Surveyors Acting as Expert Witnesses, 4th edition

This comprehensive guide is written for surveyors who provide expert evidence to be relied upon in civil proceedings before a wide range of tribunals.

This document:

• Explains the need for clear instructions and terms of engagement
• Gives guidance on what to do in situations of conflict of interest
• Outlines the written report format
• Clarifies the differences between the roles of expert and advocate
• Helps remove pressure upon experts to support their clients’ cases irrespective of their honest professional opinion

This practice statement is also published in the form of an accompanying client guide, a copy of which can be supplied by the expert witness to the prospective client. This guide may be provided without copyright permission; however, the expert witness must make clear to the prospective client that his/her copy is for his/her use only, and that any reproduction of the guide for the use of a third party would breach RICS copyright, as specified in PS 3.4(b).

Note

This document was amended in February 2023 to remove wording from PS10 and GN19 which could be read as prohibiting expert witnesses from taking instructions from solicitors who are engaged on a conditional fee, even if the expert is instructed on an unconditional fee basis. This was not the intention of RICS and has therefore been amended for clarity.

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