must be complete, clear, precise, reasoned and in accordance with the provisions of the Methodological Guide and the Due Diligence Guide. It is desirable that the name of the person who wrote the report and visited the building, even briefly, be mentioned in the report.

The expert must not accept any remuneration other than the fees and costs which have been fixed. He will refuse any gift or advantage that may be offered to him.

The property valuation expert is bound by an obligation of means.

He is responsible for all documents or parts entrusted to him. He is required to return them upon completion of his mission.

The expert or the appraisal company are solely responsible for the studies and works of which they are the authors. This responsibility is closely linked to the nature and scope of the mission entrusted to them.

The client will be warned that any use of an expert report for an object other than the agreed mission would release the expert from his responsibility.

The partial use of a report by a principal is prohibited because it is liable to cause errors. It can engage the responsibility of the Principal.

Any expert, intervening in a principal capacity or in support of an assignment, must have his professional civil liability as well as that of his collaborators covered by an insurance company known to be solvent. The amount of guarantees must be sufficient to cover the risks associated with the appraisal work undertaken in France and abroad.

When an expert receives a request for intervention on a building that he has already assessed for less than a year for another party, he must inform both parties (the first customer and the new

Methodological guide relating to the valuation of the applicant's real estate assets). He will only be able to carry out a new expertise if he has the agreement of each of them. Otherwise, he will have to decline the second mission.

The expert must maintain fraternal contacts with his colleagues.

As far as possible, he must develop useful exchanges with them to deepen knowledge and improve methods of expertise.

The expert must not do anything that could harm the respectability of a colleague or put him in difficulty.

When several experts are called upon to intervene in the same case, concomitantly or successively, they can contact each other and exchange any useful information, unless their principal objects.

Under the same conditions, the expert responsible for a second expert opinion may send the first expert his counter report. This counter-report must be written in a courteous form and contain, in the event of a difference of opinion, only an entirely objective argument.

When the Expert in charge of a mission uses the services of a colleague, he must inform his client. The names of the colleague (s) must appear in the report.

In this case, the Expert remains responsible towards his client for all the statements and conclusions of his report. If the report is written by two or more experts (co-contracting), they are jointly responsible vis-à-vis their client.

Each Expert intervening must have their professional civil liability covered by adequate insurance.