AI is already being used across surveying practices, but until now this has often been done piecemeal. Some individual surveyors have been keen adopters of the technology and are actively using it to analyse data or produce summaries. Still more are turning to the free consumer tools that are increasingly replacing conventional search engines.

But now the RICS professional standard on AI imposes new obligations on firms to record and monitor any use of AI within their firms or by their employees, and it also introduces requirements for individual surveyors to ensure they develop and maintain their own AI knowledge at a level appropriate to their work.