ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS FOR PROPERTY RATING, A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS FOR PROPERTY RATING IN ABAKALIKI, A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Good day readers. I hope we all are doing well. I want to welcome all of us to another blessed week in Lent. I know that God has been our guide and our guard in this truly harsh environment we find ourselves in. Just the way He has been there for us, I know He will never allow us to stray so far away from Him unguided and unprotected.

I am really glad writing this piece today. If the rumour I am hearing is true, it is really a welcome development. To appoint an estate surveyor and valuer as consultant to handle property rating matters in the state is the right thing to do. There are so many reasons why that is so, and I shall point out a number of them here.

Firstly and foremostly, estate surveyors and valuers are the only professionals who can handle property rating. The reason is that property rating involves valuations. In other words, in order to determine the rate to be charged on a building, that building should first of all be valued. it is only after the value of the building is determined that the rateable value can now be calculated. Now, valuation is an integral part of the study of Estate Management in Universities and Polytechnics in the country. So, estate surveyors are well trained in the science of valuations. Added to that, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), one of the regulatory bodies for the profession in Nigeria, organizes mandatory Continuous Professional Development (CPD) seminars which are held in most states of federation at least once every year. This training and retraining of estate surveyors and valuers ensures that they are equipped and well positioned to handle the intricacies and challenges of conducting valuations for rating and other purposes.

The second reason why no meaningful rating and taxation exercise can be conducted without estate surveyors and valuers is that the law which establishes the profession in Nigeria, the Estate Surveyors and Valuers (Registration ETC) Decree No. 24 of 1975, now CAP III (Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria) 1990, states that only estate surveyors and valuers registered under the Act can carry out valuations in Nigeria. In effect, this means that when people other than estate surveyors and valuers are called upon to handle property rating, they are indeed breaking the law! That is the simple truth and is a fact!

The third reason I will state is that where estate surveyors and valuers are involved in the determination and administration of property rates, their computations and estimates are final. I am sure that members of the Internal Revenue Board hearing this will find it interesting. Yes. Such figures from the computation and valuation for rating exercise would be final when estate surveyors and valuers are involved. This is especially so where both parties to the rating exercise are represented by different estate surveyors and valuers. The both parties to a rating exercise are the tax authorities and the tax payers. As long as both parties are well represented in the determination of the rateable value, their figures when computed would be final.

All these reasons I have stated above result in the fourth reason why an estate surveyor and valuer should be used in every property rating exercise. Where there are estate surveyors and valuers representing each party to the a rating exercise, the issue of going to court to challenge the figures arrived at is precluded. This would therefore make it easier for the tax authorities to start enforcement of the tax or rate payments immediately.

The fifth reason I will give is that tax payers will be more willing to pay their property rates where an estate surveyor and valuer is there to represent them during computation. At such times, they are sure that their interest is being protected. They check the excesses of the tax authorities who would want to ensure that property rates are fixed very high. Their estate surveyor and valuer would work to ensure that property rates are brought to as low as possible.

There are many more advantages that appointing an estate surveyor and valuer for property rating and valuation would achieve, but I will stop here knowing fully that those mentioned above have driven my point home. There is no meaningful property rating regime or exercise that can be done without the involvement of estate surveyors and valuers.

Please, call, text or email me with your criticisms, comments, questions and suggestions on this or any of my earlier write-ups.

Have yourselves a great week.

Building Names and Types

Believe it or not, this is where many real estate professionals, agents, estate surveyors and valuers and property experts start to get it wrong. There are many different types and designs of buildings each of which should be known, understood and correctly identified. This should be what separates the expert from the quack.

Simple as this may sound, there are many so called property experts who do not even know the names of common buildings. When you call an estate surveyor and valuer on the phone and ask him about a particular type of building, he should know at once what it is you are referring to. When a client mentions a block of flats, a maisonette, a duplex, an estate, a plaza, a mall, a terrace or even a banking facility, it should be clearly known and understood. It saves time and energy not having to explain what these things mean whenever you are having a conversation over the phone or face to face concerning these things.

Also, in the preparation of valuation reports, it is very essential that the right terminologies are used when describing the properties to be valued. Whenever valuation reports are prepared using the wrong names for building types, it ridicules the practice of estate surveying and valuation.

There are many different types of buildings and structures which exist in the world today. From simple ones like huts to very complex and sophisticated ones like high rise buildings which have very many floors each has a name which distinguishes it from the next. Therefore, whenever one type of a building is mentioned, it should have just the same meaning that the sender of the information intended for the receiver to receive. There should be no ambiguity or doubt as to what both (or all) parties mean or understand.

We shall look at the following building types.
1. Hut
2. Bungalow
3. Storey buildings and Sky Scrapers
4. Duplex
5. Detached
6. Semi detached
7. Terrace
8. Block of Flats
9. Maisonette
10. Silo
11. Plaza
12. Mall
13. Church
14. Cathedral
15. Mosque
16. Condominium
17. Tenement Building
18. Villa
19. Mansion
20. Hotel
21. Motel
22. Tree House
23. Caravan
24. Boat House
25. Igloo
26. Castle
27. Palace
28. Basilica
29. Barn
30. Stable
31. Ranch
32. Studio Apartment
33. Penthouse
34. Barracks
35. Mess
36. Warehouse
37. Farm House