ROLES OF ESTATE SURVEYORS AND VALUERS IN THE SOCIETY

The estate surveyor and valuer trained in the art and science of estate management to direct and supervise an interest in landed properties with the sole aim of obtaining optimum returns for the owners of such properties has an important role to play in the wellbeing of people and overall development of the society at large.

As members of the three (3) arms of government have various roles they play and perform in attaining better wellbeing and living standards for the people, so also does the Estate Surveyors and Valuers, whose roles and duties in the society cannot be overlooked or ignored.

For the benefits of those that might be wondering the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers actually play in the society, I have identified and explained some of these roles below: 

·         Maintenance of public infrastructures/assets

·         Act as land economists for infrastructural development schemes

·         Custodian of land and landed properties

·         Land dispute arbitrators

·         Professional property consultation and expertise

·         Act as Educators and instructors

·         Employers of labour

Maintenance of Public Infrastructures/Assets:

Wikipedia defined infrastructure as “the basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function. It also defined it in military parlance to mean buildings and permanent installations necessary for the support, redeployment, and operation of military forces”.

Public infrastructures/assets are important terms used in judging a country or region’s development status because they are physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions.

The physical state and conditions of public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria is nothing to write home about or befitting to us - a nation – as giant of Africa. I’m very sure most of you know the state in which the country’s public infrastructures/assets are in today presently.

It must be sadly said at this juncture that public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria has been in serious decay and deteriorating state over the years due largely in part to mismanagement and inadequate or poor maintenance, which has left some of these infrastructures/assets in dismal state of repairs and abandonment.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers trained in the art and science of estate management has important and inevitable roles to play in the management and maintenance of the nation’s public infrastructures – land and buildings, plant and machinery, furniture and fixtures – based on their professional expertise, training, qualification, years of working experience and the knowledge they possess in all matters relating to land and landed properties. 

Some of the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers will/can perform in the course of managing public infrastructures/assets in Nigeria are:

·     Formulate a well detailed planned preventive maintenance policy to the government for managing public infrastructures/assets

·         Help to identify and establish the operative life span and renewal of the component parts that makes up such public infrastructures/assets

·       Carry out continuous renovation and remedial works on some of the infrastructures’ component parts that require minor or early repairs before they affect other parts of such assets/facilities

·    Continuously act in the capacity of a facility/asset manager of public infrastructures/assets on behalf of government for the overall beneficial interest of the government, citizens and nation as a whole

Act As Land Economists For Infrastructural Development Schemes: One of the major determinants of a country’s development rate, standard of living and social wellbeing is massive investment in infrastructural development schemes by the government and private sector. Land economics for infrastructural development schemes focuses on the allocation of land in a particular region within a state/country for residential, commercial or other uses.

In the provision of infrastructural development schemes, Estate Surveyors and Valuers have important roles to play because they act and serve as land economists through their education and training in the concept, theory and principles of land economics – rural and urban – to give expert opinion and advise on the various locations within a region where different types of land uses – residential, commercial, agricultural, etc – can/should be developed based on the  needs of the populace, as well as other urban and non-urban land issues.

The roles expected of Estate Surveyors and Valuers as land economists in relation to infrastructural development schemes are:

·         Analyze organization of activities in a region

·         Establish factors that determines prices of land in a region

·         Examine intra-location choices of firms and households

·         Formulate policy for various land-use control

·       Identify all the various urban and non-urban issues inherent in carrying out infrastructural development schemes in a particular region

·         Assist in formulating a region’s development master plan

Custodian of Land And Landed Properties: Trained in the art and science of estate management to deal with all matters relating to the maintenance and management of land and landed properties within a country for the overall beneficial interest of the citizenry, Estate Surveyors and Valuers should be engaged always because their level of expertise and training spreads across various aspects of real estate discipline.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers while acting as custodians of land and landed properties performs the role of ensuring that those classes of land and landed properties been entrusted onto them are continuously properly managed and maintained in order to improve their aesthetic value, monetary value and lifespan, as well as achieve the expected optimum returns which are in varying forms for the owners of such land and landed properties. 

Some of the roles expected of Estate Surveyors and Valuers while acting as custodians of land and landed properties in the society include:

·         Management and maintenance of land and landed properties for the owners

·         Advise on the highest and best use of any land and landed properties

·         Act in the overall beneficial interest of owners of land and landed properties

·         Help to formulate a master plan for infrastructural development projects in the society

·         Determine the monetary value and worth of land and landed properties

Land Dispute Arbitrator: Right from the creation of man, the issues of land and property disputes in various forms have been rampant among people of different backgrounds and ethnicity.

Different categories of land and landed properties’ disputes ranging from land alienation, rightful ownership claims, compensation for land/property acquired compulsorily by government, tenant – landlord issues, etc are continuously been presented and determined in various law courts of the land. Some and if not most of these land disputes have been dragging for a long time without any positive outcome.

To curb and minimize the time taken to determine and give judgements on some of these land disputes, government has set up civil mediation centers acting as an alternative to dispute resolutions, mandated to handle and cater for cases relating to various land and property disputes in a non-judicial manner through the appointment of an arbitrator.

The roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers perform in the society when appointed as land and property disputes’ arbitrators by the aggrieved parties are:

·         Act as intermediary between the aggrieved parties to the land and property dispute

·         Act as a neutral umpire without taking sides to any of the aggrieved parties to the land and property disputes

·         Form member of a land dispute tribunal to determine arbitration cases relating to land and property disputes

·         Proffer professional and expert opinion on compensation valuation cases as well as all matters relating to land and landed property disputes

Professional Property Consultation And Expertise: As medical practitioners cannot perform the roles and duties of legal practitioners, so also are the various roles and duties of Estate Surveyors and Valuers in the society can’t be performed professionally as expected of them by non-real estate professionals, except the professional Estate Surveyors and Valuers themselves.

It is the sole role of Estate Surveyors and Valuers to offer professional expertise, advise, services and opinions to people of different classes in the society based on their individual real estate needs and wants. 

The various roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers play in the society on all matters relating to issues of land and landed properties has made them to be very relevant in the development of a nation’s economy and social wellbeing of the total populace. This is so because there is no person or institution that will not require the professional services of Estate Surveyors and Valuers for various individual purposes and needs.

Some of the roles performed by Estate Surveyors and Valuers as professional property consultants and experts which make them to be very relevant in the development of a society as whole are:

·         Advise on various types of real estate investments that can be embarked upon

·         Management and maintenance of both public and private real estate facilities and assets

·         Provide an opinion of value for all land and landed properties, plant and machinery, furniture and fixtures on property valuation matters

·         Serve as property managers to clients’ properties

·         Serve as professional estate agents to clients on matters relating to land and landed property sales, acquisition and lease 

Act As Educators and Instructors: This is another role Estate Surveyors and Valuers performs in the society for the betterment and training of those aspiring to become future Estate Surveyors and Valuers, or those that wants to gain an understanding and knowledge about the concepts and principles of estate management as a discipline.

Estate Surveyors and Valuers act as teachers and trainers in various capacities either in private practice, public sector or institutions of higher learning where they continuously perform the role of educating people about the nitty-gritty of real estate management as a profession and course of study. They are able to do and achieve this task based on their level of experiences, skills, training and technical know-how in all matters relating to land and landed properties.

It is the training and education given by Estate Surveyors and Valuers to prospective and future real estate professionals/practitioners that will equip such people to also become vast in knowledge, understanding, practical skills and experiences in performing exceptionally well in any capacity they find themselves as real estate professionals in the society.

Employers of Labour: Estate Surveyors and Valuers who have set up their own private real estate firms are directly performing the role of employers of labour in the society as they create jobs in this regard by employing different kinds of people to work in various departments within their firms.

While performing this important role as employers of labour, Estate Surveyors and Valuers are helping government to curb the issue unemployment which is very rampant in the society through the creation of paid employment opportunities to the citizens that desire to work in real estate and surveying firms.

With the statements I have written above to buttress my point on the roles Estate Surveyors and Valuers play in the society, you will agree with me that the professional services and expertise of Estate Surveyors and Valuers can and should not be under-estimated or ignored towards achieving economic development and social wellbeing of the populace.

ABOUT ME

I am a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder of Estate Management from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos state, Nigeria. I also possess a Professional Practice Certificate in Estate Surveying and Valuation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV).

I am the principal consultant of Aakient Consultants Ltd, a highly progressive and consolidated property and construction project management company, which is committed to providing the highest level of professionalism and services in meeting clients’ real estate needs.

Feel free to contact me at: aakientconsultants@gmail.com