Last edited 28 Nov 2018

RICS Property Measurement

The Code of Measuring Practice (COMP) is a guidance note published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), ‘…to provide succinct, precise definitions to permit the accurate measurement of buildings and land, the calculation of the sizes (areas and volumes) and the description or specification of land and buildings on a common and consistent basis.’ It was first published in 1979 and the sixth edition was published in 2007.

In 2015, the sixth edition was updated by publication of RICS Property Measurement to incorporate the International Property Measurement Standard (IPMS), a global standard developed by the IPMS Coalition (IPMSC) to make property measurement internationally consistent. The IPMSC is a group of 73 professional bodies from around the world.

RICS Property Measurement has four elements:

Professional Statement (applies to office and residential measurements only)
IPMS: Office Buildings (applies to office measurements only)
IPMS: Residential Buildings
Code of Measuring Practice, 6th edition (currently applies to all building classes except office and residential).

From 1 January 2016, RICS professionals are expected to adopt the Property Measurement Professional Statement in place of the Code for offices unless local laws, or a client require an alternative. Professional Statements for other property classes including residential, industrial and retail will be added over time as the IPMS is expanded.

RICS suggest that the new standards will be "fit for purpose" in local markets such as the Middle East and Europe. Members will be provided with a free online tool to enable conversion to the Code of Measurement Practice, and RICS are looking to include conversions for other high-quality European national standards.

Mark Walley, Regional Managing Director, EMEA (RICS) said, “We want our professionals to be recognised as the leading experts when it comes to providing consistent, transparent, and comparable property measurement information. Using IPMS will equip and position our professionals as the preeminent experts in the delivery of IPMS compliant measurements of office buildings.”