RICS Knowledgebase

Business rates valuation

2 days ago

Fiona Fogden

The Rating Consultancy Code of Practice is a joint one with the IRRV and RSA and is updated periodically. The current 5^th edition was published 30 April 2024, effective 1 June 2024

This 5^th edition includes amended appendices which refer to the following:

‘The agent signing this form must be a member of at least one of RICS, IRRV or RSA and must confirm this on the form’

‘The use of this code and the appendices is only open to those who are members of at least one of the relevant professional bodies (IRRV, RICS, RSA)’

These changes were in response to non-regulated firms using the code in their contracts which they should not be doing.

When issuing terms of engagement, members are required to make reference to the joint RICS\IRRV\RSA code, which requires the ratepayer to sign a formal declaration confirming that they have been made aware of the code and terms should clearly set out the agreed fee basis.

The VOA also have their own Agent Standards here.

Valuation office materials

How your business rates are calculated

https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates

contractor’s basis method

This approach is used to value properties like:

schools
hospitals
libraries
fire and police stations

https://valuationoffice.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/15/how-we-value-properties-for-business-rates-the-contractors-basis-method/

receipts and expenditure method

While the Valuation Office prefer to use rental evidence whenever possible, some properties are rarely rented on the open market. These include places like: