RICS Reviews 62

Glad i resigned after 25 years- RICS are a money grabbing outfit that offers very little for members

Survey carried out by. Missed rising damp, falling damp, blown external render and blown bathroom tiles.
Offered £2500 to make good what has turned out to be a £200k job.
RICS covering up for him, CEDR useless and literally no accountability from anyone.
Surveyor plagiarised Savills photos from their sales brochure and passed them off as "photos taken at the time of my visit."
The fight continues until my last breath.
Self regulated regulator- what a joke!
Fortunately The Property Rights Alliance are helping me navigate the complexities of the case

Pointless company they wont look onto anything withoutFirst tier tribunal (ftt) first ,whats the point of RICS if you get it settled there

We put a compaint about our MA who have failed to comply by section 20 (not following correct procedure) and failig to notice section 20 QLTAs ( inurance and garden fees ) and overcharged the flat on every fee bringing in contractors that are clearly frauding us , we sent proof of invoices pictures and they told us is there nothing they do we have to go to FTT first ,

They are clearly looking after there employers the MA because which MA would put there name to RICS if they did there job and looked into fraud and not complying section 20

Many RICS surveyors are not impartial or professional. I’ve encountered numerous surveyors while completing disrepair surveys and they simply ignore the legislation to obtain a win for the solicitors they represent. It’s not a disrepair if you’re requesting an improvement ! I’ve made my concerns known to the RICS but they have been ignored.

It is impossible to obtain a response to any query - absolutely useless

The RICS……a waste of time and space when complaining about a members service and requiring advice.
C B at development in Camden

Our managing agents of our block of flats is only a member of RICS due to one of its elderly directors being a RICS surveyor. They do not belong to any other MA organisation, except a mandatory Property Redress scheme. Due to a whole catalogue of mismanagement incl missing service charges and neglect re building maintenance we have tried to raise the issues with RICS. However they require an online form to be filled in. BUT this is appallingly designed. It is a general purpose form for both an individual surveyor or a company. However it requires all fields to be entered even if they are not appropriate. It is long and takes ages to fill in. It is impossible to fill in on a smart phone. And it’s not possible to save a draft. And if the browser crashes all input is lost - as happened to be after hours of input. They won’t accept emails nor written submissions.

I achieved RICS certificate more than two months ago. As they don't provide a digital copy of the the certificate, every week, I have been told that I will receive it the "next week," yet there has been no progress. Additionally, no tracking number has been provided for the courier, further adding to my concern.

This level of communication and service is extremely unprofessional and does not meet the expectations I had from RICS

Additionally, when I was going through the certification process I had to contact customer support several times for missing sections.

I put a complaint about our managment company and md who are Rics certified i covered everything that it says they look into i enclised email proof of neglect fraud , but bassically said case not valid , we know this is because they dont want to bad name a company underthem , ,
I dont see the point of RICs complaint as they wont look into the company just go strait to property ombudsman or ftt as rics are clearly corrupt

This organisation pretends to offer reassurance that their ‘qualified’ members are competent. Under the shiny veneer of their media output the truth is they prove themselves incapable of properly investigating serious negligence or taking action against rogue Surveyors in the UK. That might sound like sour grapes - well it’s the opinion of a Chartered Surveyor with a 40 year career behind him. RICS deserves a royal charter about as much as The Post Office!

RICS website a shambles - bits of it don't work. Can't even pay your fees if you want to? Seems there should be a total clearout of senior management and new staff hired.

We were approached by a surveyor working for neighbour. The boundary between our properties had been formally and legally determined in the Deeds for both properties and the surveyor obtained our consent to work on the basis of his submission of one document in which the boundary position was defined TO THE INCH, exactly in accordance with the Deeds of both properties. The work that was carried out DID NOT CONFORM to the defined boundary. The Surveyor then said HE DID NOT RECOLLECT the document he'd showed us and instead showed an undated sketch, unapproved and undated with multiple lines which he interpreted to show a different boundary. I ordered him off and 2 weeks later we saw him climbing the fence to take measurements. I sent evidence to RICS but no action was taken.

Awful experience. I have hired a surveyor when I bought my 1st property. He failed to identify issues that resulted in approximately 10k£ of additional work in the house. I have tried to solve the issue through the complaint handling procedure of the surveyor but he denied any wrong doing therefore I contacted RICS. I have sent my complaint on 16-Apr-2022, the report included a second opinion of another surveyor identifying all the issues but I did not receive any answer. To me is clear, RICS is not there to protect the consumer rights, they are there to protect their members. I have re-filed the whole complaint. Can you have a look and provide at least one answer? This is the minimum that you can do...

Just had a survey given to me from potential buyer of house.Which is factually incorrect on so many levels and on reading would think the house is going to fall down.
quoted door closures need for building regs on loft conversion.Wrong.
Mains smoke and heat detectors needed.The house has mains smoke and heat detectors
consumer unit outdated and no circuit breakers.suspecting more electrical problems.wrong relatively new consumer unit within 5 years with breakers and new wiring signed off at time and checked and signed again with new circuit added with recent electrical certification.
Presumed everything about loft conversion was wrong fireboard etc.Wrong built and checked by building regs and signed off.
Chimney stack pots need removing and capping off with air brics.Wrong has already been done so no pots up there.
Drainge around foot of house in form of trench filled with pea shingle.It already has it.
Airbricks needed.Has air brics already.
Needs a complete new roof.3 roofers around nothing wrong with it.
Wondering if he reported on the wrong house
Even went to length saying bathroom fixtures outdate and need renewed.Brand new Victorian set.
The list is endless.
Nothing but criminal

As a professional body, they remain the strongest globally in Real Estate.

Help! Help!

Please, can anyone say who is the ombudsman services that oversee complaints about the
RCIS and its members?

To whom do you report a RCIS member who falsify documents on your behalf and ask you to sign them?

To whom do you report a RCIS member who prepares a false report sign and issue it?

Why the RCIS cannot trace written correspondences sent to their offices and why do you have to send the same correspondence 6 times and wait 5 months for a nancy story reply?

This organisation is not accountable to no one, what a joke.

These are the people whom the courts and leasehold tribunal rely on as expert witnesses.

Let's hope the parliamentary scrutiny Committee hold them to be accountable for their poor services.

Absolutely shocking QC. Two surveys of the same property only a short period apart but two completely different Reports.
One fair, clear, positive, factual and well written the other nit picking, negative, factually incorrect information, flimsy evidence base for significant problems, rushed (50 minutes at the property), no feedback or consultation with owner, always further investigations needed and use of ubiquitous damp meter tool used completely incorrectly causing needless worry for both buyer and seller.
Overall would give no stars, because this kind of evidence points to real standardisation issues within the organisation. In my view about time this money making machine was stopped and something more professional, helpful and accurate put in its place. The whole edifice of this scam on the Public needs overhauling. I am certain there must be thousands of people who have had a bad experience with this flawed and callous organisation purporting to uphold both prestige and high standards.

If you are not a member of them, you quickly realize how unsupported you are and how very limited their support is.

Their communication, or lack of it is a disgrace and the website that even they themselves have no clue how to use it or where to direct you. In essence they are a chocolate fireguard for anyone other than the members that they serve.

Would give a zero star

Unable to provide criteria on how they discipline surveyors or what the minimum threshold is.

If they don't share this how can the process be deemed to be transparent and fair ?

Will not confirm if they've deleted my data as requested under GDPR GUIDELINES

Their surveyor undervalued by 40k was too arrogant to absorb the evidence we offered via actual sold prices in the last 6 months.
And stick to the line its his opinion that counts and not scientific evidence from the UK land registry!! Unbelievable

A total farce and waste of time.

2020: financial and governance scandal exposed by Sunday Times. RICS covered up, denied, delayed, suppressed, then obstructed reviewer Peter Oldham QC (who resigned), then obstructed and delayed Alison Levitt QC, who issued a damning report 9/9/21. But chapter 5 “naming the wrongdoers” was redacted and the Jan ’22 Kinglsey Napley report on it is still suppressed. Meanwhile the same insiders created and captured another review by Lord Bichard 21/6/22, which ensured that nothing real changed for members or Public to counter the gravy train and internal and external vested interests.

Sunday Times: “In 2017-19, CEO Tompkins received more than £1.1m, including £372,500 in bonuses. In 2018, he received £42,000 discretionary bonus even though he missed his targets. RICS lost money in both years.
In 2019/20 senior staff RECEIVED BONUSES while RICS used HMRC JRT grants to furlough 200 staff. 140 were then made redundant in 2020.”

Captured for over ten years by overpaid “managers” (who can not manage: see Glassdoor) teamed with “governance” (which fails to represent members or govern and is also captured by a property clique), with an unjustifiably huge 600 staff, constantly failing IT, delivering tiny value to the 110,000 members, as evidenced by near-zero take up of everything RICS offers (at vast overhead expense).

Combines the worst features of an old boys’ club, a Soviet-era civil service bureaucracy, and a rapacious mis-selling, subscription-trapping, self-serving. money-grabbing double-glazing/insurance etc sales style rip-off. The antithesis of a genuine public interest driven, forward facing, professional and regulatory body.

“Find a Surveyor” members’ directory is created as an arms race between members to pay RICS, but fails as a public or member service.

Sustained by a huge non-fact-based PR/marketing operation, claiming ESG and "values": Integrity, Transparency, Inclusion, Collaboration, Advocacy, Passion (whether it does them or not), rides on a Royal Charter brand "to serve Public Advantage and professional standards" (but seems to marginalise both in practice).

RICS seems to be all about itself: and mainly about extracting money from members, and blocking change for vested interests in the captured status quo.

Nothing justifies the £539 pa subs and even less justifies Fellows paying an extra £119 pa. Nov ’21 CEO Collins promised a review as part of the Bichard process, to can-kick past renewals on 1/1/22. Nothing was in the Bichard review when revealed (and adopted before members had seen it) on 21/6/22. 1/1/23 renewals passed with no change. Nearly 10% of members did not renew.

1/1/24 approaches and RICS has changed nothing real. Completely out of touch with (mostly highly specialised) member needs, especially the 70% UK members, many in micro-businesses and who will never work abroad.

Delays and simplifies its opaque accounts (see how thin and late they are at Companies House) to unethically and unsustainably spend £7m per month concealing from members the incompetence, waste, vanity projects and cushy manager roles. Public advantage, ESG and member interests marginalised.

A tragedy. Many members are good though and genuinely do the values and service for the public which RICS fails at.