A new era at RICS?

Launce Morgan, the faculty’s current chairman, appears more than a little confident that the re-badging, which will most likely involve reinstating the QS name, will receive the backing from members later this summer (see news). There seems an acknowledgment now within senior figures at the institution that the switch in 1999 to construction had disenfranchised most of the quantity surveying membership, who perceived the move as diluting the attention given to them by the RICS.

This is certainly a populist move. As Morgan points out, the overwhelming correspondence he has received is backing the name change. It could be something of a breath of fresh air for the 25,000-odd QS members to feel they are being listened to after a rocky period for relations between those in charge and those who pay the (increased) fees. But this should be seen as the start of a drive to improve the way the institution is running and how it faces the public, rather than an end in itself.

Let’s not forget the call from Davis Langdon partner Paul Morrell for the RICS to have a good hard look at itself last year. Morrell accused it of having a “Byzantine structure” and “lacking accountability” and called for it to regroup. Other critics such as Schofield Lothian consultant Jeremy Hackett, who has vigorously campaigned against RICS fee rises as well its organisation, see an imbalance between the elected and the unelected at the institution. All these criticisms need to be properly addressed in order for the body to properly act for its members as well as punch its weight publicly. Changing names is just the start of the process.