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the requirements for becoming a valuer & a real estate agent or business agent are completely different requiring different licenses for each.

The mere fact that a valuer may also hold an re licence as different standards are applied to a valuation compared to an appraisal.

Many large corporate real estate firms provide a variety of services for owners eg asset management, facilities management, project management, property management, lease management, leasing, sales, consultancy & tenant representation.

No one questions accountants for providing financial services & planning.

The reason being is that valuers are registered/licensed by the Office of Fair Trading in the state in which they work. Land titles are state-based not nationally governed (Australia is a federation of states).

The API is essentially the professional body which represents valuers at both the national and state levels. The alternative body is the Australian Institute of Valuers . The API has two branches – general property professionals (AAPI) and valuers (CPV). They are not all in the one category.

The API and AIV are private, independent associations just like the REI, Master Builders Association, Australian Institute of Building, Housing Industry Association, CFMEU, Nurses Association, Teachers Association etc. They are governed by their own constitution not by specific legislation(other than ASIC).

They are at the elite end of the spectrum, the industry body which makes representation to government (lobby group for the property industry) at the other end they set the standards for educational requirements/outcomes for Professional Property Degrees, Postgraduate degrees, TAFE courses etc ensuring that their standards are comparable to the Royal Institue of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) etc. Their membership is selective generally requiring a degree in Land Economics as a minimum standard, unlike the REI or EAC who will accept the uneducated masses of real estate agents.

Valuation is not a science – it requires an understanding of market conditions, up to date information for market analysis, a highly analytical mind, understanding of town planning and the ability to make skilled/relevant assumptions. They are not swayed by emotion (like heated bidding at an auction), have the benefit of hindsight (rely on facts, market data, historical sales information not trends or crystal balls) and carry professional indemnity insurance (very hard to prove that the valuer got it wrong unless they excluded specific comparable properties without good cause).

Valuations are provided for the benefit of the party who has engaged them (valid for up to 3 months depending upon market condition), it is then up to the valuer to agree to extend that liability to other parties not for a purchaser to assume that the englobo valuation provided to the bank for mortgage purposes (prior to the commencement of construction several years ago) has been done to the same exacting standards as a valuation which has been instructed by a purchaser of a specific unit.

Consumer protection is provided through licensing – all valuers must be licensed through the relevant Office of Fair Trading, they must meet educational requirements which are legislated in each state. There are penalties which can be enforced by the OFT.

PS: I am not a member of either the API or AIV.