Introducing RICS (the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors)
RICS (the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) is another
non-profit organization (but it requires membership related fees) that organizes
academic meetings and publishes codes of practice and international standards
to control professional practices in the field of quantity surveying, valuation
of Land and property development, real estate, construction and infrastructure.
RICS’s publications are widely accepted in the international industry. Construction
industry in the country like Thailand should study and apply the practices in
its industry for upgrading towards international standards.
RICS is very old for hundred years. It was founded in 1792 by
20 surveyors who attended the conference held at Westminster Palace Hotel. RICS’s headquarter locates on Great George Street,
Parliament Square in London, United Kingdom.
There is also another headquarter in New York, United States
of America to oversee RICS’s operations in America, Canada, Latin America and
the Caribbean (i.e., Barbados, Cayman Island and Jamaica), and the offices to
cover the operation in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) offices and Asia
Pacific for over 68 branches in major cities in almost every countries on every
continents, including in Bangkok for Thailand. Currently, there are 125,000 members
both in the form of individuals and entities around the world.
RICS’s professional guidance provides best practices and
international standards on surveys. The categories of RICS documents are:
International Standards, Professional Statements, Practice Statements, Codes of
Practice, Guidance Notes and Information Papers which are available for free
download. The papers include:-
Building Surveying
- RICS Building Survey
- Subsidiary In Relation to Insurance Claims
- BIM for Building Surveyors, etc.
Property management
- RICS Property Measurement
- Real Estate Management
- Managing Mixed Use Developments, etc.
Valuation
- International Valuation Standards 2017
- Commercial Investment Property Valuation Methods
- Discounted Cash Flow for Commercial Property Investments
- EUGN1: Directives and Regulations Relevant to Valuation,
etc.
Project Management
- Appointing A Project Manager
- Employer's Agent Services
- Managing the Design Delivery
- Managing Communications
- Stakeholder Engagement, etc.
Contracts
- Appropriate Contract Selection
- Contract Administration, etc.
Quantity Surveying & Construction
- Commercial Management of Construction
- Developing a Procurement Strategy and Selecting an
Appropriate Route
- Tendering Strategies
- Quantity Surveyors Services
- Fluctuations
- Ascertaining Loss And Expense
- NRM2: Detailed Measurement of Building Works
- Construction Insurance
- Construction Security and Performance Documents
- Cost Analysis and Benchmarking
- Cost Reporting
- Interim Valuations and Payment
- Acceleration
- Damages for Delay to Completion
- Defects and Rectifications
- Defining Completion on Construction Works
- Extensions of Time
- Final Accounts Procedure, etc.
Environment
- Environment Impact Assessment
- Environment Liabilities Directive, etc.
Facilities Management
- Facilities Management Information and Data Management
- Security
- Strategic Facilities Management, etc.
Dispute Resolution
- Conflict Avoidance and Dispute Resolution in Construction
- Mediation
- Conflicts of Interest, Global
- Conflicts of Interest for Members Acting as Dispute Solvers
- Independent Expert Determination
- Surveyors Acting as adjudicators in the Construction
Industry
- Surveyors Acting as Advocates
- Surveyors Acting as Expert Witnesses
- Surveyors Acting as Arbitrators in Construction Disputes,
etc
Above RICS’s Professional Guidance lists are just some of
them and there are many more for those who are interested and choose to work in
a their field of the following Professional Groups:-
- Building Surveying
- Commercial Property Management
- Residential Property Management
- Valuation
- Project Management
- Quantity Surveying & Construction
- Environment & Resources
- Facility Management
- Building control
- Geomatics
- Machinery & Business Assets
- Management Consultancy
- Minerals & Waste Management
- Planning & Development
- Personal Property / Arts & Antiques
- Rural
- Dispute Resolution
Those who apply to become a RICS member must be qualified with
expertise in the above specific Professional Groups, except for the Student
level. The practitioner can apply for RCIS membership at the following levels:
Student level – This level is for beginners who interested
in the professional field of surveying by applying free of charge to study with
the land and property development, construction of buildings and infrastructures.
The Student level members will be provided with knowledge, information and
assistance in preparation for their chosen profession.
AssocRICS Level – This level is for those who have experience
in one of the above Professional Groups for at least 4 years or possess other
equivalent qualification. For applicants who got certified from international organizations
in other countries that were accepted by RICS, they may be able to apply for
this AssocRICS membership without having to send any other written submission
(except for only online ethics assessment). For example, as being a PMI’s PMP-certified
practitioner, it is likely that RICS will approve the applicant to be an AssocRICS
member for the Project Management Professional Groups right away.
EIT (the Engineering Institute of Thailand) is the only one
organization in Thailand that RICS accepts for only the field of Quantity
Surveying & Construction. EIT Members who have been a member for at least a
full year will likely be approved to be AssocRICS members for Quantity
Surveying & Construction Professional Groups right away.
MRICS level – This level is for AssocRICS members who continue
their working experience in their own Professional Groups for further 4 years.
They also have to gain 900 hours of continuous training from final Level of
RICS Accredited Degree in related fields and pass the Assessment of
Professional Competence (APC) to be certified as a qualified practitioner in their
Professional Group at Chatered Qualification level.
For the experience practitioners who are not the AssocRICS
member before, it is also possible for them to apply to this MRICS level
directly if they passed APC and ethics assessments from one of the following
four pathways programme:-
- RICS Accredited Degree - by training up to the maximum of 24 months, depending on the field.
- Non-RICS Accredited Degree or Approved Professional Body Membership - with 5 years of work experience and equivalent qualification from international organizations in other countries that are accepted by RICS. (There are no organization accepted by RICS in Thailand for MRICS level.)
- In a Senior Management or Expert Specialist Position - with 10 years of relevant work experience or only 5 years for those with post-graduate degree and equivalent qualification from international organizations in other countries that are accepted by RICS.
- Degree in an Academic Position on a Degree Level Programme - with at least 3 years of Academic Experience.
Fellow Level – This level is for MRICS members who have continued
their MRICS membership for at least five years and are committed to promote
RICS objectives and the profession to reflect RICS’ public interest mandate. They
must submit written statement and supporting evidences to demonstrate their vision
and qualifications on one of the following four characteristics:-
- CHAMPION – a Member who has gained recognition by an appropriate authority
- EXPERT – a Member who has been verified as advancing, sharing or interpreting knowledge.
- INFLUENCER – a Member who influences how professionalism is perceived.
- ROLE MODEL –
a Member who exceeds standards for the advantage of clients, colleagues or the wider public.
Members of all levels (except Student) must earn Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) points from acquiring work knowledge or
participating in training, seminar or live webinar for 20 CPD Activity hours (It
must be at least 10 CPD hours received from formal academic training seminars,
etc., then the rest can be informal CPD hours from self-study, volunteer
contributions, etc.)
The next episode will introduce
RTPI or the Royal Town Planning Institute, an organization who set up guidelines
and standards of practices and accredits any academic institutions to support
the teaching and learning of town planning to build the town planner profession. If interested, please follow…
References and Credits
